This week: The Notre Dame College women's soccer team will be home for both matches this week when they welcome Wheeling University to town on Wednesday Oct. 6 at 4 p.m., and on Sunday Oct. 10 at 3 p.m. when West Virginia Wesleyan comes to Mueller Field.
 
Records: Notre Dame enters the week at 2-2-3 (2-1-3 MEC) and in third place in the MEC North Division with nine points. Wheeling enters the week at 3-4-1 (2-3-1 MEC) and in fourth place in the MEC North Division with seven points. Lastly, WVWC is 3-4-1 (3-3 MEC) and in fourth place in the MEC South Division with nine points.
 
Coaches Corner: Mike Shiels is in his 19^th season at the helm of the NDC women's soccer program. Shiels has a career 183-111-29 record with NDC, including three MEC tournament championships and four MEC Coach of the Year honors. Theo Egbele is in his first season with Wheeling University and is 3-4-1 overall. Moreover, Richard Owens is in his fourth season with WVWC.
 
Rankings: None of these teams are ranked in the United Soccer Coaches Poll.
 
Series History: NDC is 15-1 all-time against Wheeling since 2013. The Falcons lone loss to the Cardinals was earlier this season back on Sept. 22 on a rainy night in Wheeling. Whereas NDC is 6-10-3 all-time against West Virginia Wesleyan when the series started back in 2011.
 
Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame is fresh off a 1-0-1 week after a 3-0 win vs. Alderson Broaddus and a 1-1 draw at West Liberty. The four Falcon goals this past week came from Louisa Follert and Sammy Salatino who each had two apiece. In match one, NDC scored all of their goals between the 65^th and 70^th minutes, with the first from Follert and the proceeding two from Salatino. In match two, Follert opened the scoring for the match with a 23^rd minute goal from Isabel Sentle. For Follert it is her team leading fourth and fifth goals of the season, while Salatino is second on the team with three goals scored. Follert and Salatino are the backbone for the NDC attack as the two forwards are ranked first and second on the team in goals, shots, shots on goal and points. In addition, the duo ranks 6^th (Follert 3.25) and 7^th (Salatino 3.17) in the MEC in shots per game. Follert is tied for 5^th in the MEC in goals, while Salatino is tied for 9^th most. Moreover, Follert averages tied for 2^nd most points per game in the conference with 2.25.
 
On the other side of the ball, Jordan Pasalaqua finds herself amongst the MEC elite with the 2^nd highest save percentage in the conference with .853. She also ranks 4^th in goals against average (.750), 5^th in saves per game (4.83) and tied for 3^rd with three clean sheets this season. Over the past three matches, Pasalaqua has only surrendered one goal.
 
In total, NDC has nine goals scored with only six goals allowed. The six goals allowed is tied for the fourth-best margin in the MEC. Moreover, they have generated 67 shots with 36 on target, six assists, 17 corner kicks and 37 saves. The opposition has totaled 75 shots with 44 on target, four assists, 18 corner kicks and 27 saves.
 
Noting the Cardinals: Last week Wheeling went 0-1-1 with a 2-0 loss to West Liberty and a 1-1 draw to Alderson Broaddus. West Liberty opened their match against Wheeling with a goal in the first 33 seconds. Later, a second half goal in the 54^th minute would seal the Cardinals fate that Wednesday evening. For the game, West Liberty had nine shots with seven on target, compared to the five shots and three on goal from Wheeling. In the second match, Wheeling scored their lone goal this past week in the 9^th minute against AB from Shiann Thomas, her first of the season. The Battlers would equalize in the 37^th minute to end the scoring on the afternoon for the two teams. Totals from the second match were 19 shots and nine on target for Wheeling and 13 shots and 11 on target for Alderson Broaddus.
 
Wheeling is led by Kenadee Burgoyne who leads the conference in shots (34), shots on goal (22) and points per game (2.5). She is also second in goals in the MEC with seven, marking another category that she leads the Cardinals team in. Fueled by Burgoyne, Wheeling totals, 14 goals scored on 109 shots with 67 on target for the season. They also have nine assists, 27 corner kicks and 48 saves in 2021. They have surrendered 15 goals on 106 shots with 65 on target, with the opposition creating 11 assists, 23 corner kicks and 51 saves.
 
Noting the Bobcats: WVWC went 2-0 last week with a pair of 1-0 victories over Davis & Elkins on the road and Fairmont State at home. Against the Senators, WVWC was able to play a player up due to 21^st minute red card by Ayala Azalea of D&E. Just seven minutes later, the Bobcats scored in what would go on to be the game-winner in the 28^th minute from Makatlyn Tucker, her first goal of the season. It was an even match despite playing with a man advantage for the Bobcats with both teams tallying seven shots. WVWC put four the seven shots on goal while Davis & Elkins registered five shots on goal. In the second match of the week, it was a 96^th minute golden goal for WVWC that lifted the Bobcats over the Falcons of Fairmont State in overtime. West Virginia Wesleyan had eight shots with three on goal, compared to FSU's seven shots and five on goal.
 
West Virginia Wesleyan is led by Natalie Pireu who leads the team in goals (3) and points (7). Pireu is the only Bobcat to find the back of the net more than once this season with five other teammates at one goal each. In total, WVWC has eight goals scored on 65 shots and 38 on goal. They also have seven assists, 19 corner kicks and 36 saves. Compared to the opposition, who has scored 13 goals on 91 shots with 48 on target. They have allowed opponents to mark 12 assists, 36 corner kicks and 30 saves.