Women's Soccer Plays at Northern Illinois
10/29/2002 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S SOCCER
CHICAGO – The DePaul Blue Demons will play their final non-conference match of the season at Northern Illinois on Wednesday afternoon. Kickoff at Huskie Soccer Field is set for 2 p.m. in DeKalb.
Looking at the Blue Demons
DePaul enters the match at 9-7-1 overall and 3-5-1 in C-USA play... last weekend, the squad won at Valparaiso, 3-1, and tied East Carolina, 0-0… they are 6-2-0 in non-conference games… the victory over Louisville on Oct. 18 set a new program mark for single-season wins... the 1-0 loss at Southern Miss on Sept. 22 snapped a program-best five-match win streak... a year ago, the squad won five straight to start the season... the 1-0 victory at South Florida on Sept. 20 ended a 17-match conference winless streak for DePaul... during that span, they were 0-16-1... the Blue Demons have posted seven shutouts this season... Lindsey Deason, Erica Keppel, Lauren Geiger and Megan Pekala have combined for a 1.10 goals against average while making 73 saves... eight players have scored 25 goals... the Blue Demons have outscored their opponents, 25-19, while taking an average of just under three more shots per game... 20 goals was the team record for a season... Julianne Sitch leads the club with 17 points on seven goals and three assists... Margo Sackmaster is second with 13 points on five goals and three assists while Krissy Seberhagen has 10 points on four goals and a pair of assists... all four of Seberhagen's goals have been game-winners... Ogonnaya Dotson-Newman and Christy Young have scored three times... Bren Sugarman, Lindsey Deason and Amy Witt have one goal each... Amber Prindle, Sackmaster and Sitch are tied for the team lead with three assists... Witt, Sugarman, Erin Walter, Erin Davren and Colleen Ahearn have been credited with one assist each... the Blue Demons play their final four regular season matches on the road... head coach John Wilson is in his third season in Lincoln Park.
Updating the Recordbook
DePaul's nine wins and 25 goals have set new single-season marks. The Blue Demons won seven matches in 1999 and scored 20 goals in 1999 and 2001. Their current goals against average of 1.20 betters the all-time mark of 1.66 set by the 1999 squad.
In the 5-0 win on Sept. 1 at IPFW, the Blue Demons tallied their largest margin of victory in the program's seven-year history. The previous high was a 4-0 win on Oct. 27, 1999 against Loyola-Chicago. The five scores also set a single-game record for the women's soccer program. The Blue Demons tied the previous record on Sept. 13 with the 4-0 victory against Drury.
Senior forward Christy Young became the program’s all-time career scoring leader with a goal at Valparaiso on Oct. 25. With 37 career points, she passed Jeannette Croce (1997-00) with 35 career points. Young, who holds the top spot with eight assists, has totaled 37 points and 14 goals. Her 14 scores also rank second to Croce on the career goal chart.
In just 17 collegiate matches, Julianne Sitch has already established herself in DePaul's seven-year old recordbook. Sitch is in the top five in career points and goals and in the top 10 in career assists. On the single-season chart, she set the new scoring record with her seventh goal and third assist of the season for 17 points. She topped the record set by Maria Martinez in 1997 with 15 points.
DePaul's five-match win streak in September equaled the program-best mark set at the beginning of last season.
Looking at the Huskies
Northern Illinois enters the matct at 6-11-0… in the Mid-American Conference, the Huskies are 4-8-0… they snapped a five-match losing streak with a 3-2 win at Bowling Green on Sunday… Tiffany Anderson leads the club with 10 points on five goals… head coach Frank Horvat is in his eighth season in DeKalb… the series: Wednesday marks the third meeting between the Blue Demons and Huskies with NIU leading, 2-0… this will be the first meeting since a 4-2 NIU win in 1997.
Last Time Out – DePaul 0, East Carolina 0 (2OT)
The women’s soccer team battled East Carolina to a scoreless tie on Sunday afternoon at Bunting Field. With the draw, the Blue Demons stand at 9-7-1 overall and 3-5-1 in Conference USA play while East Carolina is at 9-4-4 and 5-2-3.
The Blue Demons created some opportunities as they outshot East Carolina, 14-11, in the match. The second half saw DePaul take 11 shots while the Pirates managed six. Goalkeeper Lindsey Deason was credited with eight saves while the team took five corner kicks compared to just two for East Carolina. Julianne Sitch took five shots while Claire Sharkey had three attempts.
“The team was mentally and physically tough today,” said head coach John Wilson. “They did a great job. We had some great chances to win throughout the game. East Carolina is one of the top teams in Conference USA and to get a result on the road was big. With our young club, today was a sign of growing as a team. We needed to get a result and we did it.”
Weekly Planner
The Blue Demons play their final regular season match on Nov. 2 at Marquette. The Conference USA Tournament is set for Nov. 6-9 at Transamerica Field in Charlotte, N.C.