BRIDGEPORT, West Virginia - With the heavy rains that plagued most of the state of West Virginia earlier in the week, the Salem women's soccer team's home opener had to find a new location as the surface at the Catalano Stadium was unplayable. Luckily, the Tigers were able to head just up the road to play on the turf at The Bridge Sports Complex for their scheduled clash against fellow NCAA Division II Independent Bluefield State. The Tigers played hard in the late summer sun, but fell to the Big Blue by a score of 3-0. 

The first half was a tough one for the Tigers. The Big Blue attack struck first early on in the game with a goal just 5 minutes into the opening half. They would score again just a few moments later to push the lead to 2-0. However, the Tigers found their defensive footing shortly thereafter, and would keep pace with their opponents. Unfortunately, Bluefield State was able to add one more on a defensive miscue by the Tigers to bring the score to 3-0 at the break

After the break, head coach Florin Marton was able to pull some defensive adjustments out of his bag of tricks that kept Salem in the game. He brought in newcomer Alexandra Issard for the Tigers in goal, and would later add starting goalkeeper Chloe Owens into the field as a forward to try to break the Bluefield State backline. Ana Caroline Lopes and Ana Luiza Ferrante both played well for the Tigers to keep them in the game in the second half. However, these efforts were not quite enough to even the score, and Salem would fall by a final score of 3-0. 

The Tigers have another opportunity to get into the winning column for the first time for this fall campaign on Sunday, August 28th when they head up to Mansfield, Pennsylvania for a 1 pm clash with the Mansfield University Mountaineers.