 Billikens Return Home for Pair of A-10 Tilts
Oct. 6, 2008
THIS WEEK: Saint Louis women's soccer (5-3-3, 1-2-0 Atlantic 10) hosts two A-10 rivals at Robert R. Hermann Stadium this weekend. The Bills welcome Saint Joseph's (7-3-1, 2-0-1) on Friday for a 7 p.m. kickoff, then host Temple (2-6-3, 0-1-2) Sunday at 1 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. Both games this weekend will be available free of charge on GameTracker. TICKET INFORMATION: Tickets for all women's soccer home games at Robert R. Hermann Stadium can 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. A BALANCED ATTACK: Seven Billikens have scored at least one goal and 10 have recorded at least one point. Junior Julia Bradenberg (St. Louis/Ursuline) and seniors Molly Hartmann (Jackson, Mo./Jackson) and Lauren Olson have scored a team-high two goals apiece, and Bradenberg has added an assist for a team-high five points. Junior Susan Frederickson (St. Louis/St. Joseph's) leads the team with two assists.
SCOUTING SAINT JOSEPH'S: The Hawks return eight starters and 11 additional letterwinners from last year's team that finished 3-15-1 overall and 1-9-1 (14th) in the A-10. After dropping its first two contests, Saint Joseph's has won seven of nine including 1-0 conference wins at Rhode Island and at Temple. The Hawks tied Dayton 1-1. Freshman forward Jen Pfeiffer leads the team with seven goals and 14 points, while freshman midfielder Kortney Rhoades has a team-high four assists. Freshman goalkeeper Cara Critchlow owns a 1.13 goals against average and four shutouts. Head coach Jess Reynolds is 52-79-9 in eight years at Saint Joseph's, 61-88-11 in nine years overall. THE SAINT JOSEPH'S SERIES: The Billikens lead the Hawks 3-0. The teams have combined for 15 goals in the three games, making it SLU's highest-scoring series against an A-10 opponent. Saint Louis won 3-2 in Philadelphia last season, 4-3 in overtime at Hermann Stadium in 2006 and 2-1 in Philadelphia in 2005. SCOUTING TEMPLE: The Owls, who play Friday at Charlotte before visiting St. Louis, return 10 starters and 10 additional letterwinners from last year's team that was 5-10-4 overall and 1-8-2 (13th) in the A-10. Temple is winless (0-3-2) in its last five outings, with the ties coming at Xavier (2-2) and at home against Massachusetts (0-0) in conference play. The Owls were edged 1-0 by Saint Joseph's on Sunday. Freshman forward/midfielder Niki Conn leads the team with four goals and nine points. Sophomore goalkeeper Kara Williams has produced a 1.50 goals against average. Sixth-year head coach David Jones is 23-67-11, all at Temple. THE TEMPLE SERIES: The Bills hold a 2-0-1 edge over the Owls. SLU won 4-1 in Philadelphia in 2005 and 7-0 at home in 2006, and the teams played to a 1-1 tie last year in Philadelphia. BILLS IN THE A-10 STATISTICAL RANKINGS: SLU is tied for second in the Atlantic 10 in shutouts (five) and is third in goals against average (0.94). Freshman Hannah Perry (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) is tied for the league lead in shutouts (five), tied for fourth in save percentage (.823) and sixth in GAA (0.94). Senior Lauren Olson is tied for fourth in game-winning goals (two), and junior Julia Bradenberg is eighth in shots (2.88 per game). RECAPPING THE CHARLOTTE GAME: Despite six saves by Hannah Perry, A-10 co-leader Charlotte earned a 3-0 victory over the Billikens last Saturday in Charlotte, N.C. ALL TIED UP: With three ties in their first 10 games, the Billikens have already tied the school record. The 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2003 teams also registered three ties. 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 153-76-25 record (.652) at the SLU helm and a career mark of 213-90-28 (.686). Champion has led his teams to three regular-season conference 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 71-18-5 (.782) record at home, including a 40-6-2 (.854) 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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