CLINTON, S.C. – All eyes will be on Edens Field at Martin Stadium this Wednesday evening for what can be described as a must-win mission for both the Presbyterian College women's soccer team and their opponents from Charleston Southern. First touch against the Bucs in the pivotal midweeker is penciled for 7:00 PM on ESPN+.

Mostly treading water in the first half of Big South play and thus seeing their postseason hopes begin to dwindle, the Blue Hose and 35^th-year head coach Brian Purcell have resurrected in their last two meetings (a 2-0 home win over Gardner-Webb which preceded last week's 1-0 blanking of Winthrop).

Denying the other side a goal for the past 196 minutes in their quest to squeeze into the league's top four and therefore punch a ticket to the conference tournament, PC will go head-to-head with a Palmetto enemy that sits in practically the same situation.

With only the best four records gaining entry into the Big South bracket, those next two spots on the outside looking in belong to both clubs competing tomorrow night in Clinton.
 
GAMEDAY INFO – WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18
Presbyterian (3-9-1, 2-3) vs. Charleston Southern (7-4-3, 2-2-1)
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
 
- Earning a victory in just over 60% of their appearances this fall, Charleston Southern will roll into Martin Stadium with a sour taste after a 3-1 setback at the hands of High Point over the weekend. Contested in North Carolina, the Bucs notched a 70:40 score that cut a 2-0 lead in half, although the comeback attempt wouldn't break the ceiling in the end.

- Head coach Jose Gomez and co. have reached a number of impressive performances when competing away from home, holding a road resume of 5-2-2 which includes a 3-0 win over Delaware State, a 5-1 shellacking of Stetson, consecutive shutouts against Davidson and South Carolina State by an added margin of 5-0, and a 1-0 W at Longwood that started off CSU's league journey.

- Charleston Southern currently ranks fourth among Big South squads with 25 goals over the past two months, dishing out an assist in 19 of them. More efficient is CSU's goals-against average (0.93), surrendering only 14 strikes in 13 outings.

- A two-match trend has developed in the two clubs' recent history, dating back to 2017. Since then, wins have seesawed at two in a row including a 2-0 Buccaneer win in the first full year after COVID and a 1-0 result last year in Clinton that was decided in the 54^th minute.
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
- A lightbulb went on for the Blue Hose at the midway point of the Big South stretch, downing both Gardner-Webb and Winthrop in consecutive shutouts at different settings. In those wins, sophomore Sloan Spees has been the offensive star by producing all three of the team's goals over that period.

- Not to be outdone, Lina-Marie Müller has garnered the assist on each of those cash-ins. With 13 contests in the rearview, the Spees/Müller duo has accounted for 17 of the group's 28 points.

- Furthermore, 12 of those points by that tandem have been submitted against Big South adversaries, while sophomore Lindsey Malyszek has added a pair more in league terrain and six altogether.

- Each time that Presbyterian has captured a win this season, they've done so while limiting the opposition to zero on the scoreboard. Spees has drilled the back of the net in all of the Blue Hose's triumphs, looking to keep chugging on what's already been a remarkable midseason turnaround with three dates left on the radar.