ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The schedule has officially flipped to Big South Conference territory for the Presbyterian College women's soccer team, playing their first of eight matches against league opponents on Saturday evening with a visit to UNC Asheville.

First touch against the Bulldogs will take place at 6:00 tomorrow, with ESPN+ providing live coverage of the Big South opener.

PC drew a very formidable offensive foe for their first divisional clash, putting their own stout defense to the test against a team that currently holds the second-best record in the conference.

After beating UNC Asheville in his first try two years ago, head coach Matt Smith saw his team play the Bulldogs to a 1-1 tie in 2025 at Martin Stadium. Asheville delivered the tying strike with just over 10 minutes on the clock.


 
GAMEDAY INFO – SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19

Presbyterian (2-3-1) at UNC Asheville (3-3-3)

WHERE / WHEN: Asheville, N.C. | 6:00 PM

WATCH: ESPN+

LIVE STATS: SideArm


 
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS

 
- In his sixth season as the man-in-charge, Andy McNab has engineered a strong turnaround for a program that picked up a single Big South victory last season.

- UNC Asheville has scored multiple goals on four different occasions this year, including a 3-3 tie against North Alabama and a 5-1 blowout over VMI in their most recent appearance.

- The Bulldogs have performed extremely well in clutch situations so far, coming back from an 0-2 deficit versus Wofford to end up with a draw thanks to the tying goal in the 87^th minute. In the aforementioned North Alabama game, they again fell behind 3-1 and sank the tying goal with just four seconds to spare.

- Asheville downed Davidson 1-0 just over a week ago and sprinted past VMI after allowing a surprise score before the match was a minute old.

- Lili Adams and Makayla Cihlar have created eight goals between them, enabling the Bulldogs to be one of two teams in the Big South with multiple players who have scored at least four times (USC Upstate is the other).


 
LAST TIME OUT

 
- Tomorrow's North Carolina trip will be Presbyterian's first action in nine days after dropping a chaotic contest to Kennesaw State last week 2-1.

- Battling to a 0-0 tie until the 72^nd minute when KSU unleashed back-to-back goals in short order, the Blue Hose were suddenly in a dire situation. Sophomore striker Maddie Smith drained her fourth goal of the year in the 85^th minute to pull within one.

- She nearly hit another with barely three minutes to go, but her would-be score was a smidge wide in a sea of defenders. PC ended with a narrow loss where both clubs were even in the shots department at nine apiece.

- The Big South opener will showcase two of the best keepers in the conference going head-to-head, with Asheville's London Phoenix opposing true freshman Alexa Garcia.

- They are the top two goalies in the division for goals-against average (Garcia leading the way with just six goals allowed in 540 minutes along with two shutouts).

- Four PC players were included in yesterday's Big South Midseason Watch List: Garcia, Smith, junior midfielder Julija Polašen, and freshman defender Sydney Stoner. Three of those individuals have already won a weekly award from the conference this fall.