Salem vs. Southern Virginia | Tuesday, October 11th | 3:00 p.m.
Varsity Field | Winston-Salem, N.C.
LAST TIME OUT
For the second time in as many seasons, the USA South Conference soccer clash between Meredith and Salem ended in a tie. Unlike the 2021 season, where neither team reached the back of the net, the 2022 match at Varsity Field concluded in a 2-2 deadlock.
Olivia Nivens scored her third goal of the campaign in the fourth-minute of action, driving a shot past Kasey Wilkins in the left side of the net to give Salem the early 1-0 advantage. The Avenging Angels evened the match at 1-1 in the 23rd-minute when Emily Haynes took a Lauren Quarantello pass into the back of the net.
Five minutes later, Salem's Ashley Linden provided her team with the slim 2-1 advantage, scoring her fifth goal of the season on an unassisted attempt. However, Meredith managed to even the contest at two-all just eight second before the half, when Meredith Warrick drove a shot past Salem's Jordan Tomberlin.
Tomberlin, who finished the first 45 minutes of the match with one save, gave way to Alexcina Wartski in the second half for Salem. Wartski responded with a pair of second half saves of her own to help the Spirits come away with a tie.
WRAPPING UP THE HOME STAND
The Spirits are putting the finishing touches on the two-match home stand with their contest against Southern Virginia on Tuesday afternoon. Salem is 2-3-1 at home this season and is in search of picking up at least its third victory at Varsity Field for the 14th straight season. That streak began when the program moved to the NCAA Division III ranks in 2008.
ALL TIED UP
Saturday afternoon's 2-2 tie against Meredith marked the 11th tie in program history and third tie since the 2019 campaign for the Spirits.
The Spirits have played Meredith on 13 occasions and are 3-6-4 in the all-time series. That includes a 1-1-1 mark at Varsity Field and a 2-4-3 record when the two teams clash in Raleigh, N.C., as well as a 0-1-0 mark at a neutral site.
Salem has tied only one other program, Ferrum, on multiple occasions. Against the Panthers, Salem is 7-3-2 all-time, with the two ties coming on September 23, 2011 and September 22, 2019.
ALL-TIME SERIES WITH THE KNIGHTS
Southern Virginia will make its second trip to Varsity Field on Tuesday and first since September 10, 2016, when the Spirits posted a 2-0 victory in Winston-Salem.
The Knights hosted Salem in each of the last two matches, falling by a 2-0 margin on September 12, 2017 and picking up their first win a season ago by virtue of a 5-4 triumph on October 20, 2021.
Southern Virginia enters the match with a 5-5-1 overall record, including a 1-1-1 mark in USA South Conference play. The Knights are 1-3-1 in their last five matches, since posting a 4-0 victory over Eastern Mennonite on September 19th. The three losses, all by shutout, came against Washington & Lee (3-0), Methodist (1-0) and Randolph-Macon (1-0). The three-match losing streak was halted with a 5-0 victory against N.C. Wesleyan on October 1st, but the Knights tied 1-1 against Brevard on October 7th in their most recent outing.
Makinna Winterton leads all Southern Virginia scorers with five goals, two more than teammate Morgan Romney. Meanwhile, the duo of Rachel Bodkin and Maybel Harris have two goals apiece. Winterton is also tops among the Knights in assists with two, sharing that team-high with teammate Matia Murray.
Alyssa Trueman is anchoring the Southern Virginia defense with 50 saves (.794 save percentage), earning four saves along the way. Trueman has faced 111 shots in 10 matches, allowing 13 goals along the way, earning two shutouts.
SALEM'S STATISTICAL LEADERS
Ashley Linden and Olivia Nivens picked up their fifth and third goals, respectively, of the season in the 2-2 tie with Meredith. Meanwhile, Darilyn Nieto, who leads Salem with 11 goals on the season, attempted eight shots (five shots on goal) in the clash with the Avenging Angels. Nieto leads Salem in both goals and shots heading into the meeting with Southern Virginia.
Nivens has not only been active in goals scored, but also in assists, tying herself with teammate Alyson Gammons for the most (three). The trio of Linden, Caelan Gaul and Miriam Moctezuma have two assists each for the Spirits.
Jordan Tomberlin is 4-5-1 in goal for Salem this season, logging a team-high 721:50 minutes. Tomberlin has 51 saves (.810 save percentage) to her credit. Alexcina Wartski (1-0-1) is second in minutes played in net, 221:29, and saves with 13. Mireya Sanchez has also see time in net for the Spirits, logging 46:41 minutes, while making two saves along the way.
Collectively, the Salem defense has allowed 17 goals and 166 shots (.102 shot percentage) over the course of the season. The Spirits have recorded four shutouts and allowed multiple goals on just two occasions—versus Averett (two) and Methodist (nine).
