THOMASVILLE, Ga. – The Thomas University women's soccer team will look to start its final road trip of 2015 in style on Oct. 9 when the team faces Johnson & Wales in North Miami, Fla.
 
The Lady Night Hawks have run up on a stretch of tough matches, as the team has lost three one-goal contests in the last six.  The upcoming road trip that features Johnson & Wales and then Keiser on Oct. 11 won't be easy, but Julie Orlowski's side will conclude the season with four consecutive home matches beginning on Oct. 15, so a win on the upcoming road trip could prove crucial to postseason seeding.
 
Johnson & Wales is one of the most improved sides in the Sun Conference, as the Lady Wildcats have won three out of four league matches after posting a 3-9-5 record in 2014.
 
The team's real strength lies in its defense, as Johnson & Wales has already posted four shutout victories in 2015.  Melissa Sanchez, an Honorable Mention All-TSC center back from a season ago, is the anchor of the Lady Wildcats' defense.  Johnson & Wales allowed just 11 goals in conference play a season ago.
Offensively, the Lady Wildcats are led by Bailee Abrahamoff (5 goals), Soleil Duplain (4) and Samantha Klein.  Ainsley Blanchette leads the team with three assists.
 
Thomas University has been led for the duration of the season by Mackenzie Dolan, who leads the team in goals (6) and is second on the team in assists (3), but the Lady Night Hawks aren't just a one-woman show.  Alleah Long and Linnea Roivas have each scored three goals, while Adrianna Johnson and Olivia Taylor have each netted two.  Additionally, Dolan, Johnson, Taylor, and Kaleigh Premo each have two assists or more.
 
Julie Orlowski's team has been significantly better at home this season, however, averaging three goals per game compared to just one goal per game on the road.  Thomas will seek not only improvement in the goals department, but also a win when the team travels south for two final road games.
 
Friday's match is critical to the Lady Night Hawks' hopes of clawing back to the .500 mark in conference play, as a road win would provide a much-needed momentum boost heading into the long stretch of home games to close the regular season.
 
The Lady Night Hawks and Johnson & Wales split two closely-contested matches last season, and another close match on Friday would further develop an already intense conference rivalry.
 
For up-to-date information on this game and other TU Athletics, visit http://www.TUNightHawks.com. Stay up-to-date with news, scores, photos, game summaries, play-by play, and feature stories of your TU women's soccer team by following them via Twitter at @NightHawksWSocc.