>OPPONENTS:
Salem at Agnes Scott | September 6 | 7 p.m. | Decatur, Ga.
Salem at Wesleyan (Ga.) | September 8 | 12 p.m. | Mathews Athletic Complex | Macon, Ga.
>SPIRITS OPEN SEASON WITH PAIR AT VARSITY FIELD
Salem soccer returns to the pitch for its first road matches of the 2024 campaign when the team makes a trek to Georgia to face both Agnes Scott (September 6) and Wesleyan (Ga.) (September 8) in a three-day stretch.
>SALEM COMPLETES OPENING WEEKEND
The Spirits completed an unusual opening weekend of action at Varsity Field. Salem opened the 2024 campaign with a match against Randolph on Friday, August 30th, which was halted in the 18th-minute due to a thunderstorm that brought lightning to Varsity Field.
Salem then returned to the field on Monday, September 2nd, to host Columbia College (S.C.) out of the NAIA's Appalachian Athletic Conference.
>RECAPPING CLASH WITH KOALAS
Darilyn Nieto sent a pass from teammate
Hallie Kramer in net in the 89th-minute to halt a shutout performance by Columbia College (S.C.), and in the process became fourth on the all-time goals scored list with 31 in her illustrious career. The goal broke a tie with Tarryn Bundy, who closed out her career at Salem with 30, and marked the lone strike for Salem in a 6-1 setback to Columbia College on Monday afternoon at Varsity Field.
The Koalas picked up their second victory of the season, first-ever against Salem, by virtue of a six-goal performance. Malia Kincaid opened scoring with a goals in the second and 10th-minute of play, providing Columbia's offense with a 2-0 advantage.
Kinzly Cohen extended the Koalas' advantage to 3-0 in the 11th-minute with a strike of her own. The margin reached four for Columbia in the 19th-minute of play when Tianna Roberts found the back of the net.
Kincaid drove a shot off her foot in the 29th-minute, past a diving
Marissa Doutrich, to record a hat trick with her third goal of the afternoon. The sixth and final goal of the contest for the Koalas came five minutes later by virtue of Kimia Hughley.
Nieto's second half goal in the 89th-minute was the lone goal of the half.
>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.
After a 10-save performance against Columbia College (S.C.) on Monday, Doutrich becomes fourth on the program's all-time saves list with 113 to her credit. She entered the season 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 became fourth-place for most all-time goals (31). Nieto broke the tie with Tarryn Bundy after netting a second half goal against the Koalas. 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.
