Pensacola, Fla. — The University of West Florida women's soccer team is set for contests against Sunshine State Conference teams. The Argos will play Eckerd College Friday, Sep. 2 at 4 p.m. and Florida Southern Sunday, Sep. 4 at 12:30 p.m. at UWF Soccer Complex.
A Look Back
The Argos are entering the second weekend with a 1-0-1 record after defeating Barry University (Aug. 26) 2-0 and concluding with a 0-0 draw against Queens University of Charlotte (Aug. 28). Due to weather conditions, Barry's game ended seven minutes early - played for a total of 83 minutes. Remaining undefeated, the Argos will play two final non-conference games before entering the GSC regular season matchups that will begin September 9.
Tied for goals to lead the team is freshman Julia Comin and redshirt sophomore Alyssa Wilson who each tallied one goal in the first game of the season versus Barry. Comin has a total of four shots, all which were on target.
Manami Okada, a transfer from North Texas entered her first games as an Argo. Recording two starts, Okada is tied to lead the team with four shots and tallied 173 minutes over the course of two games.
Deadly up top joining Comin, Okada and Wilson is Blair Cowan, and Mya Swinton. All hitting three shots a piece, the attackers look to continue to find their chances with finishes as they enter week two.
Scouting the Opponents
Eckerd College Tritons
The Tritons will play their first game of the season against UWF on Friday. The Tritons ended the 2021 season with a 5-8-1 record with their last game being a 2-0 loss against Barry University.
Throughout the season, the Tritons had a total of 98 shots on goal with 20 falling in the net.
Junior Hajar Benjoud had a five-goal season and is the teams returning leading scorer. Benjoud started 12 games and took 41 shots for the season. Following Benjoud is Tariah Miller who ended the season with three goals.
Goalkeeper Cadence Talbert entered the 2021 season as a freshman and recorded 12 starts to lead the goalkeeping squad with 55 saves and earned five wins. Playing 1076 minutes, Talbert earned a .743 save percentage.
"Every team in the Sunshine State Conference is organized and we are ready for a tough opponent and matchup," said UWF assistant head coach Dustin Smith.
Last matchup was back in 2005 with the Argos having their largest margin of victory (9-0) against the Tritons.
Florida Southern Mocs
The Mocs opened the weekend 0-0-2 on their home stadium. The Mocs ended in a scoreless draw against Georgia College (Aug. 26) and a 1-1 final with Newberry College (Aug. 28).
Before taking on UWF Sep. 4, the Mocs will head to Mobile, Ala. to play Spring Hill College on Friday.
Lindsey Meyer, a transfer from Northern Kentucky played all 90 minutes in the home opener as she fired two shots on goal and led the team with five shot attempts. Back-line Brooke Lowery, Madison Male, and Morgan Collica played the entirety of the game and held Georgia College to one shot.
Versus Newberry College, graduate student Tatum Albrechet was awarded the assist to defender Haley Thomassy to score their first goal of the season. Freshman Malia Brost and Angelina Coelho recorded their first collegiate minutes and combined for a total of 230 minutes over the course of two games.
Argos vs. Mocs History
The last matchup between the two Florida teams was in 2021 with the Argos coming on top in a thrilling double overtime 1-0 win over the Mocs. With one shot on goal that found the back of the net to solidify the win came from returning senior Blair Cowan.
Regular season games now end in 90-minute regulation regardless of ending in a tie but the Mocs will be looking in hopes to get their first win of the season.
The Argos have a successful history record of 11-2-1 and will look to get their fourth straight win against the Mocs.
"Coming off a tie, we understand the no tie rule and have more sense of urgency," Smith continues. "It is so early, and we are trying to establish ourselves and take care of business one game at a time."
All UWF students with a valid nautilus card receive free admission. General admission ticket is $5 and students/senior/military is $3. Tickets are available online: https://goargos.universitytickets.com/w/
