VALDOSTA, Ga. – Fresh off its first win of the season, the Valdosta State women's soccer team returns home to host No. 8 Embry-Riddle on Wednesday at 6 p.m. and then opens Gulf South Conference play entertaining Montevallo on Saturday at 3 p.m.  Both matches will be at the VSU Soccer Complex.
 
The Blazers enter with a 1-1-2 record overall after a 1-0 win at Georgia Southwestern Sunday evening.  Junior Taylor Youmans scored her second goal of the season with an assist from sophomore Anna Dandeneau at the 23:00 mark of the match.  Blazer senior goalkeeper Claire Timberlake provided her first clean sheet of the season with three saves.  
 
Fans can access links to live stats and audio/video streaming of the matches at vstateblazers.com on the women's soccer schedule page.  The matches will be broadcast on FloCollege with Derrick Weyand having the call.  
 
All Gulf South Conference matches and all VSU home matches will be streamed on FloCollege this season.  FloCollege will be $19.99 per month or $107.88 per year ($8.99/month).  Subscribers who use with a .EDU email from a GSC institution (affiliates included) will receive discounted subscription options of $9.99 per month or $71.88 for the year ($5.99/month). Subscriptions can be cancelled at anytime. To ensure discounted prices, GSC fans are encouraged to sign up using the GSC Landing Page or via the game links on the schedule of their favorite team's website. 
 
Embry-Riddle enters at 1-0-1 as it defeated then-No. 2 Columbus State 2-1 in the season-opener and tied No. 7 West Florida on Sept. 7, 2-2.  ERAU had a 2-0 lead at UWF in the first half, before the Argos scored one goal late in the first half and one in the 72^nd minute to tie.  Against Columbus State ERAU scored two goals in the first 4:20 of the contest as CSU found the back of the net in the 89^th minute.  Ironically, the two shots and goals by ERAU were the only two shots of the contest as CSU held a 12-2 advantage in shots.  
 
The Eagles were picked fourth in the Preseason Sunshine State Conference poll as Florida Tech was tabbed league-favorite, followed by Nova Southeastern, Rollins and ERAU.  Head coach Liam McIlhatton returns to helm the program and is looking for his sixth-straight trip to the NCAA postseason since he began at ERAU in 2022. 
 
McIlhatton welcomes back four all-conference selections in Thea Nyberg, Lauryn Mateo, Berglind Thrastardottir and Ida Zetterberg.  Olivia Gallo earned all-region honors last season.  This season, Anna Marisa Lara leads the team with two goals, along with three shots and two on target.  Mateo has one goal and one assist for the season with the game winner against Columbus State.  She has three shots and one on target, while Zetterberg also has one goal.  Stella Roane has a 1-0-1 record with three goals allowed and ten saves in 180 minutes between the pipes.  
 
ERAU leads the all-time series 3-0-1 as the Eagles won 3-1 last season in Daytona Beach, Fla., while the teams tied 1-1 in the last meeting in Valdosta in 2023.  In that match with ERAU No. 2 nationally, current Blazer senior Victoria Bahr scored in the 60^th minute to tie the match after ERAU held a 1-0 lead at intermission.  The Eagles won the first two meetings with a 3-0 win in Daytona Beach in 2022 and a 2-0 win in Valdosta in 2015.  
 
Montevallo has played a tough schedule to start and is 1-2 on the year as it will open GSC play at Auburn Montgomery on Wednesday, before heading to Valdosta for Saturday's match.  The Falcons won 1-0 at Anderson (S.C.) and then dropped a 2-1 decision to No. 21 Florida Tech and a 3-0 decision at No. 19 Catawba.  The Falcons were picked preseason runner-up in the GSC coaches' poll garnering 132 points and one first-place nod.  Three players earned preseason all-league honors in Morgan Goehring, Shadia Valenzuela and Isabel Dillehay.  
 
Goehring, a junior out of Yorba Linda, Ca., finished the 2024 season with 18 points on six goals and six assists while earing D2CCA South Region All-Region honors, USC All-South Region honors and a First Team All-GSC honor. Valenzuela, a senior transfer from Lipscomb, scored a team-high 11 goals while adding four assists for 26 points on the season. Valenzuela ended the season with a Second Team All-GSC nod, and a pair of All-Region honors. Dillehay's preseason honor follows a season that saw the junior score eight goals with four assists for a total of 20 points while earning a First-Team All-GSC selection, and a D2CCA South Region All-Region nod.
 
This season, Bear Bradbury and Valenzuela each have scored goals, while Dillehay has one assist for the Falcons.  Valenzuela has the game winner so far as well.  She leads the team with 12 shots and five on target.  Three different goalies have played each match thus far.  Ciara Duff is 1-0 with the shutout win and five saves, while Jolie Cazale and Frida Larsson each are 0-1 as Cazale also has five saves.  
 
Montevallo leads the all-time series 5-4-1 and has gone 5-0-1 in the last six meetings after VSU won the first four matchups.  The Falcons have outscored VSU 10-3 over the previous six meetings as the teams tied in the spring season of 2021, 0-0, in Valdosta during COVID, while Montevallo won in double overtime at Montevallo in the fall of 2021, 2-1.  Last season, Montevallo won 3-1 with all four goals scored in the second half.  Montevallo netting the first two in a matter of 2:43 game time and current Blazer sophomore Maria Rojas scored her first collegiate goal with a penalty kick in the 77^th minute, but the Falcons added an insurance goal in the 84^th for the 3-1 win.  VSU's last win came in Montevallo on Sept. 16, 2018, with a 2-1 win.  
 
This season, Youmans leads the team with two goals on nine shots and five on target with the one game winner.  Rojas has one goal with a team-high 12 shots and seven on target.  Dandeneau has the one assist.  Timberlake is 1-1-2 in goal in 348:51 minutes, allowing six goals for a 1.55 GAA and has 21 saves for the season.  Freshman Adrienne Cardona-Colon has played 11:09 minutes against Georgia College last week.
 
Head coach Stephen Andrew 67-54-16 as he is the winningest coach in Blazer women's soccer history.  He is 51-35-10 in GSC play as he is in his 19^th season of coaching with a 207-109-25 record at VSU, Huntingdon College and Piedmont College.  The Blazers were picked sixth in the GSC preseason coaches poll with Rojas and senior Katherine Kimmel earning preseason all-league honors. 
 
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