CLINTON, S.C. – Hoping to begin his second campaign in similar fashion to how his first one started, Presbyterian College women's soccer head coach Matt Smith leads the Blue Hose to the 2025 curtain-jerker on Thursday evening versus The Citadel.

First touch at Martin Stadium is scheduled for 7:00 PM, streamed live via ESPN+.

This fall figures to be an important season for the Scotsmen after posting a seven-win tally last time around and advancing to the Big South Tournament semifinals. Eight starters return from a unit that accomplished five shutouts and at least one goal from 10 different players.

A win tomorrow would denote the first time that PC has picked up the W in back-to-back season-openers since 2016 and 2017. Presby pummeled The Citadel in Charleston nearly 12 months ago by a 3-0 difference, improving their all-time record in this series to 6-4.


 
GAMEDAY INFO – THURSDAY, AUGUST 14
Presbyterian (0-0) vs. The Citadel (0-0)
WHERE / WHEN: Martin Stadium (7:00 PM)
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast


 
PC PROBABLE STARTERS
 
#3 Hannah Austin (Sr. | Rock Hill, South Carolina)

#6 Lindsey Malyszek (Sr. | Aiken, South Carolina)

#9 Cassidy Oldham (So. | Southport, North Carolina)

#11 Lina Müller (R-Jr. | Schriesheim, Germany)

#15 Lauren Clark (Sr. | Lake Waccamaw, North Carolina)

#16 Ella Williams (Sr. | Dacula, Georgia)

#18 Emilia Lieber (Jr. | Pullach, Germany)

#19 Isabel Lasota (Sr. | Avon, Connecticut)

#20 Lyla Chadd (Jr. | Charlotte, North Carolina)

#28 Sloan Spees (Sr. | Dacula, Georgia)

#99 Febe Dombrecht (Fr. | Damme, Belgium)


 
SCOUTING THE CITADEL
 
- The brand-new season will be the 10^th at The Citadel for head coach Ciaran Traquair, hoping to clear the cobwebs off a late-year collapse in 2024. After a 4-1 start, the Bulldogs either tied or outright lost their final 13 matches.

- PC's blowout was the first in that long stretch, eliminated swiftly in the first round of the Southern Conference Tournament against UNC Greensboro 3-0.

- The Citadel has been unable to find a single SoCon win over the past two full seasons, outscored by a total of 13 goals last time out.

- Fifth-year forward Ariana Paez carried the Bulldogs to 12 individual points in 2024 (four goals, four assists), while returning senior Elisa Fuentes of Guatemala earned 10 points last season (four goals, two assists).


 
'24 RECAP
 
- Smith served up a special debut season for the Blue Hose in his second gig as a head coach (beginning that path at Limestone), directing PC to a non-conference four-match winning streak and instructing a balanced offense that broke a five-year postseason drought.

- Five Presby players were named All-Big South in Smith's first foray, a program-record. Three of those five are back this year (Sloan Spees, Ella Williams, and Cassidy Oldham), as well as junior defenseman Lyla Chadd who grabbed a spot on the league's All-Tournament team.

- The Blue Hose knocked off the fifth-seeded Longwood Lancers in the conference quarterfinals last November, advancing in a penalty kick shootout after pitching a clean sheet for 110 minutes.

- In less than a decade as a head coach at both Presbyterian and Limestone, Smith has already snared 34 total wins over schools from the state of South Carolina. He'll have the chance to get as many as seven more this year, starting with the Citadel on Thursday.


 
VETERANS APLENTY
 
- Bringing back 22 players altogether and needing to replace just three starters, PC will be starting up to six seniors in tomorrow's contest. Ten of the 11 starters for the Blue Hose have at least one season of experience, with the lone exception being at goalkeeper.

- The combination of Spees, Müller, Malyszek, and Lasota has seen 82 total points in their college careers (32 goals, 18 assists). Spees leads that bunch with 14 strikes and 31 overall points.

- Senior midfielder Ella Williams has logged 47 career starts and played a career-high 1,400 minutes last fall. Meanwhile, Chadd hardly ever left the field as a sophomore in 2024; she's never missed a start in 34 opportunities and has already surpassed 3,000 minutes with just two years completed.

- Smith also gets the benefit of Allie Williams' return, an incoming sophomore who tied Müller for the most assists on the club last season (four).