>OPPONENTS:
Salem vs. Warren Wilson | September 13 | 4:30 p.m. | Swannanoa, N.C.
Salem vs. Johnson & Wales | September 14 | 12:00 p.m. | Charlotte, N.C.

>SALEM CONTINUES ROAD SWING WITH WEEKEND MATCHES
The Salem soccer team continues its road swing, which will consist of five matches total, this weekend when the Spirits head to Swannanoa, N.C., to face Warren Wilson (Friday) before traveling to Charlotte, N.C., for a clash with Johnson & Wales on Saturday afternoon at 12 p.m. 

>SPIRITS CLAIM BACK-TO-BACK WINS IN GEORGIA 
Salem spent three days in the Peach State, playing Agnes Scott (September 6) and Wesleyan (September 8) in that span. The Spirits claimed two wins in that span, outscoring their opponents by a 10-3 margin, as the Scotties and Wolves combined for just 13 shots (8 shots on goal) due to the Spirits' stifling defensive efforts. 

vs. Agnes Scott: The Salem soccer team opened its two-match, three-day road trip to Georgia with an impressive 4-2 victory over host Agnes Scott on Friday, September 6th. Salem received two goals each from Darilyn Nieto, resulting in the first win of the season and the 17th in the storied rivalry between the two programs.

vs. Wesleyan: Salem junior Darilyn Nieto delivered three first half goals, while teammate Nathaly Berrezueta netted two and Alexia Valente-Arreola added one, to help the Spirits complete a 6-1 victory over Wesleyan (Ga.) on Sunday afternoon in Macon.

>GOALS, GOALS & MORE GOALS
Salem has scored 11 goals through its first three matches this season from four different players. 

Darilyn Nieto leads all Salem scorers in both goals (six) and points (14), while teammates Nathaly Berrezueta and Alexia Valente-Arreola have added two goals apiece. Giselle Ramos has also contributed one strike for the Spirits to go along with one assist. 

Additionally, it has been a team effort in scoring the goals with seven assists from six different players. Nieto is the only player on the team with multiple assists (two), while Ramos, Berrezueta, Haley Eisenbraun, Hallie Kramer and Sky Sykes have facilitated the offense with one assist each. 

>APPRECIATING THE UNSUNG
Unfortunately, in soccer one of the units that is the most unsung is the defense. In football there are tackles and sacks, in basketball there are blocked shots and rebounds and like with hockey there are saves for a goaltender. 

However, this season's Salem defense, led by returnees Serenity Powell, Sky Sykes and Jasmin Solorzano along with first-year additions Hallie Kramer, Kylie Toilolo and Brie Wilson, has definitely made an impact on the match. As a result, Salem has started the season with a 2-1 mark for the third time in the last three seasons.

>CLIMBING UP THE CHARTS
With six goals in her first three matches of the season, junior Darilyn Nieto has not only moved into sole possession of fourth-place on the program's all-time scoring list, but she now sits 10 goals shy of tying Sawyer Ferguson (2011-14) for the all-time mark in program history. 

Nieto is now two goals shy of Brooke Bukas (2014-17), who finished with 38 goals, third-most in Salem history. She is also five from tying Jordan Lanier (2014-17), who tallied 41 in her career, and ranks second. 

Nieto has six hat tricks to her credit, most in program history, has been a strong starter for the Spirits in each of her first three seasons. Through the first three games of the season in her first three years at Salem, Nieto has tallied 20 goals, including six in 2024. Her best three-match stretch to open the slate came in 2023, when she tallied nine goals, including a five-goal outing against Hollins (September 1). In her first year, she exploded for five goals in her first three performances. 

Sophomore goalkeeper Marissa Doutrich has also made an impact on the record book with 115 career saves to her credit. Doutrich entered the season seven shy of Paige Ketchum, who finished her career with 110, and came through with 10 saves versus Columbia (September 2) and two in a win over Agnes Scott last weekend. 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. 

>SCOUTING REPORT—WARREN WILSON
The Owls will face Salem in their fourth match of the season after suffering a series of setbacks to William Peace (2-0), Pfeiffer (4-1) and Asbury University (Ky.) (6-0) in succession. 

Warren Wilson ended the 2023 campaign on a five-match losing streak, following 2-2 tie with Sweet Briar on October 8th. The last win for the Owls came on October 1, 2022 over Campbellsville-Harrodsburg by a 4-0 margin. 

Mia West is the only Owl with a goal this season, while Callie Aerni leads the way with 42 saves (0.788 save pct.). 
 

Date	Year	Opponent	Result	Home Score	Opp. Score
Oct. 10	2010	at Warren Wilson	W	7	0
Sept. 19	2010	vs.  Warren Wilson	W	6	0
Sept. 18	2011	at Warren Wilson	W	4	0
Oct. 1	2012	vs.  Warren Wilson	W	4	3
Sept. 20	2014	at Warren Wilson	W	3	1
Sept. 1	2015	vs.  Warren Wilson	W	5	1
Sept. 1	2021	at Warren Wilson	W	9	0

>SCOUTING REPORT—JOHNSON & WALES
Johnson & Wales is 1-3 heading into its match with Salem this weekend. The Wildcats reached that mark after opening the season with a 2-1 setback to USC Lancaster in late August. On September 4th, Johnson & Wales added its first win, but four days later Eastern Mennonite emerged with a 1-0 win in Pineville, N.C. 

Johnson & Wales dropped its most recent outing, which came against Ferrum on Sept. 11th by a 2-0 margin in Virginia. 

The lone goal scorer for the Wildcats is Elizabeth Parsells, while Katie Douglas has the only assist. Both Zoe Balmer (two saves) and Hanna Ciplickas (one) have a stop in net for Johnson & Wales. 
 

Date	Year	Opponent	Result	Home Score	Opp. Score
Sept. 10	2022	vs. Johnson & Wales (NC)	W	3	0
Sept. 19	2023	at Johnson & Wales (NC)	T	0	0