GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- With its season-opening stretch of nine straight road matches behind it, the Tusculum University women's soccer team settles in for a pair of home matches this week.
The Pioneers, who beat Anderson 1-0 on Sunday in their home opener, will host Shaw in a non-conference game on Wednesday at 5 p.m. and welcomes Wingate to Pioneer Field for a South Atlantic Conference contest starting at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Tusculum enters the week with a 4-6-0 overall record and a 1-3-0 mark in SAC matches.
RECAPPING THE WEEK
On Wednesday, the Pioneers visited Queens for a SAC contest and lost by a score of 2-0 to the host Royals. Queens scored in the sixth and 67th minutes to earn the win, and outshot the Pioneers by a 23-8 margin. Chelsea Sheerin, normally a forward, was pressed into duty as goalkeeper due to injuries and made nine saves in her first career contest for the Pioneers.
On Sunday, the Pioneers defeated Anderson 1-0 on a header goal by Kenzie Ellenburg with 15:30 remaining in the second half. Danielle Breen earned her first career shutout with three saves for the Pioneers, who were outshot by the Trojans by a 15-8 margin.
LOOKING AHEAD
Shaw (4-5-0) won its third straight match on Saturday with a 4-1 win at Mars Hill. The Bears scored three goals in the first 16 minutes and picked up the win despite being outshot 19-13 by the Lions. Azul Mardueno had a goal and an assist in the win for Shaw, which had defeated Converse 4-1 on Thursday and King by a 3-1 score on Tuesday.
Sophomore Jasa Curry, who ranked sixth in Division II with 23 goals last season, leads the Bears with four goals so far this season. Fenja Soeth has also scored four goals for the Bears, while Philine Diekhoff has scored twice and added an assist. Caylie Hartman has played most of the games in goal for the Shaw, compiling a 1.05 goals against average and a .806 save percentage.
The Bears are 0-3 against SAC schools this season, all on the road, with losses to Coker (3-1) and Lincoln Memorial (3-1) along with a 1-0 setback at Catawba. Matches with Queens (Oct. 12) and Newberry (Oct. 30) are also on the Shaw schedule. Tusculum beat Shaw 2-0 on Oct. 9 of last season in the only meeting between the schools, with goals from Kaitlyn Watson in the fifth minute and Brooke Radcliffe on a penalty kick in the final minute.
Wingate, ranked fourth in the Southeast Region by the United Soccer Coaches, extended its winning streak to seven consecutive games with a 1-0 win at Newberry on Saturday, as Kristen DeBiase scored in the 60th minute for the Bulldogs. Wingate outshot Newberry 30-5 in the match, and received three saves from Abbey Frail in the victory. The Bulldogs enter the week with a 7-1-0 overall record and 5-0-0 in the SAC, and come to Tusculum after playing a home match against Belmont Abbey on Wednesday.
Caroline Peters leads the Bulldogs in scoring with four goals and an assist, followed by Taylor Krakower, Alicia Rubio Garcia and McKenna DeLong with three goals each. The Bulldogs have recorded shutouts in six of their seven victories and in each of the last three, as Frail leads the SAC in goals against average (0.37) and is fourth in save percentage (.833).
The Bulldogs have defeated the Pioneers in each of their last three meetings, including a 2-0 home victory last year, and the series currently sits as 12 wins apiece with three draws.
Links to live stats and video for Tusculum University athletic events can be found through tusculumpioneers.com.
