Women’s Soccer Publishes First Fall Schedule of Smith Era - Presbyterian College (2024)

CLINTON, S.C. – Recently-appointed Presbyterian College women's soccer head coach Matt Smith has announced the full layout of the team's 2024 schedule, uncovered on Tuesday afternoon. PC will participate in 17 regular season matches beginning on August 15, including eight Big South Conference bouts.

The Blue Hose will compete inside Martin Stadium against eight opponents this fall, a highly-anticipated campaign for Smith who was named the program's second-ever head coach on December 27.

Presby's 2024 opener – a short visit to Wofford – will be a full-circle moment for Smith, who began his collegiate coaching career with the Blue Hose as an assistant from 2005-09 underneath now-retired director Brian Purcell.

Over 19 seasons as both an assistant and head coach, Smith has been apart of 175 victories as well as 14 postseason appearances and four trips to the NCAA Tournament.

"We are very excited about the schedule we've been able to put together", remarked Smith, who is responsible for 80 wins in seven seasons as a head coach. "Our team is very hungry and wants to be challenged, and I think we have crafted a schedule to accurately reflect that desire".

Exhibition Play + August

Within a five-day period in the month of August, Smith's squad will face Coastal Carolina (road) and Truett McConnell (home) in exhibition contests. That will segue to the official PC head-coaching debut of Smith on the 15^th in Spartanburg versus the Terriers.

Presbyterian will face Wofford for the 12^th time since turning Division I (a transition that Smith was a part of), beginning a season against their SC rivals for the second time ever and first since 2014.

Smith's first home match as PC's man-in-charge will occur on Sunday, August 18 when welcoming College of Charleston. The Blue Hose will be going up against the Cougars for the first time in seven years and the first time in Clinton since 2009.

Both of Presby's first two road features will happen with a Southern Conference school standing in their way, traveling to Furman on August 22. The Paladins started off last season with a 1-0 win over PC, charting the lone goal during the 56^th minute.

The final clash of August and the first of September will both be held at Martin Stadium, going head-to-head with Southern Wesleyan and South Carolina State respectively.

September

Three of the squad's remaining four non-conference encounters will take place outside of their home turf, dropping by The Citadel on September 5 before hosting Georgia State three days later.

The litany of SoCon foes will continue with PC's last pair of pre-Big South adversaries, traveling to both Western Carolina and Mercer on September 12 and 15 respectively. Those schools combined for 23 wins a year ago, with WCU winning the SoCon tournament championship thanks to an overall record of 13-5-3.

Coach Smith's unit will enjoy a 10-day break once the non-con stage has ended, returning home for the first time in two weeks to battle USC Upstate for the league opener on September 25.

Presbyterian has bested the Spartans more times than any other current Big South member, winning seven affairs over their Palmetto neighbors.

October

The first week of October will entail back-to-back road meetings for the Blue Hose, headed to Charleston Southern and Gardner-Webb (Oct. 2 and 5) as divisional play proceeds.

PC earned one of its two league W's in '23 over the Runnin' Bulldogs at Martin Stadium, shutting out G-W thanks to a couple of goals by Sloan Spees that were both assisted by Lina-Marie Müller (15^th and 60^th minutes).

Presbyterian's next matchup will come against their other Big South victory from last fall, taking on Winthrop in the Kim Purcell/Pink Eraser Cancer Awareness Game (October 11).

That Müller/Spees combo was the deciding factor when PC defeated the Eagles in Rock Hill last time out, scoring in the 11^th minute and cruising from there for the 1-0 triumph.

The final four matches of the regular season will be split between home and away designations, visiting High Point and Longwood on the 16^th and 19^th.

From there, the Blue Hose will carry out their remaining two contests from the friendly confines of home, scheduled to face UNC Asheville on October 23^rd and defending Big South champion Radford in the season's closer on the 26^th.

Postseason

The Big South Tournament's quarterfinal round will be dueled on November 2 from the site of whomever is the higher seed. Charlotte will serve as the location for the Semi's and Championship, played on the 7^th and 10^th.

The winner of the Big South tourney will earn the league's automatic bid to the 2024 NCAA Championship, joining the field of 64 in pursuit of a national title.

2023 Recap

Primarily a young team during Purcell's last ride, the '23 Blue Hose wrapped up the campaign with Müller and Spees both landing spots on the All-Big South rosters. Müller particularly impressed after redshirting the 2022 slate, becoming the fourth player in program history to win two separate all-conference honors (All-Freshman and All-League 2^nd Team).

The German native acquired nine of her 12 points when going up against divisional foes, while Spees ranked fourth in the Big South by lining up five goals throughout the campaign.

Incoming senior Kelly Hall made it back-to-back years as the team's representative on the Big South's All-Academic team, catching a flawless GPA as Presby's starting keeper.

PC's academic prowess wasn't limited to just one competitor, hitting the maximum limit for the second straight time by witnessing six on the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District team.