VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State women's soccer team will open the 2019 season Sunday evening at 6 p.m. versus Clayton State at the VSU Soccer Field.  
 
VSU originally was going to open the season Thursday at Florida Southern, but the game was postponed due to Hurricane Dorian and a makeup date hasn't been set yet.  The Blazers finished the 2018 season 11-7 overall and 9-4 in Gulf South Conference play.  VSU qualified for the GSC Tournament for the second-straight year.  
 
Under the direction of third-year head coach Stephen Andrew, the Blazers return a ton of talent from last season and look to return to the NCAA playoffs for the first time since 2014.  VSU senior Ashley 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.
 
VSU junior defender Lexie Hall was selected to the GSC Preseason All-Conference Team in 2019 after earning first team all-conference honors last season.  Hall played in 14 matches last season with 12 starts, while scoring one goal and three assists for five points.  She had seven shots with three on frame and converted her one penalty kick opportunity. The Jacksonville, Fla., native, helped a backline for the Blazers to a 1.23 goals against average for the season and eight shutouts.  She has played in 32 matches with 25 starts, recording four assists and scoring one goal for her career.  
 
Also returning for the Blazers this season is second team all-conference selection from a season ago in senior Riley 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 sophomore Samantha 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.
 
VSU was picked fifth in the preseason Gulf South Conference poll, released last month and junior defender Lexie Hall was named to the GSC All-Preseason Team for third-year head coach Stephen 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. 
 
Clayton State opens the season Thursday at home versus Auburn Montgomery, before heading to VSU for Sunday's match.  The Lakers went 6-6-4 last season and 3-5-2 in the Peach Belt Conference.  Clayton State was picked eighth in the PBC Preseason Poll.  
 
The Lakers are led by senior Manoly Baquerizo, who started all 16 games last season, logging 1,429 minutes.  She. Had eight goals with 21 points and five assists.  Baquerizo had the game winning goal with 19 seconds left against Valdosta State last season in the second game of the year.  Also returning this season is Pia Haug, who had three goals and one assist for seven points a season ago.  Moa Loftman returns after recording three assists last season. Between the posts, Hannah Richards returns as she played all 1527:09 minutes with a 1.71 goals against average, recorded 68 saves and tallied two shutouts.  

In the game last season in Morrow, Ga., VSU held a 12-10 lead in shots and an 8-5 lead in shots on target, but Baquerizo found the back of the net on an assist from Loftman off a corner kick with 19 seconds left. Lewis had three shots with two on frame in the game, while Baquerizo had two shots on target with the lone goal.  Embler had four saves in the loss, while Richards tallied eight saves for Clayton State and the clean sheet.
 
The Blazers and Lakers have met four times with each team winning twice on its home field.  VSU leads the series in goals scored, 6-5, and have outscored Clayton State 5-2 in games in Valdosta, while CSU has outscored the Blazers 3-1 in Morrow.  
 
Following Sunday's game, VSU heads to North Georgia and Young Harris next Friday and Sunday and then travels to Albany State for a Sept. 18 matchup with the Golden Rams.  VSU returns home to host Montevallo and Auburn Montgomery Sept 27-29 in the Gulf South Conference opening weekend.  
 
Check back with vstateblazers.com all season long for information on Blazer Women's Soccer and all of VSU's 12 intercollegiate athletic teams.