VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State women's soccer team returns home to host Spring Hill College and West Florida this week at the VSU Soccer Complex.  The Blazers and the Badgers are set for a 7 p.m. kick on Friday, Oct. 20, while VSU entertains the Argonauts on Sunday, Oct. 22, at 1 p.m. for Senior Day.
 
The 2023 Senior Class includes; Landon Carter, Morghan Craven, Asti Luff, Courtney Magnan, Ana Moleka, Taylor Morris and Ashley Puentes.  Best of luck to each of these outstanding student athletes in their future endeavors.  The senior day festivities will begin at approximately 12:45 p.m. Sunday.
 
VSU is coming off a 2-2 road trip over the last two weekends capped with a 7-0 victory Sunday at Shorter. The seven goals were the most scored in a match thus far this season, while VSU posted five goals in first half against the Hawks.  Six different Blazers scored in the game, while junior Molly Muenchen scored her first two goals of her career, one in the run of play and one on a penalty kick.  In goal, all three keepers were part of the shutout as sophomore Claire Timberlake played the first 45 minutes, and junior Emma Pruett and freshman Tori Vliet split time in the final 45 minutes.  VSU outshot the Hawks 33-4 and 17-4 in shots on target.
 
The Blazers enter the final home weekend of the regular season 7-4-3 overall and 5-4-1 in Gulf South Conference play.  This season, VSU is second in the GSC in corner kicks per game at a 6.5 clip for 22^ndnationally, while the team is fourth in the GSC in points per game (5.93) for 35^th nationally.  VSU leads the GSC in shots on goal per game (8.07) for 37^th nationally.  VSU is third in the league in total assists (21) for 27^th nationally, while it is 22^nd nationally in total goals (31) for third in the league and the team is 21^stnationally in total points (83) for third in the league.  
 
Moleka leads the team with seven goals for 43^rd nationally and third in the GSC, while she is fourth in total points (17) for 53^rd nationally.  Junior Molly Wooldridge is second on the team in goals scored (5) and has 13 points with three assists.  
 
Head coach Stephen Andrew is in his seventh season at the helm of the Blazers and is 197-99-19 all-time as a coach in his 17^th season.  At VSU, he is 57-44-10 at VSU as he owns the school-record for victories. 
 
Looking at the GSC Standings heading down the wire in the season, Lee leads the standings with an 8-0-1 record overall and a 10-0-3 mark overall.  West Florida is second with an 8-1 record in league play and a 11-1-1 mark overall.  Mississippi College sits third with a 7-2 record in league play and an 8-2-1 mark overall.  VSU, West Alabama and West Georgia all are tied with 16 conference points (5-4-1) for fourth, while Union is seventh at 5-4 in league play and Alabama Huntsville is eighth at 4-4-2 in league play.  
 
The top eight teams in the final conference standings will earn a berth in the GSC postseason championship.  The quarterfinal matchups will be held at campus sites on Nov. 4, 2023. The top four seeds will earn hosting duties for the quarterfinal round.
 
Spring Hill College enters at 5-8-1 overall and 2-6-1 in league play.  The Badgers are coming off a pair of losses at home versus Union (2-0) and Christian Brothers (4-1) last weekend.  SHC is 0-3-1 in its last four matches and 1-6-1 in the last eight after starting the season 4-2.  
 
The Badgers feature one of the top goal scorers in all of Division II in Poppy Binding who is 11^th nationally and tops in the league in goals scored with ten.  She is 24^th nationally and tops in the GSC in points scored (21), while she is fourth in the league in shooting percentage (.514) with 37 shots and 19 on target.  Madison Hitzman is second in scoring with 11 points on four goals and three assists.  She has 13 shots and eight on frame.  In goal, Carlotta Stark has played 1074:29 minutes with 29 goals allowed, 48 saves and faced 150 shots.  She has a 2.43 goals against average for the season and is 5-8-1 on the year.  Head coach Samantha Thomsit is in her second season at the helm of the Badgers.  She is 6-22-2 at SHC.
 
VSU leads the all-time series 6-0-2 and has won the last five meetings in the series.  The Blazers have outscored the Badgers 24-4 in the eight meetings in the series.  SHC's last goal came in a 1-1 tie in Mobile, Ala., on Sept. 25, 2016.  Since, VSU has outscored the Badgers 29-0 over the current winning streak.  SHC has not scored a goal against VSU in the last 512:26 minutes.  Last season, VSU posted a 2-0 victory on Sept. 18, 2022, in Mobile, Ala., on a pair of goals from current junior Victoria Bahr.  VSU out shot the Badgers 22-6 and 12-4 in shots on goal, while Pruett posted the shutout with four saves.
 
The Blazers then will face West Florida on Sunday at 1 p.m. for Senior Day.  The Senior Day festivities will begin approximately at 12:45 p.m., prior to the 1 p.m. kick.   The Argos have won four-straight matches dating back to a 2-1 loss against Lee on Oct. 1, for their only setback of the season so far.  During the winning streak, UWF has not allowed a goal, outscoring the competition 7-0 for a span of 379:51 minutes.
 
Leading the way for UWF this season is Mya Swinton who leads the conference in assists (5), while she is third in the league in goals scored (7) and second in points (19).  Swinton is fourth in the league in shots per game (3.08) and sixth in shots on goal per game (1.31).  In goal, Maciah Lipsey is second in the GSC in goals against average (0.522) for 25^th nationally.  She is 10-1-1 on the year with 23 saves and six shutouts.  
 
As a team, the Argos lead the nation in corner kicks per game at 9.23 with 120 corners, while allowing just 14 corner kicks this season.  UWF is 20^th nationally in total points scored (86) for second in the GSC< while="" it="" is="">^th nationally in total goals (32) and second in the league.   UWF also is second in the GSC and 20^thnationally in total assists (20).  The Argos average 2.46 goals per game for 23^rd nationally and second in the league, while the team has a 0.462 GAA average for 15^th nationally and second in the league.
 
Head coach Joe Bartlinski is in his 23^rd season at the helm of the Argos.  He is 359-63-27 at UWF.  VSU is 1-11-4 all-time against UWF and has dropped the last three in the series, while going 0-7-2 since a 2-1 win in Pensacola, Fla., on Nov. 7, 2014, in the conference tournament for the lone victory in the series.