CHICAGO - After a two-match road trip, the Ramblers return to their home turf Thursday. Loyola Chicago plays host to Richmond for a 7 p.m. kickoff. The Ramblers are fresh off a 1-0 shutout win at Davidson, while the Spiders dropped a 4-0 match at No. 24 Saint Louis. Both Loyola and Richmond are battling for a spot in the league's top-eight with a trip to the postseason on the line in the final half of Atlantic 10 regular season action.
QUICK KICKS
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Maggie Schmidt scored her first career goal and game-winner at Davidson last weekend propelling Loyola to its second A10 win of the season. Schmidt's goal came with just under two minutes left in the match and earned her Rookie of the Week honors. She is the third different Rambler Rookie to earn the award this season.
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Zoe Hevey tallied the assist on Schmidt's goal to take over as the team's leader with five this season. She has 11 total points to sit second on the team. Hevey is now ranked in the NCAA top-100 in three stat categories. Her six assists ranks 67th, .579 shot accuracy ranks 48th, and 1.57 shots on goal per game ranks 66th.
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Taylor Harrison leads the Ramblers with six goals. It also sits at the top of the league and ranks 99th in the NCAA. Harrison netted a season-high two goals in a 4-0 win against George Washington back on Sept. 24.
• Loyola's shutout over the weekend marks the sixth of this season. In goal,
Naya Lipkens has recorded all six of the clean sheets. She leads the A10 and ranks 29th in the nation in shutouts. Four of her shutouts have come in A10 action, tying her second in the conference-only charts.
• Lipkens also ranks in the NCAA top-50 in goalie minutes played. She's 44th with 1,253:58 minutes between the posts.
• The Rambler freshmen have stepped up big for Loyola this season with five different rookies tallying a point so far. Hevey leads the pack with 11 points on three goals and five assists. Schmidt,
Ansley Cryan and
Skyler Bierker have a goal each, while
Jadyn Harris has an assist.
• Loyola has outshot its opponent eight times this season, including a season-high 25 shots vs. Western Illinois. The Ramblers also surpassed the 20-shot mark with 24 at DePaul. Loyola is third in the A10 with 95 total shots on goal. In league-only play, they average 7.17 SOG for third in the conference
• Both in their fifth season,
Amanda Cassidy and
Olivia Knab have surpassed 80 matches played as a Rambler. Cassidy is at 82 career matches played with 63 starts, while Knab is at 82 appearances and 72 starts.
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Barry Bimbi is in his 13th season as head coach of the Ramblers. Bimbi notched his 100th career win last year and sits at 112-96-31 overall.
SCOUTING RICHMOND
The Spiders are 3-8-3 overall and 1-5-0 in A10 play heading into this week's action in Chicago. One win came in the season opener at Longwood. It took the Spiders another three weeks to pick up a win at American, while their lone league win came on Oct. 1 against St. Bonaventure, 2-1. Richmond is coming off a 4-0 loss to No. 24 Saint Louis.
SPIDERS TO WATCH
• Molly Wierman leads the Spiders with 10 points on a team-leading four goals and two assists. Her first goal of the year was the game-winner in the season opener at Longwood. She added one in back-to-back games at American and vs. Charlotte. Wierman also scored in the team's lone league win vs. St. Bonaventure.
• Hannah Antonick is second on the Richmond squad with five points on two goals and one assist. Her first goal of the season was against Charlotte, and she netted the game winner vs. St. Bonaventure.
In goal, Taylor Montague has started 13 of 14 appearances. She's given up 14 goals and made 51 saves for the Spiders. Montague made a season-high 10 saves on 21 shots faced vs. VCU back on Sept. 14.
SERIES HISTORY
The Ramblers lead the all-time series 1-0-0 after a 1-0 win last season in the first ever meeting.
Jaimee Cibulka scored the game-winner in the 35th minute.
