LEXINGTON, Va. – Looking to pick up a pair of league wins this week, the VMI women's soccer team travels to Birmingham, Alabama, for a matchup Thursday evening with Samford before heading home to face rival The Citadel Sunday at 1 p.m. at Drill Field #2.
The Keydets (1-10, 0-2) will face the Samford Bulldogs Thursday at 5 p.m. EDT before taking on The Citadel Bulldogs at home at 1 p.m. Sunday afternoon.
About Samford (5-3-3, 1-1)
Picked to win the Southern Conference in the preseason coaches' poll, the Bulldogs have fought their way to five wins on the year despite playing a difficult schedule. Samford has earned wins over Oklahoma, Troy, Kennesaw State and most recently a dominant 5-0 victory over Wofford. Their three scoreless draws have come against SEC opponents Auburn, Ole Miss and #5 Alabama.
Mary Raymond and Kyla Reynolds lead the team with three goals apiece on the year while five others have earned a pair of scores this season. Mia Wehby has proven to be the key distributor with three assists thus far while four others have two apiece for the season. Raymond and Reynolds also lead the team with 27 and 20 shot attempts, respectively.
Zoe Clevely has played all but 58 minutes in the goalbox this season and conceded just eight goals for a 0.77 goals-against average to go with 29 saves. She also has logged six shutouts having faced 97 shots for the year.
About The Citadel (3-3-4, 0-2)
The Citadel plays at Furman Thursday night before heading to Lexington to face the Keydets on North Post. The Bulldogs have enjoyed wins over Mississippi Valley State, Francis Marion and Charleston Southern this season, but are coming off two SoCon losses this past week to UNCG and Chattanooga both by a 2-1 score.
Ariana Paez and Grace Duncan lead the team with three goals apiece while Samantha Grantham and Didi Turay both have two. Paez also has a team-high six assists for the season while Duncan has four.
Nora Sampson has played the most at the goalkeeper position, totaling 834 minutes and allowing 11 goals for a 1.19 GAA. She has also registered 47 saves to go with one shutout.
