VALDOSTA, Ga. – The 2024 Valdosta State women's soccer season gets underway on Thursday at 6 p.m. versus Middle Georgia at the VSU Soccer Complex.  VSU then will travel to North Greenville for a Saturday match at 4 p.m. in Tigerville, S.C.
 
Fans can access links to live stats, audio/video streaming, ticket information and more at vstateblazers.com on the women's soccer schedule page.  New this season all home matches and all Gulf South Conference matches will be streamed on FloFC.  
 
For fans eager to watch fall sports, subscribe to pay $14.99 per month or $99.99 per year ($8.33/month). Additionally, those who use a .edu email from a GSC member institution will be able to sign up at a discounted subscription price of $9.99 per month or $69.99 for the year ($5.83/month). The negotiated promotional pricing for GSC fans will be available on the landing page. Fans choosing to sign up via other links or pages may not receive the full benefit of promotional pricing. As part of their subscription, fans receive access to all FloSports verticals. Subscriptions can be canceled at any time.
 
Blazer head women's soccer coach Stephen Andrew begins his eighth season at the helm of the Blazers as he is 58-46-11 at VSU for the winningest coach in program history.  Andrew is 46-31-7 in GSC play.   He is 198-101-20 all-time in 17 years of coaching at Piedmont College, Huntingdon College and VSU.  Andrew and the Blazers are coming off an 8-6-4 season in 2023 and a 6-5-2 mark in GSC play.
 
The Blazers were picked sixth in the GSC Preseason Coaches Poll, released in August as senior forward Molly Wooldridge and junior defender Caroline Kimmel were named to the preseason all-league team.  West Florida was tabbed league favorite as the Argonauts topped the preseason poll for the first time since 2019, collecting 143 points and 11 of 12 first-place votes.  UWF enters the 2024 season as the league's defending regular season champion. 
 
Reigning GSC tournament champion Lee was picked second with 129 points and two first-place votes. Mississippi College landed in the third spot with 123 points, followed by Montevallo (110) and Union (95) at fourth and fifth, respectively.
 
The Blazers checked in with 90 points for sixth, while West Alabama collected 72 points, followed by Alabama Huntsville with 70 points.  League newcomer Trevecca Nazarene garnered 52 points for ninth, while Christian Brothers rounded out the top ten with 47 points.  Auburn Montgomery (30), followed by Delta State (29) and Spring Hill College (24) concluded the poll.
 
Kimmel, a Peachtree, Ga., native, played in 16 games with two shots on target and logged 1,208 minutes on the Blazer backline in 2023.  She was named to the GSC Academic Honor Roll and earned College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors.  For her career, she has played in 30 games with 27 starts, registering three shots with one on frame and logged 2,275 minutes. 
 
Wooldridge, a native of Kennesaw, Ga., earned second team all-league honors in 2023 finishing with seven goals, three assists and 17 points.  She had a team-high 45 shots (.156) with 25 on frame (.556) and three game winners, while logging 1,210 minutes in 18 matches with 12 starts.  Wooldridge has played in 53 matches with 43 starts and has scored 21 goals with six assists for 48 points.  She earned GSC Freshman of the Year honors and second team all-league in 2021 along with the all-league accolades last season.
 
Middle Georgia (0-2) is in its first year of transitioning from NAIA to NCAA Division II and the Knights dropped a 6-0 decision to No. 16-ranked Savannah College of Art and Design (NCAA DIII) and a 4-1 loss to NAIA-foe Rocky Mountain College (Mont.) in the Knights' home-opener on Monday.  The Knights have 12 shots for the season with five on target and one goal, while registering 11 saves for the season.  Aroa Pena leads the team with one goal on the season against Rocky Mountain College.  She has three shots for the season and two on frame to lead the team.  
 
In goal, the Knights have used two goalkeepers as Iqra Noor has logged 149:20 minutes allowing nine goals with nine saves and Hollie Keefe has allowed one goal with two saves in 30:40 minutes against SCAD to begin the season.  Last season, the Knights went 4-11-3 and 2-6-2 in the Southern States Athletic Conference (NAIA).  Head coach Vinny Gill is in his 16^th season at Middle Georgia.  
 
This will be the first meeting on the pitch between VSU and Middle Georgia in a regulation game as the teams have met in preseason scrimmages before.  MGA will face a number of Division II schools this season and play a SSAC slate as it was picked seventh in the preseason SSAC Preseason Coaches Poll.  
 
North Greenville opens the 2024 season Thursday also, playing at Lander.  The Trailblazers were picked fourth in the Conference Carolinas Preseason Coaches Poll after an 11-5-2 record in 2023 and a 9-1-2 mark in league play.  The Trailblazers (then Crusaders) lost to Francis Marion (S.C.) in the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament last season.  
 
The Trailblazers return Haleigh Holland in goal who earned second team all-league honors a season ago as she started 18 matches and logged 1475:30 minutes.  She allowed 19 goals with a 1.16 GAA, had 56 saves and faced 162 shots with six shutouts and four combined shutouts.  Aleisha Lamb returns as she tied for the team-lead with 14 points last season on five goals and four assists.  She had 24 shots with 11 on target and two game winners.  Valerie Hernandez also returns with five goals and two assists a season ago, while defender Kyle McIlravy also returns on the backline.  
 
This is the first meeting between the two teams and NGU head coach Katie Crim is no stranger to the GSC as she graduated from Mississippi College in 2020 and had a standout career for the Choctaws earning All-America honors.  
 
Following the two matches this week, the Blazers continue on the road at Embry-Riddle on Sept. 11, before returning home to host Georgia Southwestern at 6 p.m. at the VSU Soccer Complex.