Salem vs. N.C. Wesleyan | Tuesday, October 25th | 4:00 p.m.
Varsity Field | Winston-Salem, N.C.
LAST TIME OUT
The Salem soccer team halted a four-match winless streak with a 2-1 victory over USA South Conference foe Pfeiffer when the two teams clashed at Varsity Field on Saturday, October 22nd.
Gammons drove home the first goal of the match in the 15th-minute, following a pass from Nieto, giving Salem the early lead.
Pfeiffer evened the score at one just seven minutes later, following a strike by Kayla Blankenship, who took advantage of a series of passes from Maria Altamirano and Tori Renna.
Ashley Linden netted her sixth goal of the campaign, which solidifies her spot as the second-most goals on the team, in the 32nd-minute after receiving a pass from Isabel Scott. That goal proved to be the game-winner for Salem, Linden's first game-winning goal of the season.
Salem attempted 28 shots over the course of the match, including 13 on goal. Darilyn Nieto attempted a team-high seven (five SOG), while Linden attempted six (four SOG) and Layla Locklear had five.
The Salem defense was sound throughout the course of the match due in large part to contributions from Isabel Scott, Olivia Nivens, Clark and Serenity Powell. Pfeiffer made 30 shots, including 12 shots on goal, over the course of the day.
Alexcina Wartski claimed the win in net with three saves to her credit, while Jordan Tomberlin took over in the second half and finished with eight saves.
CLOSING OUT THE HOME REGULAR SEASON
Salem (6-8-1, 2-4-1 USA South) wraps up the home portion of its 2022 schedule on Tuesday afternoon when it hosts N.C. Wesleyan for the fifth time in program history.
The Spirits upped their record to 3-4-1 at home this season with a 2-1 victory over Pfeiffer on Saturday, October 22nd. By virtue of that win it means that Salem has won at least three matches at home in every season of the program's existence, dating back to the 2008 season. Coincidentally, it also marked the 86th all-time victory at Varsity Field in program history.
SERIES BREAKDOWN
The Spirits are a perfect 4-0-0 in their clashes with N.C. Wesleyan at Varsity Field and own a 7-2-0 advantage in the all-time series.
Salem has outscored the Battling Bishops by an 11-3 margin in the four matches at Varsity Field, allowing multiple goals on just one occasion. That multi-goal outing by N.C. Wesleyan came on October 6, 2018, the last time that it visited Varsity Field, when Salem came away with a 3-2 win.
Salem has won three of the last four head-to-head meetings, dating back to 2018, with the lone setback (3-0) coming a season ago in Rocky Mount, N.C., on October 16th.
LOOKING AT THE CONFERENCE LEADERBOARD
Tuesday's clash against N.C. Wesleyan has major implications on the race for the 2022 USA South Women's Tournament for both teams.
Salem, which is 2-4-1 in league play, currently sits in seventh place sandwiched between N.C. Wesleyan (3-4-0) and Brevard (1-3-3). The Spirits have seven points to their credit, while N.C. Wesleyan has nine and Brevard six.
A win would give Salem three points and allow the Spirits to leapfrog the Battling Bishops into sixth place. It would also put Salem one-point shy of Greensboro, who is fifth in the league standings with 11 points, and place more significance on Saturday's clash with The Pride.
The Spirits will also do a little scoreboard watching as Brevard makes the trek to Meisenheimer, N.C., to take on Pfeiffer, Salem's most recent opponent. Greensboro will face Methodist on Tuesday evening in Fayetteville, N.C.
SALEM'S STATISTICAL LEADERS
Darilyn Nieto picked up her team-leading 26th-point of the season with an assist on Alyson Gammons' first half goal in the Spirits 2-1 victory over Pfeiffer. Nieto also leads the team in goals (12) as she continues to chase down Tarryn Johnson and Alexi Saganich for the program's record of most goals by a first year, which stands at 15.
Ashley Linden moved her season total to six goals in the victory, delivering the game-winning goal in the second USA South Conference win of the season for the Spirits. Linden has doubled her 2021 goal total of three and has done so on four less shots than a season ago. The Durham, N.C., native has attempted 22 shots on goal this season for the Spirits, resulting in a .611 shot on goal percentage. Linden's ninth career goal also marked her first collegiate game-winning goal.
Olivia Nivens is third on the unit in goals with three, while the quartet of Cristina Battistini, Nathaly Berrezueta, Alyson Gammons and Layla Locklear all have two goals apiece.
The Salem defense, which is made of up Isabel Scott, Serenity Powell, Kylie Clark, Caelan Gaul, Mireya Sanchez and Miriam Moctezuma, has limited opposing offenses to 24 goals and a .109 shot percentage.
Salem senior goalkeepers Jordan Tomberlin and Alexcina Wartski have been the backbone of the defense with a combined 90 saves. Tomberlin leads the way with 71 saves (.816 save percentage), while Wartski has tallied 19 saves and a .679 save percentage.
ANALYZING THE BATTLING BISHOPS
The Battling Bishops make their trek to Winston-Salem with a 6-9 overall record and a 3-4 mark in USA South Conference play.
Since claiming back-to-back wins over Meredith (4-1) and Pfeiffer (4-0) on October 5th and October 8th, respectively, N.C. Wesleyan has dropped its last three outings.
Those setbacks came in succession to Greensboro (3-1), William Peace (3-2) and Methodist (5-1) for N.C. Wesleyan.
Caitlyn Butler is one of five Battling Bishops with at least four goals in the 2022 season, leading the unit with 10. She has one hat trick, which came at Regent on September 13th, and has four goals against USA South opposition.
Claire Bailey ranks second on the team with six goals, while handing out one assist, while teammates Isabel Neall and Kristel Thompson have netted four goals apiece.
Both Jordan Fransee and Anna Yeakey have 34 saves each for N.C. Wesleyan, sharing the team lead. Yeakey has a slight edge in save percentage with .596, while Fransee is boasting a .586 save percentage for the Battling Bishops.