ANDERSON, S.C. - After stepping away from South Atlantic Conference play on Wednesday, Anderson University women's soccer travels to league rival Lincoln Memorial on Saturday, seeking its third win in the conference this season. Kickoff from Harrogate is set for 1 p.m.
The Trojans
With a setback to in-state rival Lander on Wednesday, Anderson
enters the weekend with a 4-7-1 overall record and still clings to
a 2-4-1 conference mark with seven points. The Trojans are still a
point ahead of Coker for the final SAC Tournament spot in eighth
place, while they trail Queens by four points for seventh
place.
Despite scoring 13 goals in its first six contests this season, the Anderson attack has cooled down, scoring two goals in its last four contests. Freshman Lyssa Engle continues to lead the attack with nine goals on the season. Junior captain Faith Johannes broke a streak of six straight goals scored by Engle on Wednesday when she tallied AU's lone goal of the evening in the setback. With the goal, Johannes became the eighth different Trojan to score this season.
Defensively, sophomore goalkeeper Sadie Lancaster ranks 52nd in
the nation in minutes played with over 1,095. For the season, the
Celina, Texas native has made 50 saves and has recorded three
shutouts.
The Lady Railsplitters
Lincoln Memorial will enter Saturday's match not having recorded a
setback in 35 days as it holds an eight-match streak without a
loss, going 6-0-2 in the span. LMU's last setback came on Sept. 13
against conference rival Coker, as the Lady Railsplitters fell 1-0.
Since the setback, Lincoln Memorial has outscored its opponents
17-5, headlined by four shutouts.
As LMU continued its winning ways throughout October, it holds a 7-2-1 overall record with a 5-1-1 mark in league play, slotting it alone in fourth place in the league standings with 16 points. The 'Splitters are two points short of a three-way tie for first between Lenoir-Rhyne, Newberry and Wingate.
The Lincoln Memorial offense is led by a tandem of senior Fernanda Miaci and sophomore Michelle Hunter, who each have six goals on the season. Miaci leads the club with 15 points, 40 shots, 21 shots on goal and three game-winning goals, as she highlighted her season with a hat trick against in-state rival Carson-Newman on Oct. 9.
In goal, junior Kayla Stephens has played in over 690 minutes this season and is responsible for six of LMU's seven victories. Stephens has made 33 saves and ranks second in the conference with a 0.65 goals-against average.
The Series
Anderson grabbed its first win over Lincoln Memorial in four
seasons last year when it stunned LMU with a 1-0 win during
Homecoming. Then-senior Krystal Goss scored the game-winner in the
72nd minute to give AU the victory.