TEANECK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson women's soccer team takes its longest road trip of the season this weekend, traveling to Wilmington, N.C., for the Courtyard by Marriott UNCW Soccer Invitational where the team will face two Northeast Ohio-based schools in Cleveland State and Kent State.
 
ENTERING THE KNIGHT
The Knights (1-3) have played in one-goal contests in each of their four matches to start the season, but have been on the wrong end of the last three. The last match saw the Knights go up early thanks to a Sofia Albertsson goal in the eighth minute against Rider, who tied the match in the final minute of regulation before going on to win in overtime. Sophomore Viktorija Miseljic registered her first assist of the season on Albertsson's strike.
 
GREAT WALL OF FITZGERALD
Junior goalkeeper Amanda Fitzgerald has 20 saves through four matches, including a season-best six stops in the team's most recent match at Rider. On the season, Fitzgerald has a 0.98 goals against average, good for third in the Northeast Conference, as well as a .833 save percentage, also good for third in the conference. For her career, she ranks third among all NCAA Division I juniors in career saves with 236 in 43 games.
 
CONFERENCE LEADER
Freshman Lea Egner is tied for the lead in the NEC after garnering her second assist of the season. She helped set up Albertsson's goal against Rider with a long cross from right to left that Albertsson connected for a header into the net. The freshman from Oberboihingen, Germany, has started all four matches in the midfield to begin the season, taking two shots in 245 minutes of action.
 
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
Fairleigh Dickinson will travel over 600 miles to Wilmington, N.C., to compete against Cleveland State Friday, August 31 at 5 p.m., and then face Kent State Sunday, September 2 at 11 a.m., as part of the Courtyard by Marriott UNCW Soccer Invitational. It will be the first time that the Knights oppose either school in women's soccer. In fact, it will be the first time a Fairleigh Dickinson team sport will play Kent State in school history. FDU has played Cleveland State previously in men's and women's basketball, men's and women's tennis and softball. The host school, UNC Wilmington, will provide live stats for each of the matches at www.uncwstats.com.
 
SCOUTING CLEVELAND STATE
The Vikings enter the weekend with a 2-2 record, having been shutout in each of their past two matches. Cleveland State last played Sunday against FDU's next opponent, Kent State, falling by a score of 2-0. The Vikings started the season with victories over Howard (2-1) and Chicago State (3-1). Seniors Dani Sowinski and McKenna Vento lead the team with three points, with Sowinski racking up three assists to start the season. Sophomore Stevie Holbrook has started all four matches in goal, totaling eight saves and allowing four goals in 301 minutes. Cleveland State was picked to finish fifth in the Horizon League Preseason Coaches' Poll after going 9-9-1 in 2017.

SCOUTING KENT STATE
The Golden Flashes are 2-1-1 coming into the weekend, having gone unbeaten in each of their previous three matches. Kent State defeated Cleveland State, 2-0, in its most recent match, with freshman forward Khyla Porter scoring both goals in the first half. Porter leads the team in points (4) as well, and sophomores Maddie Holmes and Isabelle Mihail each have a goal and assist so far this season. Faith O'Neill has stopped 16 shots while playing all 380 minutes in goal, allowing five goals and registering a 1.18 goals against average. Porter and O'Neill were tabbed as last week's MAC Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively. Kent State was picked as the preseason favorite in the MAC heading into 2018 after going 13-6-2 and making the MAC semifinals last season. 
 
NEUTRAL TURF
The Knights are 1-2 in neutral site matches under head coach Eric Teepe. The last neutral site win was a 1-0 win over Northwestern to start the 2014 season, which was also Teepe's first game as head coach of the Knights.