VALDOSTA, Ga. – Coming off a disappointing 2-1 loss to Clayton State on Sunday evening in the 2019 season-opener, the Valdosta State women's soccer team heads on the road for the first time this season as it travels to North Georgia and Young Harris for a pair of matches.  
 
The Blazers and the Nighthawks are scheduled to kick at 5 p.m. on Friday in Dahlonega, Ga., and fans can access links to live stats and streaming of both matches this weekend at vstateblazers.com.  The Nighthawks enter with a 2-0 record, including a 2-0 road win over West Georgia last week and have outscored the opposition 6-1 to open the season.  Young Harris is 0-3 on the season.  
 
North Georgia was picked in the top three of the Peach Belt Conference preseason poll for the fifth-straight year as UNG was picked third by the league's coaches.  The Nighthawks, under the direction of long-time head coach Chris Adams, return 15 players and seven starters from last season, including Oliva Dumphy and Taylor Malasek, who both were named to the preseason all-conference team.
 
For the 2019 season, Malasek leads the team with two goals on 10 shots with five on frame, while Katey Derkay has a goal and an assist for three points on seven shots with three on target. She has one of the two game winners. Dumphy and Jazmin Adlam each have two assists on the year.  Between the pipes, Morgan Ramby has started all 180 minutes thus far, allowing one goal, recording three saves and tallying one shutout.
 
UNG leads the all-time series with VSU 2-0 and has outscored the Blazers 5-0 in the two games.  The Blazers and the Nighthawks last played in 2015 in Valdosta with UNG winning 3-0 on Sept. 4.  The first meeting in the series happened in 2014 in Dahlonega as UNG won 2-0 on Sept. 5.  
 
The Young Harris Mountain Lions have dropped their first three games of the season and been outscored 7-3. YHC lost 2-1 to West Georgia, along with a 3-1 loss to then-No. 21 Carson-Newman and suffered a 2-1 loss to Tusculum on Tuesday.  
 
For the season, YHC is led by Juliana Alarcon who has two goals and one assist for five points.  She has seven shots with five on goal to lead the team. Hannah Behner has two assists for the season with six hits and one on goal, while Aimee Durn scored a goal on five shots and one on target.  
 
The Mountain Lions were selected sixth in the 2019 PBC Coaches Poll and finished the 2018 season 6-9-1 overall and 4-6 in PBC play under head coach Rob King.  
 
The Blazers scored an early goal, just 7:14 into the contest on Sunday versus Clayton State, but was unable to keep the lead as the Lakers leveled the match at one on a goal by Janne Brouer off a corner kick.  The Lakers then scored the eventual game winner in the 35^thminute after a turnover by the Blazers and score from Manoly Baquerizo. VSU had its chances in the second half, but was unable to get the equalizer.  
 
VSU sophomore Kyleigh Reedy scored the first goal off an assist from junior Lexie Hall on a shot from about 20 yards out as Laker keeper Valentina Bonaiuto came out to challenge and the ball went past her for the score.    Sophomore Lauren Hicks had a team-high three shots with two on frame.  Sophomore Samantha Blanford took the loss in goal, allowing two scores and had eight saves in the contest.  
 
The Blazers were picked fifth in the preseason Gulf South Conference poll, released last month and Hall was named to the GSC All-Preseason Team for third-year head coachStephen Andrew.  Hall, who earned first team all-conference honors last season, also earned second team D2CCA all-region honors last season, playing in 15 matches with 13 starts.  She scored one goal and recorded three assists for five points.  She had seven shots with three on frame and was 1-1 in penalty kicks for the season while logging 1,241 minutes for fourth on the team. Hall helped lead the Blazer back line to eight shutouts and a 1.27 goals against average for the season. 
 
VSU seniorAshley Lewis earned second team all-conference honors last season as she set numerous school records, becoming the all-time leading scorer in a single season and for a career in 2018.  She has played in 37 games with 23 starts in two years, while logging 2,008 minutes with 102 shots and 51 on frame.  She set a school-record with nine game winners and has scored 22 goals for her career with three assists and 47 points.
 
Also returning for the Blazers this season is second team all-conference selection from a season ago in seniorRiley Tennant.  Tennant scored seven goals with three assists for 17 points.  She fired 26 shots with 16 on target and two game winners, while logging 922 minutes in 17 matches with 15 starts.  A Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native, has played in 53 matches with 48 starts, while logging 3,401 minutes in her career at VSU.  She has 19 goals scored for 44 points with six assists, while recording 80 shots with 47 on frame and four game winners.
 
Redshirt senior Taylor Snell also returns for 2019 after sitting out last season due to injury.  She had a record-setting 2017 season as she became the Blazers' first All-America honoree in program history.  She posted 12 goals in 2017 in her first season as a Blazer to earn honorable mention All-America honors by the D2CCA.  That season, she earned first team all-region honors and earned second team United Soccer Coaches Association all-region accolades.  
 
Between the pipes, VSU returns both goalkeepers from 2018 in junior Caroline Embler and Blanford.  Embler went 8-7 last season with a 1.15 goals against average in 16 games and 15 starts. She had 76 saves, allowing 16 goals with five shutouts and faced 161 shots.  Blanford went 3-0 in eight games with three starts, while allowing seven goals and recording 15 saves.
 
Following the games this weekend, VSU continues on the road at Albany State on Sept. 18 and then return home to open Gulf South Conference play versus Montevallo and Auburn Montgomery on Sept. 27 and Sept. 29, respectively.