HICKORY, N.C. - Nearing the halfway point of the SAC soccer season, the biggest matchup of the season is here for the Lenoir-Rhyne women's soccer team as they welcome rival Catawba for a showdown of undefeated teams in the league. The two teams were in the same pod during the shortened spring season and met three times, with the Bears taking two out of three including a 1-0 OT win in the SAC Tournament semifinals. LR would go on to win the tournament championship. 

INSIDE THE MATCHUP

• The Bears are 16-22-3 all-time against Catawba, and the two teams have split the last four matchups. However, since 2010, the Bears are 11-4 against the Indians. 
• LR and Catawba are both 4-0 in SAC play, half a game behind 5-0 Queens. The Royals come to Hickory to take on the Bears on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Moretz Sports Complex. 
• Kara Gavaghan's header in the 96th minute gave the Bears the 1-0 win over the Indians in the SAC Tournament semifinals. Gavaghan also scored the game winner in the Bears' 1-0 regular season win at home over Catawba. 
• The game features five of the top seven scorers in the SAC. Catawba's Hannah Dunn leads the league in goals with 14, and teammate Sydney Jimmo is not far behind in 2nd place with 11. LR's Ria Acton is 4th with 7 goals, and freshmen Leonie Proessl and Evan O'Leary are T-7 with five goals each. Dunn and Jimmo are also the top two point scorers in the SAC.
• The two goalkeepers are the top two in the league in save percentage and goals against average. Catawba's Sierra Davis is first in both categories with a .913 save percentage and a 0.24 goals against average, and LR's Grayson Cameron is second with an .886 save percentage and .047 goals against average. Davis has allowed two goals all season and Cameron has allowed four. 
• Cameron posted two clean sheets in three games against Catawba in the spring. 
• Catawba is the top scoring team in the SAC, and LR is second. LR leads the league in shots, and Catawba is second. 

BEARS ON FIRE

• After a 1-0 non-conference road loss to North Georgia on Sep. 22, the Bears have won three straight league games, with two of those wins coming on the road. This is the middle game of a three-game homestand, with all three games coming against three of the top teams in the SAC (Lincoln Memorial, Catawba and Queens). 
• In four league games, the Bears are outscoring opponents 14-4. 
• The Bears have had a player score a hat trick in back-to-back games. Proessl scored one in a 5-1 win at Coker last Wednesday, and Acton got one in a 4-0 shutout of Lincoln Memorial, a team that was undefeated in the SAC going into the game. Acton is the reigning SAC Offensive Player of the Week. 

SCOUTING CATAWBA

• The Indians come into the game with an 8-0-1 record on the season, and haven't given up a goal in their last five games. In their last six games, they've outscored opponents 29-1.
• Catawba's lone draw of the season came against Columbus State back on Sep. 9. Columbus State is one of the top teams in the region.
• Catawba picked up a couple of shutout home wins last week. First, a hard-fought 1-0 win over Wingate, with Kelly Havens scoring the lone goal off a corner kick with 30 minutes to go in the game. The Indians then blanked Coker 8-0 on Saturday, with Dunn picking up a hat trick and five different players finding the back of the net.