Charleston Face No. 1 Seed JMU in CAA Semifinals

Sunday, October 28

Harrisonburg, VA

1:00 PM

College of Charleston

#1 James Madison

10/27/2018 10:59:00 AM | Women's Soccer

#4 COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON (11-7-1; 5-3-1 CAA) at #1 JAMES MADISON (10-7-1; 7-1-1 CAA)
Game #20, CAA Championship Semifinal • Sun. Oct, 28, 2018 • 1:00 p.m. ET
Harrisonburg, Va. • Sentara Park
Series: Charleston trails 1-6 all-time
Last: Oct. 11, 2018; Charleston lost 2-1 in double overtime

Watch: CAA.TV
Stats: CofCStats
Twitter: @CofCWSOC

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The College of Charleston women's soccer team look to continue making history as they attempt to reach the Colonial Athletic Association Championship game for the first time in program history on Sunday afternoon. The College will face the No. 1 seed James Madison in the semifinal game, with kickoff set for 1 p.m. live on CAA.TV in Harrisonburg, Va.

Scouting James Madison
The Dukes won the regular season CAA title after finishing with a 7-1-1 record in conference play despite entering with a. 3-6 overall record. The lone loss for JMU in the CAA came against Northeastern with two overtime wins against UNCW and The College. After finishing the year against Delaware with a 1-1 draw, the Dukes won the CAA title and a first round bye for the playoffs. Five Dukes earned all-conference honors with head coach Joshua Walters voted coach of the year.

Series History
This will be the seventh meeting in history between the programs with Charleston trailing 1-6 all-time. James Madison picked up five straight wins in the series from 2013 to 2016, winning twice in the latter in both the regular season and conference tournament. Last season the Cougars picked up their first victory over JMU before dropping this year in double overtime.

Last Meeting with JMU
Laura Ortega opened the scoring midway through the second half, but the single goal wasn't enough for Charleston as the Dukes came back to level and eventually take the three points in double overtime. Ortega's goal came after good work by Alyssa Beck, the junior reading a pass from the JMU goalkeeper, intercepting and playing across for Ortega to finish. James Madison finished from close range minutes later to level the game before counter-attacking with 30 seconds left of double overtime to take the three conference points.

Quotable – Head Coach Christian Michner
"The semifinal on Sunday against JMU will be another tough one. I expect it will be two very good teams that have a similar style of play that will test each other, and each has the ability to score a lot of goals. We will have to rest our legs and make sure we're ready to battle on Sunday. I'm excited for this team and for the chance to play another one."

Notables
• Charleston have reached the CAA semifinal round for the first time in program history
• Senior forward Laura Ortega was named the 2018 CAA Player of the Year
• Ortega earned First Team All-CAA honors, Rachel Kim tabbed second team, Raymara Barreto third team and Hannah Farmer all-rookie honors
• The College have the highest CAA Championship seed in program history after finishing with a 5-3-1 conference record
• Charleston have reached ten wins for the third time under head coach Christian Michner
• Charleston have won five of their last eight matches
• Laura Ortega is the all-time points and all-time goals leader in Charleston history
• 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 11 matches have been decided by a single goal or less with CofC holding a 6-4-1 record over those past eight games
• Ortega was named CAA Player of the Week on Sept. 24
• 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 (1,601)
• 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

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, 68 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 also broke the all-time goals record with a game-winner against UNCW to move onto 25 goals. She is also two assists from the all-time assists record at Charleston.

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.