The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s soccer team opens Southern Conference action this weekend on the road in South Carolina. The Mocs open play at Furman in Greenville Friday night and then travel to Spartanburg for a matchup with Wofford Sunday afternoon.
Chattanooga is 2-6-1 in non-conference action with a shutout against Alabama A&M, a win over Radford and earning a scoreless draw at Morehead State. Six of the Mocs’ matches have been decided by one or fewer goals with two more by two goals.
Chattanooga’s 8-0 shutout of the Bulldogs was its largest margin of scoring this season. UTC held Kennesaw State, Alabama and Eastern Kentucky to just one goal each. The Tide had been averaging more than four goals per game before meeting the Mocs.
Chattanooga is third in the league for goals scored with 15 and fourth for assists (11). The Mocs have allowed 12 goals and have 35 saves and a 1.30 goals against average.
Junior Ellie Myrick (Knoxville, Tenn.) leads UTC with 10 points on four goals and two assists. She ranks in the Top 10 in the SoCon standings in seven categories including shots, goals and assists. She is second in the league for shots with 27 and fifth for points.
Junior Peyton McCollum (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) is second on the team in scoring with eight points and 21 shots. She is among the league’s best in four categories including shots taken and goals.
Junior McKenzie Gregg (Newport, Tenn.) and freshman Hannah Torbett (Johnson City, Tenn.) each have a team-high three assists, ranking fifth in the league.
Freshman Melia Correa (Clarksville, Tenn.) and senior Katie Emig (Knoxville, Tenn.) have share time in goal for Chattanooga. Correa, with six starts has 26 saves for a .765 saves percentage and 1.29 goals against average. She ranks fifth in the SoCon for GAA and sixth for saves percentage. With 4.33 saves per game, she is fourth in the league while both she and Emig are sixth for shutouts with one apiece.
The Paladins lead the league through non-conference play with a 6-1-1 overall record. Furman has scored 26 goals this season and allowed just four. The Paladins lead the league in shots, goals, assists, goals allowed, goals against average and shutouts while recording the fewest saves.
Molly Dwyer leads the league in points with 15, averaging 1.88 per game through eight games this season and Carlie Couch is third for points per game with 1.25. Dwyer has a SoCon-best six goals and Couch is tied for second with five. Kristian Leone is tied for first in the SoCon with four assists. Dwyer has a league-high two game winning goals while four more have one each.
In goal, Kellsey Weaver leads the SoCon in goals against average allowing just one through 397:44 minutes. Rose Hull, with 269:53 logged, is third, allowing three goals. Weaver tops the SoCon with a .923 saves percentage making 12 saves with just one goal allowed.
Wofford is 2-7 through non-conference play with wins over Presbyterian and USC Upstate. After opening the season with a 9-1 loss to Duke, the Terriers lost the next four before picking up their first win. Wofford has eight goals on the year with five in its back-to-back wins. The Terriers average 0.89 goals per game and, with 104 shots taken, a .077 shots percentage and 11.6 shots per game.
Katie Beuerlein leads the team in scoring with a team-best three goals for six points and 20 shots. Hannah Washko has two goals and one assist for five points and has taken 19 shots this season. Four other Terriers have scored this season including Hayley Younginer who has one goal and one assist in just four games played. Washko and Emma Fletcher each have one game winning goal for Wofford.
In the net, three Terriers have seen action. Mayson Liner has started five games and seen action insix. She has made 21 saves on 50 shots faced and given up 10 goals for a 2.00 goals against average while recording both wins. Alex Carroll tallied four starts and has a GAA of 4.29 after allowing 15 goals on 54 shots faced. Alex King played just one half and allowed one goal with two saves.
Wofford holds a 15-2-4 advantage against the Mocs. Last season Chattanooga earned a 2-2 draw against the Terriers in double overtime after losing the five previous meetings and seven of the last eight. UTC’s last win against Wofford was 2-0 on the road in 2007. On the road, UTC is 1-7-1 against the Terriers.