TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology women's soccer team comes into Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) play riding a 5-0 victory over St. Mary-of-the-Woods Wednesday. The Fightin' Engineers travel to Defiance Saturday, Oct. 4, for a game with the Yellow Jackets slated to begin at 1 p.m.
Matching the program's best start in school history, Rose-Hulman enters the contest with a 6-2 record. Junior Hayley Gilliam, who scored two goals in the Engineers' victory over St. Mary-Woods, leads Rose-Hulman with nine points on the season. In addition, Gilliam has three goals and three assists through eight games of the 2014 season, tied for the team-high in both categories. Junior Kate DeMoss and freshman Eliska Saiz have each totaled seven points this year.
Junior goalkeeper Lucinda Combs has totaled 54 saves and six of her 25 career shutouts this season. The Danville, Ky., native ranks 25th in the country in save percentage, saving 89.1 percent of shots faced.
"That win [over St. Mary-of-the-Woods] gave our team confidence going into conference play," head coach Amy Helliwell said. "Scoring five goals gave our team confidence they can put the ball in the net."
Defiance enters the game with a 2-8 record. The Yellow Jackets began the season winning two of their first three games, but have lost their last seven contests. Baldwin-Wallace and Muskingum, two Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) members, defeated Defiance last weekend.
After the game with Defiance, Rose-Hulman will travel to Mount St. Joseph on Tuesday, Oct. 7 for a game against the Lions slated to begin at 7:30 p.m.
