Billikens Head North for Non-Conference Tests
Sept. 16, 2008
THIS WEEK: Saint Louis women's soccer (3-1-2) seeks a return to the win column this week in a pair of non-conference road contests. The Billikens travel to Toledo, Ohio, to challenge Toledo (4-1-0) of the Mid-American Conference on Friday. Game time is 4 p.m. (CT). Sunday, SLU faces Northwestern (5-2) of the Big Ten in Evanston, Ill., with kickoff slated for 2:30 p.m. FOLLOWING THE ACTION: All Billiken home games this season will be video streamed live on the Internet via Billiken All-Access at www.slubillikens.com. Subscriptions are available for $79.95 annually or $9.95 a month. In addition to the games, fans can view player interviews, highlights and the Tim Champion Show at no charge. GameTracker is again available free of charge in 2008. Toledo is offering live stats for Friday's game (www.utrockets.com), and Sunday's contest at Northwestern will be available on GameTracker (www.nusports.com). TICKET INFORMATION: Tickets for all women's soccer home games at Robert R. Hermann Stadium may be purchased at the gate, by phone at (314) 977-4SLU or online at www.slubillikens.com. Prices for single-game tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for youth. Groups of 20 or more receive discounted tickets for $3 apiece. Students with a valid SLU ID card receive free admission. THE BILLIKEN LODOWN: Senior Lauren Olson (Plano, Texas/Ursuline) is keeping a blog this season, a feature available only on www.slubillikens.com. The blog provides a behind-the-scenes look at the women's soccer squad and is updated weekly. Go to the women's soccer page and look for "The Billiken LoDown" button. TOLEDO GAME MARKS MILESTONE: The Billikens' game against Toledo will be the 250th in SLU women's soccer history. SCOUTING TOLEDO: Mid-American Conference preseason favorite Toledo returns eight starters and 10 additional letterwinners from last year's team that won a school-record 14 games (14-6-3) and finished second (8-3-0) in the MAC. The Rockets captured their second consecutive MAC Tournament title and earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament, where they fell to Indiana 3-2 in overtime in the first round. This year, Toledo owns four shutout victories and has lost only to 13th-ranked Boston College. Junior forward Ali Leak leads the team in goals (three) and points (seven). Junior forward Molly Cornwell, the 2007 MAC Player of the Year, has two goals, as do sophomore forward Sarah Blake and freshman forward Kristen Lynn. Three players have shared goalkeeping duties, with freshman Vicki Traven (0.00 GAA) and senior Andrea Plewes (0.58) leading the way. Head coach Brad Evans is 66-61-15 in his eighth year at Toledo and 133-87-17 in his 13th season overall.
THE TOLEDO SERIES: The Billikens and Rockets have met just once before, with SLU claiming a 2-0 victory at Hermann Stadium on Sept. 10, 2006. That game is part of Saint Louis' 2-0-0 ledger against MAC teams. SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN: The Wildcats, who will carry a three-game winning streak into their game against the Billikens, return seven starters and eight additional letterwinners from last season's squad that was 9-7-4 overall and 4-4-2 (tied for seventh) in the Big Ten. Senior midfielder Amanda Hoffman has team highs of five goals and 10 points, while sophomore forward Sam Greene and senior forward Jenny Dunn have tallied two goals and four assists apiece. Sophomore goalkeeper Carolyn Edwards has a 1.85 GAA. Head coach Stephanie Erickson is 22-19-6 in her third year at Northwestern and 51-26-9 in her fifth season overall. THE NORTHWESTERN SERIES: The Billikens and Wildcats are meeting for the first time. SLU has a 5-7-1 record against Big Ten members. BILLS IN THE A-10 STATISTICAL RANKINGS: SLU leads the Atlantic 10 in shutouts (three), ranks second in goals against average (0.78) and shots (15.50 per game) and stands third in corner kicks (5.17 per game). Individually, freshman Hannah Perry (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) leads the league in save percentage (.853) and shutouts (three) and is third in GAA (0.78), while junior Julia Bradenberg (St. Louis/Ursuline) is tied for sixth in