Chattanooga, Tenn. – Ruth Leiva and Nicole Levermann scored first half goals to stake The Citadel to a 2-0 lead, and the Bulldogs went on to a 3-1 victory over Chattanooga to complete a Southern Conference weekend women's soccer sweep.

The Citadel (5-8-2, 3-5 SoCon) added to its 3-2 win over then-first place Samford on Friday to move into solid contention for a berth in the SoCon playoffs. The Bulldogs swept a two-game conference weekend for the third time in school history and first since accomplishing the feat twice in 2010.

The win was the fourth in the past five seasons for The Citadel over Chattanooga (5-10, 0-7).

With Western Carolina and Davidson both losing on Sunday, the Bulldogs moved into a tie for eighth with Davidson in the standings with nine points. The top eight teams at the end of the regular season qualify for the postseason.

The Citadel plays its final two league games at home on Friday against Appalachian State at 3 p.m. and Sunday against Western Carolina at 2 p.m. The Bulldogs are looking to reach the conference tournament for the first time since 2010.

Leiva got The Citadel offense started against the Mocs in the 25th minute when she scored her fourth goal of the season, beating Chattanooga goalkeeper Taylor Mangrum with a one-on-one move. The senior found the net for the ninth time in her career, good for a tie for ninth in school history.

Fellow senior Levermann continued her outstanding weekend with her third goal of the road trip six minutes later, taking a corner kick from Lea Raedle and heading it past Mangrum. Levermann has five goals on the year and 17 in her career, moving her into fifth place in The Citadel record book.

The assist was the seventh of the year for freshman Raedle, tying Vanessa Aponte's total from last year for the school's single-season record. Raedle is already tied for fourth in career assists in school history.

Chattanooga got back in the game in the 60th minute when Monica Speth scored for the fifth time this season, assisted by Crystal Mackezyk on a corner kick. But the Bulldogs answered in the 78th minute when Ana Mesa scored for the second time this season. The Mocs had three shots in the final three minutes, but Naomi Carter stopped two of them.

Levermann and Leiva had five and four shots, respectively, and The Citadel had 17 in the game, one fewer than the Mocs. Carter made four saves for the Bulldogs while Mangrum recorded nine saves for Chattanooga.

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