BOYDS, Md. — The 23rd-ranked Catawba College women's soccer team opens its 2025 regular season with a pair of matches on the road over opening weekend, heading north to face Frostburg State in Maryland on Friday before returning to the Tar Heel State on Sunday to take on Chowan.
Game 01
Who: Frostburg State (0-0-0, 0-0-0 MEC) vs. #23 Catawba (0-0-0, 0-0-0 SAC)
Where: Maryland SoccerPlex, Boyds, Md. (Neutral)
When: Friday, Sept. 5, 7 p.m.
How to follow: Watch | Live stats
Game 02
Who: #23 Catawba (0-0-0, 0-0-0 SAC) at Chowan (0-0-0, 0-0-0 CC)
Where: Chowan Soccer/Lacrosse Complex, Murfreesboro, N.C.
When: Sunday, Sept. 7, 1 p.m.
How to follow: Watch | Live stats
Starting the Year Strong
- Catawba is searching for a win in its ninth consecutive season opener on Friday night in Maryland, its longest streak in program history
- The Catawba Indians had won eight season openers in the previous 18 seasons before the current streak began in 2017
- Catawba defeated nationally ranked Embry-Riddle in a 3-2 thriller at Frock Field to open the 2024 season
Nearing a Milestone
- Head coach Nick Brown looks to become the program's all-time winningest coach with a pair of victories this weekend, currently standing at 112 career victories
- Brown currently stands one victory behind John Cullen, who won 113 games as head coach of the Catawba Indians between 2001-08
- Brown, a two-time SAC Coach of the Year, is the leader among active SAC head women's soccer coaches in career victories
An Early Test
- Catawba faces Frostburg State, a 2024 NCAA Tournament participant, on Friday in the opener
- It's the first of six opponents on the schedule this season who participated in the NCAA Tournament a season ago
- The Catawba Indians face another in Montevallo at Frock Field a week from Saturday
Preseason SAC Voting
- Catawba was voted second in the SAC preseason women's soccer head coaches' poll, receiving four first-place votes
- It's the first SAC preseason poll the Catawba Indians have not been the favorites since 2021, when Catawba swept through the SAC schedule without a loss the entire season en route to the regular season and tournament championships
- Maria Rayburn, Bree Ehmer and Kylie Morin were named to the league's Preseason All-SAC First Team
Scouting the Bobcats
- Frostburg State is coming off of a 15-win season in which it won its fifth consecutive MEC North Division title
- The Bobcats were the seventh seed in the Atlantic Regional, bowing out to second-seeded Gannon in the opening round
- Frostburg State rostered the MEC Defensive Player of the Year in Cat Smith, who graduated following the 2024 season; FSU returns just one of their five all-conference selections in now-senior midfielder Carly Gillette
Scouting the Hawks
- Catawba returns to Murfreesboro for the first time since it won 6-0 in the 2023 season opener
- Sydney Jimmo recorded a hat trick to kick off a record-setting season for the Catawba Indians
- Following a four-win season, Chowan was picked to finish 11th in the 16-team Conference Carolinas preseason poll
- The Hawks return three of their five leading point recorders from a season ago
- Assistant coach and Chowan alum Lee Wattam returns to Murfreesboro after joining the Catawba staff this past summer after serving as an assistant coach with the Hawks for three seasons
Up Next
- After the two-game road trip to begin the season, the Catawba Indians make their debut at Frock Field at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 10, hosting Mount Olive in the second half of a doubleheader with the men, who also face Mount Olive