shots (3.00 per game). RECAPPING THE VANDERBILT GAME: Saint Louis trailed 2-0 until junior Sally Sinclair (St. Louis/Cor Jesu), assisted by junior Kristen Sapienza (St. Louis/St. Joseph's), scored the first goal of her Billiken career in the 41st minute to slice the Vanderbilt lead in half. The Bills pulled even in the 56th minute on an unassisted goal by junior Kelly Waeckerle (St. Louis/Parkway West), and the game ended in a 2-2 deadlock. Hannah Perry made six saves. RECAPPING THE BUTLER GAME: The visiting Bulldogs scored two second-half goals and walked away with a 2-0 victory. Junior Ashley Hayes (St. Louis/Incarnate Word) led the Billiken offensive attack with three shots. PERRY EARNS A-10 LAURELS: Hannah Perry was named Atlantic 10 Conference co-Rookie of the Week for the period ending Sept. 7. Perry's 10 saves in a 1-0 win over Nebraska tied a Hermann Stadium record for a SLU player. BARKLAGE 2-FOR-2: Freshman Andrea Barklage (Lake St. Louis/Incarnate Word) was named to the All-Tournament team at both early-season tournaments in which Saint Louis participated. Barklage was tabbed for the honor at Army's BAE Systems Fall Classic on the season-opening weekend and duplicated the feat at SLU's Toys For Tots Tournament the following weekend. PRESEASON HONORS: Julia Bradenberg was named to the A-10 preseason All-Conference team, while Andrea Barklage earned a spot on the league's All-Rookie team. The Billikens were picked by A-10 head coaches to finish third in the conference. Defending champion Charlotte is the preseason favorite, followed by Dayton. ASCENDING THE CAREER CHARTS: On the Bills' career game-winning goals chart, Julia Bradenberg is tied for seventh with six game-winners, while Kelly Waeckerle is tied for 10th with five. SEEING DOUBLE: Saint Louis finished the 2007 campaign with a 10-6-2 record, giving the Bills a double-digit victory total for the 10th time in the 12-year history of the program. Included in that record was a 7-2-2 mark in Atlantic 10 Conference play. HEAD COACH Tim Champion: The only head coach in Saint Louis women's soccer history, Tim Champion is in his 13th season in charge of the Billikens and his 16th season overall as a collegiate head coach. He owns a 151-74-24 record (.655) at the SLU helm and a career mark of 211-88-27 (.689). Champion has led his teams to three conference regular-season championships and two conference tournament titles. He became the first head coach to guide a SLU women's program to the NCAA Tournament when his 2005 Billikens made the first of two consecutive NCAA appearances. Champion's .689 win percentage and 208 victories at the beginning of the season ranked 19th and 27th, respectively, all time among coaches with at least 10 seasons as an NCAA Division I head coach. The win percentage is 21st in the nation and the victory total is 24th among active coaches with at least five years as a Division I head coach. Joining Champion on the sideline are assistant coaches Kelly Ferguson and Rob LaMear and graduate assistant Sarah Schweitzer. HERMANN STADIUM: Billiken women's soccer has been tough to beat on Robert R. Hermann Stadium's state-of-the-art natural grass. Since the facility re-opened in 1999, the Bills have posted a 70-18-5 (.780) record at home, including a 39-6-2 (.851) mark in league play. SLU was undefeated at home in the 2006 regular season, yielding just one tie to nationally ranked Marquette, before falling to Illinois in the NCAA Tournament second round. Last season yielded a 7-1 Saint Louis ledger on the home pitch. The Bills played 18 straight games without a home loss beginning Sept. 16, 2005, and running through an NCAA Tournament first-round win over Drake on Nov. 10, 2006. SLU TO HOST 2008 A-10 CHAMPIONSHIP: Robert R. Hermann Stadium will be the site of the 2008 Atlantic 10 Women's Soccer Championship. The top six teams in the final A-10 regular-season standings will gather in St. Louis to compete for the league's tournament championship and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. First-round action is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 6, followed by the semifinals Nov. 7 and the title game Nov. 9. |
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