The USCB women's soccer team welcomes the Nighthawks of Thomas University this Wednesday for a Sun Conference showdown at 4 p.m. at Fin Land Field.
The Sand Sharks are coming off a road win at Florida Memorial last Saturday and are looking to even their Sun Conference record, while the Nighthawks are coming in after winning their last two outings in conference play—beating SCAD (Ga.) 3-1 and Ave Maria (Fla.) 7-0.
USCB will look to continue their attacking style, which has posted 167 shots on goal—92 on goal—and posting 2.75 goals per game. The Nighthawks are no slouch in the goal-scoring department though, as they have put up 28 goals this season.
The Sand Sharks will look to defeat the Nighthawks for the first time in program history this Wednesday.
FIN FACTS
• All home games this season will be broadcast at no charge to viewers via the
Sand Shark Gameday Network on Stretch Internet.
• The Sand Sharks return six starters from last year's team, including all-time leading scorer Hayley Piña and fellow seniors
Karen Pimentel and MJ Orduña. The returners hope to quickly mesh with a talented group of newcomers that includes NCAA Division I transfer
Rileigh Olsen, NJCAA All-American
Melissa Fichtner, and promising freshmen
Allison Schaffer and
Hannah Salus, among others.
• Senior F
Hayley Piña is the Sand Sharks' all-time leader in goals (30), assists (15) and points (75), and she is now tied for first place with Alexa Muffley for career game-winning goals, with five in her career.
• Sophomore GK
Moa Johansson entered the season as USCB's all-time leader in goals against average after posting a 1.53 GAA last season, the best single-season mark in program history.
• Six different players scored goals in USCB's season-opening 7-2 win against Life, and five different goal-scorers contributed to a 5-0 win over Middle Georgia.
• With Saturday's clean sheet against Florida Memorial, junior goalkeeper
Courtney Sherry is now tied for 2nd place all-time with
Moa Johansson in shutouts in a season.
• USCB's seven goals against the Running Eagles marked the second-most in program history and the most since a 14-1 win over Florida Christian in 2012.
• With nine points this season, senior MF
MJ Orduña has moved into fourth place on USCB's career list with 32.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
The Nighthawks are led by senior Olivia Taylor and freshman Whitley Anderson, both midfielders. Both players have 6 goals apiece, while Taylor also has 5 assists on the season. In the goal, junior Kara Houston currently holds a GAA of 1.35 on the season.
RELATED LINKS
USCB Schedule and Results
USCB 2017 Statistics
Sand Shark Soccer Record Book
Sun Conference Women's Soccer Standings
USCB Sand Sharks on Facebook
USCB Athletics on Twitter
