CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The Chattanooga women's soccer team hosts Mercer Thursday evening at Finley Stadium in the Southern Conference opener for both teams.
 
GAME DAY INFORMATION
• Game Day Experience
Mocs vs. Mercer
Site: Chattanooga, Tenn. | Finley Stadium
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Links for live scoring and ESPN+ broadcast are available online at GoMocs.com on the women's soccer schedule page.
Admission is FREE. Enter through the South Gate.
 
PROMOTION
Join us as we enter a "world of pure imagination" as we host Willy Wonka and the Moc-olate Factory game! FREE Little Debbie snacks will be given out, photo opportunities and keep your eyes out for Golden Tickets! All at Finley Stadium.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
Chattanooga holds a 6-5-2 edge over Mercer in a series that dates back to 2002, before the Bears joined the Southern Conference. The Mocs won each of the first three meetings and two of the last three. In Chattanooga, UTC leads the series 5-1-1. The lone loss in Chattanooga was in 2014 at Finley Stadium when the Bears became members of the SoCon.
 
LAST TIME THEY MET
The Mocs hosted the Bears in the SoCon opener for both teams last season. Chattanooga came away with a 1-0 victory after scoring the game winner in the final minute of the first half. Mackenzie Smith headed in a corner kick delivered by Zoey Mize to the far post. UTC outshot Mercer 12-5 with a 7-1 shots on goal advantage. Caroline Richvalsky had six shots and Kennedy Heavrin added two. Smith's goal was her lone shot of the match. Caroline Ekern made just one save behind a strong Mocs defense earning her third win.
 
LAST OUTING
Chattanooga 0, San Francisco 2 - Chattanooga, Tenn.
The Mocs hosted San Francisco in the first meeting between the two programs. The Dons came away with a 2-0 victory over the Mocs. USF scored its first goal in the 45th minute and added a second less than 10 minutes into the second half. The Mocs were edged 9-8 on shots on goal and San Francisco had a 18-13 shots advantage. Caroline Ekern made a career-high tying seven saves in the match and Caroline Richvalsky had six shots with five on goal.a
 
NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE FEATURED LONGEST WIN STREAK
The Mocs went 6-2 in a tough non-league slate that featured teams from Tennessee, Alabama and California. The Mocs opened the season with three straight matches on the road including the opener at SEC foe Vanderbilt where UTC went 2-1.
 
After dropping the opener to Vanderbilt, the Mocs went on a program-record six-game win streak that included two shutouts and four multi-goal games.
 
Chattanooga posted back-to-back 1-0 shutouts at North Alabama and Tennessee Tech on the road. Once at home, the Mocs downed instate foe Austin Peay 4-1 and followed that a few days later with a 3-1 win over Jacksonville State.
 
A trip to Murfreesboro kept the streak alive with a 2-1 win against the Blue Raiders. That was followed with a 3-1 victory over Belmont at Finley Stadium.
 
Non-conference play wrapped with a first-ever meeting between the Mocs and the San Francisco Dons who bested UTC 2-0.
 
Chattanooga outscored its opponents 15-9 over the eight-game stretch, averaging 1.88 goals per game and had 17 assists. The Mocs had 129 shots, 16.1 per game, and a .504 shots on goal percentage (65-129).
 
Caroline Richvalsky led the team with five goals and matched Birna Johannsdottir for total points with 12. The pair is tied for fourth in the league with 1.5 points per game.
 
Johannsdottir leads the Southern Conference with six assists and is in the Top 10 for goals scored with three. Richvalsky is third for goals scored at five on the year and recorded the Mocs first hat trick since 2017 with three in the Mocs win over Jacksonville State. She is tied for the SoCon lead in game winning goals with three and Johannsdottir is third with two.
 
Mackenzie Smith and Betha Pucek have two goals and two assists apiece and sit third on UTC scoring list. Zoey Mize scored the Mocs goal at Vanderbilt and has three assists so far this season. Clarissa Salinas, with UTC's sixth game winner, has one goal and two assists. Freshman Mary Beth Skelton scored her first collegiate goal in the Mocs win over North Alabama.
 
Caroline Ekern has four wins on the year including a pair of shutouts, raising her career clean sheet total to eight. She has made 28 saves in almost 615 minutes in goal and has a 1.17 goals against average.
 
Claire Smith stepped in for Ekern in the final 15 minutes at Middle Tennessee and earned the win after Salinas hit home the game winner in the 83^rd minute. She picked up a second win in the Mocs victory over Belmont at home in her first collegiate start. She has a 0.85 goals against average and a .750 saves percentage.
 
Currently, UTC sits atop the SoCon leaderboard with a .750 winning percentage ahead of Mercer (5-1-4), ETSU (4-1-3) and The Citadel (3-1-4). 2022 SoCon regular season co-champion Samford is 4-2-3 on the year with a win over Oklahoma and ties with SEC foes Auburn (0-0) and Ole Miss (0-0).
 
FOLLOW CHATTANOOGA SOCCER
For the latest news and information on Chattanooga Mocs Soccer, visit the official website of Mocs Athletics at GoMocs.com. Fans can also follow the Mocs on social media at @GoMocsSoccer (X), @GoMocsWSoccer (Instagram).