NOTES
 
At Columbus Stats
STATS | VIDEO
 
Vs. Valdosta State
STATS | VIDEO
 
PENSACOLA, Fla. – The 23rd-ranked University of West Florida women's soccer team will make the day trip to Columbus, Georgia, for a fixture against No. 15 Columbus State on Thursday afternoon before hosting Gulf South Conference foe Valdosta State at the UWF Soccer Complex on Sunday.
 
The match on Thursday will begin at 4 pm ET at the Walden Soccer Complex in Columbus, and the Sunday match will kick off at 12:30 pm in Pensacola.
 
Sunday will also mark Military Appreciation Day at the UWF Soccer Complex, and anyone with a military ID will gain free admission to the game.
 
AGAINST COLUMBUS STATE
* West Florida is 4-2 all-time against Columbus State, with the last two of those matchups coming in 2016. The Argonauts and Cougars played a pair of tightly contested matches and CSU came out on top by just a goal each time.
* The second of those two contests was a tough-luck, 2-1 double-overtime loss for the Argos in the NCAA Quarterfinal at Barry.
* Kaljit Atwal scored the lone goal in the postseason contest, putting a corner kick right through the hands of CSU keeper Maylyn Parsons.
* CSU is averaging 4.0 goals per game through the team's first five games of the year, and Riley Clark, who ranks fifth in DII in goals per game, leads the team with five goals.
 
WATCH THE BLAZERS
* UWF holds a 6-1-2 all-time record against the Blazers, having won the last two matchups by a combined 8-0 margin.
* West Florida's 5-0 win in last year's contest was the third consecutive shutout for the Argonauts and the fourth of 17 shutouts that they would record during the year. That total is the second-most in a single season in Gulf South Conference history.
* Valdosta State is 5-2 on the year and has averaged 2.3 goals per game, a mark that ranks second in the GSC. The Lady Blazers are also second in the league in points per game (6.6) and fifth in goals against average (1.11).
* The Lady Blazers dropped a match to Mississippi College 0-1 on Sunday, after defeating Delta State 1-0. The team scored 12 goals across its first three games, against Albany State, Clayton State and Montevallo, but has scored just five goals in its last four fixtures. Junior Mallory McDaniel leads the GSC with five assists -- four of which came in a 4-3 win over West Alabama.
 
LAST TIME OUT
* West Florida rebounded from a tough-luck 0-1 loss against Mississippi College on Friday night with a 5-0 rout over Delta State on Sunday afternoon.
* The Argonauts were dominant on each side of the pitch in the win, totaling 23 shots, 13 shots on goal, 10 corner kicks and a goal from five different student-athletes, while allowing only one shot from DSU in the match.
 
IN THE RANKINGS
* After the 1-1 weekend at home, UWF came in at No. 23 in the United Soccer Coaches poll, which was released on Tuesday. The Argos have been ranked in every poll this year.
* Looking at the numbers, it would be tough to find a team in the country that has been as good as UWF has been through its first seven games. West Florida ranks 8th in DII in scoring offense (3.4 goals per game) and 32nd in goals against average (0.57 goals allowed per game). Only nine teams in all of Division II rank in the top 40 in both scoring offense and defense.
* Individually, Leonie Kreil ranks 25th nationally in assists per game (0.57) and Jessica Quixley ranks 30th in DII with two game-winning goals.
 
THAT DEFENSE, THOUGH
* UWF has posted four shutouts in seven matches this year, having allowed multiple goals in only one contest. West Florida's 21 shutouts since the beginning of the 2016 season rank fifth in Division II.
 
BUSBY MAKING HISTORY
* Junior Grace Busby made UWF women's soccer history on Sunday against Delta State, after starting in goal and playing a flawless 45 minutes to earn the win as a keeper.
* The history came in the second half, when Busby was moved to the midfield and scored a goal in the same game, making her the first Argonaut women's soccer player to earn a win and score a goal in the same contest.
* She became the first Argonaut to score a point and get a keeper win since Sarah Story did so in 2012, and she is the first to score a goal and earn a keeper win in the same season since Katie Webb did so in 1996.