BUIES CREEK — Campbell women's soccer will honor a trio of seniors on Thursday night against Charleston Southern at Eakes Athletics Complex. Senior night kickoff is set for 7 p.m. on FloCollege.
Mia Fairchild, Zahra Fepessi, and Anais van Doesburg will be recognized on the field at the conclusion of Thursday's match.
The Camels will then travel to Coastal Carolina on Sunday, August 30. The match is slated for 6 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.
Game information (vs. Charleston Southern)
DATE: Thursday, August 27 | 7 PM
WHERE: Eakes Athletics Complex | Buies Creek, N.C.
WATCH: FloCollege
LIVE STATS
SERIES HISTORY (vs. Charleston Southern)
- Thursday's match marks the 20th all-time meeting between the two programs
- Campbell leads the all-time series record 14-3-2.
- The Camels have won eight of the last 10 matchups.
- The Camels are 6-0 against the Buccaneers at home since 2004.
- Campbell held a 10-2 advantage when the squads were Big South foes.
- Thursday's match marks the first time the programs have met since the 2024 season.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
- Charleston Southern enters the match with 1-2 overall record.
- The Buccaneers finished last season with a 6-8-4 record and an appearance in the Big South Championship.
- Charleston Southern is coming off a 9-1 win over Columbia College.
- A trio of players including Nina Meyer, Danika Birch, and Jillian Brown lead the squad with a pair of goals. Meyer adds an assist for a team-high five points.
- MacKenzie Marotz and Avery Mason have seen time in goal for the Buccaneers. Marotz has started two games and has registered five saves in 23 shots faced.
- Charleston Southern was picked to finish fifth in the Big South preseason poll as voted on by the league's head coaches.
Game information (at Coastal Carolina)
DATE: Sunday, August 30 | 6 PM
WHERE: Coastal Carolina Soccer Stadium
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS
SERIES HISTORY
- Sunday's matchup marks the 15th all-time matchup between the two programs.
- Campbell leads the overall series 8-6-1 over the Chanticleers
- The Camels are 2-2-1 on the road against Coastal.
- Campbell holds a 6-4 advantage in the last ten matchups.
SETTING THE SCENE
- Campbell women's soccer faces Charleston Southern on Thursday night at Eakes Athletics Complex. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. on FloCollege. Three seniors will be recognized following the conclusion of the match (Mia Fairchild, Zahra Fepessi, and Anais van Doesburg).
A WIN WOULD... (on Thursday)
- Be the second win of the season.
- Be the 289th win in program history
- Be Jeff Gross' 27th victory as head coach at Campbell.
- Be the 15th all-time win over the Buccaneers.
2025 SEASON RECAP
- Campbell finished the season with a 4-7-5 overall record and 2-4-3 in the CAA.
RETURN OF THE OFFENSE
- Campbell returns 100% of its scoring from a season ago, including leading scorer junior Ava Kanaar.
NEW KID ON THE BLOCK
- Freshman forward Laney Heafner scored her first collegiate goal against App State on August 16.
- She leads the Camels with 11 shots with five on goal for a .455 shot-on-goal percentage.
FORWARD MOMENTUM
- Forward Ava Kanaar looks to continue leading the Camels front after posting a team-high four goals last season.
- In the 82 minute of the season opener, Kanaar picked up where she left off last season by registering her first goal of the season.
- Kanaar finished the season scoring a goal in the three of the final four matches. With the goal on Thursday, she know has four goals in her last five matches.
- She led the squad with 10 points, four goals, and is second on the team in total shots (17) and shots on goal (11) in 2025.
FEPESSI FILES
- Zahra Fepessi was tabbed third-team All-CAA during the 2025 season.
- The junior appeared in 10 games for the Camels making five starts.
- Fepessi finished second on the team with three goals and registered 535 minutes played.
- The Sanford native scored her first collegiate goal against Stony Brook on Sept. 18 and tied for third on the team with six points on the season.
ALL-ROOKIE
- Samantha Witte was tabbed to the 2025 CAA All-Rookie team to open her Campbell playing career.
- Witte appeared in all 16 games making 10 starts. The freshman scored her first collegiate goal against Towson on Oct. 16 and added an assist in the match for a season high three points. She finished second on the team with three assists and fifth with five points.
CLEAN SHEETS
- Senior goalkeeper Anais van Doesburg looks to continue her success in goal for the Camels in her final season. Last season, van Doesburg posted back-to-back shutouts to open the season. The last time the Camels posted back-to-back shutouts to open the season was in 2011. van Doesburg finished with three shutouts last season.
- For the second consecutive season, van Doesburg earned the start in goal and registered a shutout. With the shutout in the season opener, van Doesburg now has four career shutouts. She collected five saves to open her senior campaign.
WHAT THE POLLS SAY
- Campbell was picked to finish fifth in the South division with 27 total points. Elon was picked to finish first in the division with eight first place votes followed by UNCW (56) who finished with four first place votes and William & Mary (44). Charleston (41) was picked to finish fourth ahead of the Camels (27) and Hampton (16) rounded out the division.
LEADING THE WAY
- Head Coach Jeff Gross (UMBC '91) enters his fifth season at Campbell and as a head coach. Gross spent the previous eight seasons, including the last two as associate head coach, on the staff at UNC Greensboro. While at UNCG, Gross helped guide the Spartans to back-to-back Southern Conference championships and NCAA College Cup appearances in 2017 and 2018. Gross took over a program that is coming off consecutive trips to the Big South Conference championship game as well as an appearance in the 2020-21 NCAA tournament.
NEWCOMERS IN THE CREEK
RETURNING TALENT
- Midfielder Abby Connolly returns to the pitch this season to lead the Camels after leading the team with five assists last season. She finished third on the team in minutes played (1,030) and second on the team with seven points. Connolly led the Camels with 26 shots with 12 on goal. Kira Moore, Sadie Badgett, Abygaelle Normand, and Caitlyn Boucher look to anchor the back line with the departure of Natalie Jamison.
