Cougars Face UNCW Thursday Night in Final Home Game

Thursday, October 18

Mt. Pleasant, S.C.

7:00 PM

College of Charleston

UNCW

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Cougars Face UNCW Thursday Night in Final Home Game

10/17/2018 11:16:00 AM | Women's Soccer

COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON (9-6-1; 4-2-1 CAA) vs. UNCW (8-5; 2-4 CAA)
Game #17 • Thurs. Oct. 18, 2018 • 7:00 p.m. ET
Charleston, S.C. • Patriots Point Soccer Complex
Series: Charleston trails 3-9-1 all-time
Last: Oct. 19, 2017; UNCW won 1-0

Watch: Charleston Sports Network
Stats: CofCStats.com
Twitter: @CofCWSOC

CHARLESTON, S.C. – In the final home game of the 2018 season, the College of Charleston women's soccer team face UNCW at Patriots Point on Thursday evening. Having secured a Colonial Athletic Association playoff spot, the Cougars looks to continue their strong run of form which has seen them win three out of the past five matches, including a victory over the conference leaders last weekend.

Charleston sits in fourth position in the CAA standings (13 points) with only two conference matchups remaining. Winning both could see the Cougars jump into one of the top two positions in the conference, which would see them host the opening rounds of the CAA Tournament for the first time in program history.

Tickets are set at $6 for adults and $3 for youth (18 and under) with the game also broadcast live on the Charleston Sports Network.

Scouting UNCW
The Seahawks (8-5) check in at No. 62 in the latest NCAA RPI rankings despite sitting at 2-4 in the conference slate. Notable non-conference wins for UNCW include a 3-1 victory over VCU to open the season and a 4-3 win over UNCG. During CAA play, every matchup but one has been decided by a single goal. Losses have come against Northeastern (1-0), Hofstra (2-1), James Madison (3-2) and most recently Delaware (2-1). Wins for the Seahawks have come over William & Mary and Drexel.

Series History
This will be the 14^th meeting in history between the programs and the sixth under head coach Christian Michner. Charleston trail in the series 3-9-1 and are 1-3-1 in the Michner/CAA era. The last victory for The College came back in 2014, a 1-0 win behind Sarah Cardamone's 14^th minute goal.

Last Meeting with the Seahawks
A UNCW goal in the 4^th minute proved to be enough for the Seahawks to take a 1-0 win in Wilmington last October. Laura Ortega led the Cougar attack with five efforts, three on target, while Genevieve Henderson made five saves in goal.

Quotable – Head Coach Christian Michner
"We've had an exciting few days with a big win on Sunday and the energy is awesome at the moment. The test for us will be to continue to play at a high level and to not have a letdown in energy or attitude on Thursday night. We know that UNCW will be a very difficult team to play against, they always are… We are all fighting for position in the playoffs and this team knows that every moment counts going down the stretch. We obviously want to go after as many points as we can get to give ourselves the best seed going in to the CAA tournament. Ultimately, this conference is so tight from game to game that just qualifying for the playoffs is the number one goal, and then at that point anyone can really go on to win it all. We're all looking forward to facing our CAA coastal rivals on Thursday."

Notables
• The College have guaranteed a play-off spot with a top-six finish in the CAA
• Charleston have won three of their last five matches
• Laura Ortega is now in a tie for first place in the all-time goals list at The College (24 goals)
• Ali Freitas scored her first goal of the season against Northeastern
• Meredith Holton recorded her first win of the season in goal against the Huskies
• Hannah Farmer scored her first collegiate goal against Towson
• Rachel Kim and Raymara Barreto scored their first goals of the season at Towson
• The Cougars last nine matches have been decided by a single goal or less with CofC holding a 5-3-1 record over those past eight games
• Ortega was named CAA Player of the Week on Sept. 24 and is now the sole all-time career points leader at the College of Charleston
• Ortega is two assists from tying the program records of 22
• Meredith Tunney continues to be the only Charleston student-athlete to play every minute of every game this season (1,511)
• Tunney was named CAA Defender of the Week on Sept. 10
• Charleston picked up their first win over William & Mary in program history on Sept. 20
• Maddy Brill-Edwards got her first assist of the season against Coastal Carolina before getting her second against Florida International

Last Time Out
Charleston defeated CAA leaders Northeastern, who were undefeated in conference play, behind Laura Ortega's game winning in the closing stages of the game. On senior day, Charleston started the brighter with Ali Freitas opening the scoring in the 27^th minute with a cool finish into the bottom right corner. The Huskies leveled on the stroke of half-time with a finish into the top left corner but in the second half the chances again fell to the Cougars. Megan Classer had an effort tipped onto the crossbar before seeing a shot saved from point-blank range minutes later. Ortega then stepped up with the game-winner, a deflected effort that found the top-right corner, to move into a tie for the most goals in program history (24) and give CofC the 2-1 win.

Record Breaker
CAA Preseason Co-Player of the Year Laura Ortega took control of the all-time points record by scoring two goals in two games on Sept. 20 & 23. Ortega, 66 career points, tied the record with a last-minute game-winning free-kick against William & Mary. She then took control of the record book with a 35-yard free-kick against Drexel on Sept. 23., before adding to her own record against Elon and most recently James Madison. Ortega tyed the career record of 24 set by Kristin Rhyne (2003-05) with a game-winner against Northeastern on senior day, she is also third all-time in assists with 20 (two from tying the career record).

Cougars Summary
The College was picked to finish sixth in the Colonial Athletic Association by the league's coaches. Charleston returns 24 letterwinners, including nine starters, while adding 11 newcomers to the roster. The 2018 squad will be led by 2017 All-CAA selection Laura Ortega who led the offense last season with eight goals and five assists; good for 21 points. Senior defender Maddy Brill-Edwards is a Preseason All-CAA selection alongside Ortega who is also the Preseason Co-Player of the Year.