Opponents:
Salem vs. William Peace | October 14 | Winston-Salem, N.C. | 2 p.m. | Varsity Field
Salem vs. Mary Baldwin | October 16 | Winston-Salem, N.C. | 4 p.m. | Varsity Field
TWO HOME MATCHES IN TWO-DAY STRETCH
The Salem soccer team returns to Varsity Field for a pair of USA South Conference clashes with William Peace (Saturday) and Mary Baldwin (Monday). The Spirits are in search of their first home win of the slate, with an 0-2-1 mark in Winston-Salem with three matches remaining at Varsity Field.
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE SPIRITS
The Salem soccer team halted a five-match scoreless streak with a 1-1 tie against USA South Conference rival Meredith when the two teams met in the Capital City on Saturday afternoon.
Salem received its goal from sophomore Darilyn Nieto, who coincidentally became the fifth Spirit in program history to net double-digit goals in consecutive seasons. She joins Tia Bringhurst, Brooke Bukas, Sawyer Ferguson and Jordan Lanier as the only Spirits to amass at least 10 goals in consecutive campaigns. Nieto scored a team-high 14 goals during her first year.
First-year netminder Marissa Doutrich came through with a clutch performance for Salem, making 16 saves over 90 minutes. Her counterparts, Kasey Wilkins, Allison Fox and Samantha Woodfin, combined for one save—which was credited to Fox—for the Avenging Angels.
Meredith capped off the match with 41 shots, including 19 shots on goal, while Salem attempted three shots (two shots on goal). The Avenging Angels wrapped up the first half with a 17-1 edge in shots, while coming through with 24 in the second frame.
Morgan Thomas came through with a match-high nine shots (two shots on goal) for Meredith, two more than Claire Wagner and three more than teammate Avery Wilson.
Nieto was the only Spirit to attempt a shot in the contest, making three attempts on the afternoon, including two shots on goal.
Avery Wilson drove home the first goal of the afternoon in the 49th-minute, giving Meredith a 1-0 advantage. The relentless Nieto answered with her 10th goal of the season, first since a clash with Agnes Scott (Sept. 15), in the 86th-minute.
Doutrich wrapped up her third consecutive double-digit save performance for Salem with 16. She began the streak with 22 versus Southern Virginia and came through with 18 in a clash with Brevard.
NIETO DRIVES HOME 10TH GOAL OF SEASON
After a 28-day goalless streak, which marked the longest of her collegiate career, Darilyn Nieto drove home her 10th goal of the season in a clash against Meredith on Saturday, October 7th.
By virtue of that goal, Nieto became the fifth player in program history to score at least 10 goals in multiple seasons in her career as a Spirit.
Nieto, who tallied 14 goals in her rookie campaign of 2022, joined Tia Bringhurst, Brooke Bukas, Sawyer Ferguson and Jordan Lanier as the only Spirits to reach double figure goals in multiple season. Three of those players (Bukas, Ferguson and Lanier) had at least 10 goals in three separate seasons.
Nieto also moved into sole possession of ninth on the all-time goals list, passing Bringhurst in the process. She is now one shy of Ellie Montes for eighth on the all-time list (25) and two away from tying Tarryn Johnson and Taylor Norman, who are deadlocked for sixth-most career goals (26) in Salem soccer history.
DOUTRICH JOINS UNIQUE COMPANY
With a 16-save performance in a 1-1 tie with Meredith last Saturday, Salem netminder Marissa Doutrich became the third goalie in program history to have at least three double-digit save performances in a single season.
Doutrich has joined Hannah Wagner and Jazmine Bridgeman as the only goalkeepers in program history to notch at least three double-digit save performances in a season. Wagner had had at least 10 saves in the 2018 season, while Bridgeman tallied three during the course of the 2009 campaign.
Doutrich, who has reached double-digit saves in her last three outings in net, etched her name in the Salem soccer record book with a 22-save performance in a 5-0 setback against USA South Conference rival Southern Virginia on September 27th in Buena Vista, Va.
Last week, in a clash with Brevard, Doutrich capped off the contest with 18 saves. The Salem first year was peppered with 22 shots on goal over the 90-minute match, with the Tornados closing with 45 shots in the contest.
Four days later, in Raleigh, Doutrich notched her third double-digit save performance of the slate, posting 16 against the Avenging Angels. Doutrich and the Salem defense faced 41 shots, 17 shots on goal by Meredith, and she ended the contest with 16 saves.
ALL-TIME SERIES WITH WILLIAM PEACE
The Spirits own a 12-1-0 mark in the all-time series with William Peace, winning all eight head-to-head meetings at Varsity Field. The lone win by the Pacers came a season ago, when the two met in Raleigh, as William Peace emerged with a 2-0 victory.
The Pacers own a 5-4-3 overall record and are 1-1-2 when clashing USA South Conference programs in 2023. Two of those wins have come on the road for William Peace, posting a 1-1-2 record over the course of the last four matches.
William Peace is led offensively by the duo of Emma Avery, who has a team-best 10 goals, along with Dayna Kenworthy and Mia Rumachik, who have dished out a team-best five assists. Kenworthy is also tied with Kayla Johnson and Rumachik for the second-most goals (four) on the unit.
The goalkeeping trio of Gaby Vazquez (62 saves), Mackenzie Kirk (14) and Hannah Lewis (one) led the way for the Pacer defense. Vazquez leads the way with three wins, while Kirk has posted two wins in net for William Peace this season.
ALL-TIME SERIES WITH MARY BALDWIN
The Spirits are entering their third-ever match against Mary Baldwin on Monday evening.
Salem claimed the first-ever meeting against the Fighting Squirrels on October 26, 2019, by an 8-2 margin in a Senior Day performance. Two years later, on October 12, 2021, Mary Baldwin evened the head-to-head series with the two teams with a 2-0 victory at Varsity Field.
The Fighting Squirrels enter the weekend with a 2-7-2 overall record, including a 1-2-1 mark in USA South Conference action, as they host Meredith on Friday evening. Both of the wins in 2023 came on the road, where Mary Baldwin is 2-3-1.
The first of those wins came at Averett, by a 2-0 margin in September, and the second was followed by a 2-0 triumph against USA South Conference foe Pfeiffer on September 23rd.
The tandem of Sara Gruntowicz and Shea Rider have come through two goals each to lead the way for the Fighting Squirrels. Gruntowicz leads all Mary Baldwin players with five points, contributing one assist along the way.
Maddy Vinson leads the way for the defense with 59 saves, logging 945 minutes along the way.
