Women's Soccer Opens C-USA Campaign
9/19/2002 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S SOCCER
CHICAGO – After sprinting out to a 4-1 start against non-conference opponents, the DePaul women’s soccer team will go on the road to open the Conference USA season. The Blue Demons take on South Florida on Friday before moving to Southern Miss for a Sunday afternoon match. The Bulls enter the weekend at 3-2 while the Golden Eagles are 4-2.
Looking at the Blue Demons
DePaul has won four straight matches after losing the season-opener at Northwestern… a year ago, the squad won a school-record five straight to start the season… the Blue Demons have posted three shutouts this season, including the last two matches… Lindsey Deason, Erica Keppel and Megan Pekala have combined for a 0.80 goals against average while making 12 saves… seven players have scored 13 goals… the Blue Demons have outscored their opponents, 13-4, while taking an average of six more shots per game… 20 goals is the team record for a season… Julianne Sitch leads the club with eight points on three goals and two assists… she has tallied at least a goal or an assist in four of the five matches… Ogonnaya Dotson-Newman has three goals… Christy Young and Krissy Seberhagen have five points each on two goals and an assist… Margo Sackmaster, Bren Sugarman and Lindsey Deason have tallied one goal apiece… Sackmaster is tied with Sitch for the team lead with two assists… Erin Walter and Erin Davren have been credited with one assist each… in the season-opener at Northwestern seven of the 11 starters where not on the club last season... after opening the season with three straight road matches, the Blue Demons play four of the final six September matches at Wish Field... head coach John Wilson is in his third season in Lincoln Park.
Updating the Recordbook
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 inched her way closer to the top spot on the career leaders chart with an assist against Idaho. The Ft. Wayne, Ind., native tied Jeannette Croce (1997-00) with her 35th career point on the assist. Young, who holds the top spot with eight assists, has totaled 35 points and 13 goals. Her 13 scored also ranks second to Croce on the career goal chart.
Looking at the Weekend Opponents
South Florida Bulls – The Bulls stand at 3-2-0… this will also be the C-USA opener for South Florida… last weekend, USF won the Jacksonville-Brine/Dennis Viollet Memorial Classic with victories over Florida International (1-0) and Elon (3-2)… they have also defeated Stetson (4-0) while dropping matches at Miami (5-1) and Jacksonville (2-0)... Rachel Thjomore leads the team with six points on two goals and two assists… head coach Logan Fleck is in his seventh season... South Florida is located in Tampa. The series: Friday marks the seventh meeting between the Blue Demons and Bulls... South Florida has won four of the meetings… there have also been a pair of ties.
Southern Miss Golden Eagles – Southern Miss enters the weekend at 4-2... the Golden Eagles play Cincinnati on Friday… they have also won four straight after losing their first two matches… last weekend, they knocked off Gardner-Webb, 3-0… they have also defeated Mississippi State (3-2), Middle Tennessee (2-1) and Alabama A&M (7-1) while dropping matches to Georgia State (2-1) and Marshall (2-1)... Katie Adams leads the club and C-USA with six goals and an assist… head coach Matt Clask is in his second season... Southern Miss located in Hattiesburg. The series: Sunday marks the fourth meeting between the Blue Demons and Golden Eagles... Southern Miss won two of the meetings while the two squads tied once.
Last Time Out - DePaul 1, Idaho 0
A first-half goal by Julianne Sitch and a stingy defense led DePaul past visiting Idaho, 1-0, last Sunday. Sitch found the net for the third time this season while the Blue Demons didn’t allow a goal for the second straight game. The win was the fourth straight and improved DePaul’s record to 4-1-0.
The Blue Demons controlled the ball for most of the first half. Sitch took a pass from Christy Young and fired a shot past Vandal goalkeeper Janell Miller at 27:24. With the assist, Young tied Jennette Croce with her 35th career point.
The DePaul backfield of Erin Davren, Jennifer Heil, Amber Prindle and Amy Witt aided Lindsey Deason in the shutout. The Vandals were able to get off only three shots while DePaul tallied 14 shots.
Weekly Planner
The Blue Demons return to Wish Field next weekend for a pair of league matches. DePaul hosts the Houston Cougars on Friday and the Tulane Green Wave on Sunday. Kickoff for Friday is set for 4 p.m. while the Sunday match is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.