>OPPONENTS:
Salem vs. Randolph | August 30 | 4 p.m. | Varsity Field | Winston-Salem, N.C.
Salem vs. Columbia College | September 2 | 1 p.m. | Varsity Field | Winston-Salem, N.C.

>SPIRITS OPEN SEASON WITH PAIR AT VARSITY FIELD
Salem opens its 2024 campaign with a pair of matches against Randolph (August 30) and Columbia College (September 2) this weekend at Varsity Field. The Spirits begin their fourth season under head coach Robin Ramirez, who has lead the team to consecutive appearances in the USA South Conference Tournament. 

>HOW SALEM HAS FARED IN SEASON OPENERS
The Spirits are 13-2 all-time in season openers, brandishing an 8-2 mark on the road in openers since the program's inception in 2008. Salem's eight road wins in the last 14 seasons have come against Bob Jones (2019), Hollins (2008, 2010), N.C. Wesleyan (2013), Washington Adventist (2014), Warren Wilson (2021) and Regent (2022) and most recently Hollins, which came a season ago.

The last time that Salem opened the regular season at Varsity Field was in 2016, when the Spirits posted a 3-1 victory over Ferrum. That marked the first of 12 consecutive home victories, which stretched into the 2017 season for Salem. The Spirits have opened the regular season on the road for the last six seasons. 

Salem has pitched six shutouts in season-opening contests in program history. The Spirits notched their first-ever shutout in a season opener in 2013, posting a 3-0 victory at N.C. Wesleyan. That trend continued in 2014 when Salem earned a decisive 12-0 win at Washington Adventist on August 31st.

The third season-opening shutout for Salem came in 2017 with a 5-0 victory against Blackburn at the Mount St. Joseph Tournament in Cincinnati, Ohio. Ramirez's unit have been responsible for the most recent season-opening shutouts with a pair of 9-0 victories against Warren Wilson (Sept. 1, 2021) and Regent (Sept. 3, 2022). 

Salem picked up its most recent season-opening shutout last season at Hollins with a decisive 7-0 victory. 

>SPIRITS PICKED 10TH IN PRESEASON USA SOUTH POLLS
The USA South Conference released its preseason coaches poll on Tuesday afternoon. That poll had the Spirits predicted to finish 10th in the league standings in 2024. 

Salem is looking to finish among the Top-8 teams in the league and make its third straight appearance in the USA South Conference tournament in 2024. The Spirits, who have 72 all-time conference victories between the Great South Athletic Conference and the USA South Conference, have earned six league victories since returning to play after missing the 2020 campaign due to COVID-19. 

Southern Virginia was placed atop the rankings thanks to receiving 78 total points and seven of the possible ten first place votes. The Knights finished last season with a perfect 9-0 Conference record to claim the regular season title for a first time. As the USA South Tournament's top-seeded team, SVU swept through to earn the program's first championship. Methodist was second in the poll with 72 points and one first place vote. Brevard, who fell to SVU in last season's League Tournament championship game, rounded out the top-three with 68 points and the final two first place votes.

Since the first Conference women's soccer preseason poll in 2003, the program picked to capture the title has done so just nine times. Conversely, the team picked second has won the Conference championship six times, including the Knights last season.

The 2024 USA South Women's Soccer Tournament will once again be conducted exclusively on campus sites. The top-eight seeded teams will advance to the tournament which will begin with first round action on Saturday, November 2. The semifinals will take place Wednesday, November 6 with the finals occurring on Saturday, November 9. The higher-seeded team in each contest will host that particular match.

>ROSTER BREAKDOWN
The Spirits head into the 2024 season with 20 players on the roster, including 11 newcomers—10 of which are in their first year of collegiate play. Six of the first year players (Isabella Wyatt, Ashley Guzman, Alexia Valente-Arreola, Olivia Slayton, Haley Eisenbraun, Hallie Kramer) stay in state to play for the Spirits. Meanwhile, the remaining first year players are from out-of-state, including Addie Roe (Virginia), Maddie Sharrai (South Carolina), Kylie Toilolo (Utah) and Brie Wilson (Virginia). 

