CLINTON, S.C. – The Presbyterian College women's soccer squad – witnesses to an eerily-similar theme in three of their first four matchups this fall – prepare for their next two clashes in nonconference territory. Head coach Brian Purcell's club will close the month of August in a rare mix against Navy on Thursday night before rolling south to Florida to meet Jacksonville on September 3.

The aforementioned parallels to three/fourths of PC's meetings are the final scores to losing efforts versus Furman, Kennesaw State, and most recently Georgia State on Sunday. In all three of those appearances, the Blue Hose ended on the receiving end of a 1-0 defeat.

Unindicative of Presbyterian's play, especially on the defensive end during those affairs, coach Purcell and co. seem on the verge of building some pre-Big South schedule momentum should they take down a Navy opponent tomorrow night that has yet to take an outright loss in 2023.

Thursday's unique blend against the Midshipmen – the second-ever contest between the two after the inaugural bout over a decade ago – will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
GAMEDAY INFO – THURSDAY, AUGUST 31
Presbyterian (1-3) vs. Navy (1-0-3) – 7:00 PM | Martin Stadium
WATCH – ESPN+
LIVE STATS - StatBroadcast
 
GAMEDAY INFO – SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 3
Presbyterian (1-3) at Jacksonville (1-2-1) – 1:00 PM | Jacksonville, Fla.
LIVE STATS – SideArm Live Stats
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT – NAVY

- PC's back line has certainly been put to the test to this point on the semester and has largely succeeded, allowing only three scores combined in four matches. That defensive core will be tested considerably on Thursday when facing Navy, a northern visitor who has found the back of the next six times.

- Under the direction of Carin Gabarra (one of the few head coaches in the country that rivals Purcell's longevity, in her 30^th season with the Midshipmen), Navy earned a season-opening shutout over Charleston Southern before finishing with a tie in each of their past three meetings.

- To say that Navy's first steps in '23 have been tumultuous may be an understatement, considering a scoreless result against St. John's preceded a helter-skelter 3-3 stalemate at Maryland on the 24^th.

- Four of the match's six goals came in the second period against the Terrapins, as the Midshipmen conceded a 78^th-minute strike that left things unresolved after they found themselves ahead with three consecutive tallies in a 26-minute window.

- Following the frenzy in College Park, Navy tied once more in a duel with Ohio on Sunday. The Bobcats would deliver the first blow in the early going (11:30) before the Academy evened the odds exactly 60 seconds after play resumed in the second stanza.

- Presbyterian has only met the Midshipmen one other time, a 2010 faceoff (also in Clinton) that concluded in a 2-2 deadlock.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT – JACKSONVILLE

- Once the Blue Hose wrap things up in Martin Stadium, they'll turn their attention to a Jacksonville foe that will have enjoyed a full week off from their last appearance (coincidentally a 2-2 tie against Charleston Southern).

- Head coach John Constable sparked the Dolphins to a furious start in 2023, blowing out Alabama State at Southern Oak Stadium by a 4-1 margin, although it's turned a bit south from their vantage point since.

- A humbling 6-0 loss to 12^th-ranked South Carolina led to another blanking at Florida International's hands in the next encounter (4-0). JU was able to get their offensive groove back in the aforementioned contest with the Buccaneers, however a probable win suddenly turned into the tie after CSU produced a goal with just 1:42 left on the clock.

- Sunday's series in the Sunshine State will begin a four-match streak of home bouts for the Dolphins, hoping to keep up a 4-0 past against PC dating back to 2007. In fact, Jacksonville was Presbyterian's first-ever opponent as a Division I institution 16 years back, a 4-2 decision in Florida.

- The two sides last locked horns in 2021, a game that saw JU run away with a 4-1 win in Clinton.
 
LAST TIME OUT

- Responsible for technically less than one goal per game with half of the non-conference slate behind them, the Blue Hose's main challenge to this point is increasing production on the attack. Through four matches, PC has assumed a 48-40 edge in total shot attempts.

- Seventeen of those tries have landed on-target (just one less than the amount gathered by the opponent), while junior keeper Kelly Hall has grabbed 12 saves as the primary starter in that role.

- After Mia Prieto and Sloan Spees tagged for two unassisted scores in last week's W over Columbia International, the Blue Hose were unable to add to the scoreboard in a 1-0 defeat against Georgia State three nights ago. Despite the L, Presbyterian's effort can be praised by limiting a GSU foe that had scored 16 goals in only three games to just one in the 38^th minute.

- PC nearly achieved a tie in the waning moments of Sunday's bout in Atlanta, as sophomore Lina-Marie Müller fired off a high attempt with less than a minute to go that was denied by Panthers' goalie Jaddah Foos.