CHICAGO (August 25, 2021) – With a pair of wins under its belt to start the 2021 season, the Loyola University Chicago women's soccer team (2-0-0) will travel south this weekend for a pair of games in Florida. 
 
The Ramblers open their swing through The Sunshine State on Friday in Boca Raton, Fla. with a 6 p.m. (CT) kickoff against Florida Atlantic at the FAU Soccer Stadium.  A 12 p.m. (CT) Sunday afternoon date at the FGCU Soccer Complex in Fort Myers, Fla. with host Florida Gulf Coast closes out the two-game swing.
 
Last Time Out: Loyola opened the season with wins over Miami (Ohio), 2-1, and SIUE, 3-0.  In last Thursday's road win over the Redhawks, graduate student Katharine Stephens and junior Kyrsten Pellikan each found the back of the net in the victory, with Pellikan's tally in the 58^th minute serving as the game winner.  Three days later, junior Megan Nemec fired home a pair of first-half goals, while graduate student Kailee Coonan added a third just in front of the hour mark to help the Ramblers sail past the visiting Cougars in the 2021 home opener. 
 
For her efforts last week, Nemec was tabbed as the season's first Missouri Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Week.
 
vs. Florida Atlantic: Florida Atlantic currently sits at 1-1-0 overall after splitting a pair of games during the opening week of the season.  The Owls picked up a 3-0 home win over Oakland to begin the new campaign last Thursday before dropping a 1-0 decision to local rival Miami on Sunday evening. 
 
Head coach Patrick Baker's team, which finished the 2021 spring season at 5-4-2 overall (4-1-1 C-USA) was picked as the preseason favorite in Conference USA's East Division, with Gi Krstec, who closed last season with a goal and two assists, landing on the league's preseason all-conference team. 
 
Baker returns his top eight point-getters from this past spring, a group highlighted by Thelma Hermannsdottir and Miracle Porter, who both tallied two goals and an assist.  Amit Cohen has started in goal in each of the Owls' first two games following a debut campaign that saw her tally three shutouts across six appearances.
 
vs. Florida Gulf Coast: Like Florida Atlantic, Florida Gulf Coast also split two games to open the season, falling at Tennessee, 6-0, on Thursday ahead of a 4-0 rout of Tampa at the FGCU Soccer Complex on Sunday afternoon. 
 
Piloted by head coach Jim Blankenship, the Eagles finished last spring at 7-3-2 overall, a mark that included a 4-2-0 ledger in Atlantic Sun Conference play.  Florida Gulf Coast was picked third in the league's preseason poll, while Louise Lillback and Kajsa Lang were tabbed Preseason All-Atlantic Sun. 
 
Blakenship welcomes back 23 letterwinners from last season, headlined by the pairing of Lillback (7 goals) and Alyssa Abbondandolo (6 goals, 1 assist).  In goal, Katie Sullivan earned the starting nod in both games to start the young season, sporting a 3.00 goals against average.
 
Series Stuff: Loyola and Florida Atlantic will meet for the first time on Friday evening, while Sunday's tilt in Fort Myers marks the second clash between the Ramblers and Eagles.  The Maroon & Gold battled Florida Gulf Coast to a 1-1 draw in double overtime back on September 26, 2018 at Loyola Soccer Park. 
 
This weekend marks only Loyola's second visit to The Sunshine State, the first of which came when the Ramblers dropped a hard-fought 1-0 decision to eventual National Champion Florida State in the First Round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
 
Up Next: Loyola faces a pair of Big Ten Conference foes next week, hosting Wisconsin (September 2) ahead of a trip to Nebraska (September 5).