Another newcomer is junior Cheyanne Morrill, who joined the program from Glen Falls, N.Y. Morrill is one of five juniors for head coach Robin Ramirez, who doesn't enter the season with any seniors. The other juniors include Nathaly Berrezueta, Nieto, Cristina Battistini and Serenity Powell. 

Ramirez also has a strong sophomore class with five players, including Doutrich, who posted an .817 save percentage. The trio of Giselle Ramos, Jasmine Solorzano and Sky Sykes also got significant playing time and experience in 2023 and will add experience to the Spirits' lineup. Caitlin Clements returns to the team after missing a bulk of the slate due to injury. 

>RECORD WATCH IN 2024
Two players to watch this season on the all-time records list are teammates Marissa Doutrich and Darilyn Nieto. 

Doutrich enters the season with the fifth-most saves (103) in Salem history, sitting seven shy of Paige Ketchum, who finished her career with 110. The all-time saves leader for the Spirits is Hannah Wagner, who accumulated 279 saves between 2016 and 2019. Jordan Tomberlin, who graduated in 2022, is responsible for the second-most saves, 194. 

In the case of Nieto, the junior forward moved into a fourth-place tie for most all-time goals (30) with Tarryn Bundy after netting a second half goal in a clash with Greensboro on October 28, 2023. Nieto is just one of four players in program history to notch double-digit goals in a single season, scoring 14 in 2022 and 16 in 2023. She is looking to join Brooke Bukas, Sawyer Ferguson and Jordan Lanier as the only four players in Salem history to notch three double-digit goal scoring campaigns. 

>SCOUTING REPORT—RANDOLPH 
The WildCats, who also open their 2024 campaign on Friday at Varsity Field, completed the 2023 season with an 8-8-1 overall record. Two of those wins came in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) action against Ferrum (1-0) and Hollins (6-0) as Randolph finished the season 5-5-0 on the road. 

The WildCats were selected to finish ninth out of the 14-team ODAC conference standings in a preseason coaches poll. 

Virginia Wesleyan was tabbed to win the conference once against as it totaled 162 points and garnered nine first place votes. Last year's ODAC Championship runner-up Washington and Lee came in second with 156 points and five first place votes. The University of Lynchburg is third with a total of 149 points. Bridgewater slots in at fourth, Roanoke fifth, Guilford sixth, Shenandoah seventh, and Randolph-Macon eighth.

Randolph was picked ahead of Averett, Ferrum, Eastern Mennonite, Hollins, and Sweet Briar.

The WildCats return their top scorers from last year in Madison Booker and Sterlyn Woodward. Carlynne Wright returns to the backfield to anchor the defense. Booker and Woodward shared the team-high in goals (six) for Randolph in 2023. 
 

Date	Year	Opponent	Result	Home Score	Opp. Score	OT
Sept. 21	2008	vs.  Randolph	W	1	0
Sept. 30	2009	at Randolph	W	2	1	OT
Sept. 8	2021	at Randolph	W	2	1
Sept. 14	2022	vs. Randolph	L	0	1
S9	2023	at Randolph	L	0	2

>SCOUTING REPORT—COLUMBIA COLLEGE
Columbia enters the 2024 season after closing out the 2023 campaign with a 10-6-3 record, including an 8-5-1 mark in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC). 

The Koalas were led in 2023 by junior Jordan Myers, who delivered 18 goals and two assists, notching five penalty kicks along the way. Meanwhile, teammate Teagan Eisenring, returns in net after making a team-high 70 saves in 2023. 

Columbia opened the season with a clash against Spartanburg Methodist, falling 5-1 on Tuesday afternoon. The Koalas will face Carolina Christian College on Thursday evening at 6 p.m., before squaring off against Salem on Monday. 

Columbia, which finished sixth in the 2023 standings, is led again by long-time coach Robert Hunter. The Koalas were picked to finish seven in the AAC in 2024. 

Truett McConnell (Ga.) received 13 of the 15 first-place votes to land the top spot with 223 points. Tennessee Wesleyan sits second as it received two first-place votes and 212 points. Reinhardt (Ga.) (195 points), Montreat (175 points), and Columbia International (165) round out the top five and are followed by Milligan in 6th and the Lady Koalas in 7th place with 131 voting points.

The match marks the first-ever meething between Columbia and Salem in soccer.