DePaul University Athletics
Blue Demons Play at UAB on Friday
10/28/2004 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S SOCCER
Weekly Notes
CHICAGO - DePaul wraps up the 2004 regular season with a Friday evening match at UAB. The Blue Demons and Blazers tangle at 7 p.m. in Birmingham. DePaul enters the match with a 9-7-2 overall record and a 4-4-1 mark in Conference USA play while UAB stands at 11-5-1 and 7-2-0 in C-USA action. A win by the Blue Demons will assure them a spot in next week’s Conference USA Tournament in St. Louis, Mo.
Looking at the Blue Demons: 2004 marks the ninth season of women’s soccer at DePaul University... Lea Hill and Julianne Sitch lead the club with 25 and 23 points, respectively... Erin Walter has 18 points (4G/10A) followed by Jennifer Dyer (6G/5A) and Lauren Spacht (5G/5A)... 2004 marks the first season with five players totaling at least 15 points... Hill has a team-high 10 goals with five assists while Walter leads the club and Conference USA with 10 assists to go with four goals... Hill is just the second player in school history, joining Sitch, with at least 10 goals in a season... Walter leads C-USA in assists and the eight assists are a single-season school record... in nearly three seasons, Sitch has recorded a program-best 75 points, 28 goals and 19 assists... DePaul’s six goals and nine assists against Liberty on Sept. 5 are both school records... the club tied the scoring record in the 6-1 win against Northern Iowa on Sept. 17... head coach John Wilson is in his fifth season in Lincoln Park.
Updating the Recordbook: For the third straight season, the women’s soccer team has broken all offensive records in the program’s history. With at least one game left in the season, the Blue Demons hold new team records with 134 points, 43 goals and 48 assists.
Individually, Erin Walter set a new program single-season record with her eighth assist two weekends ago. She currently leads Conference USA with 10 assists. Both Lea Hill and Julianne Sitch are threatening Sitch’s 2003 record of 12 goals in a season.
Scoring in Bunches: DePaul’s 43 goals through 18 games is a new record last weekend. A year ago, the club set the top mark with 33 goals in 23 matches. Twice this season, the Blue Demons have scored a school-record six goals in a match. The nine goals in back-to-back matches against Northern Iowa and Marquette are the most in a two-game stretch. DePaul’s 12 goals in the three games against UW-Milwaukee, Northern Iowa and Marquette tied a record set in 2002 with 12 goals against IPFW, Indiana State and Drury. The Blue Demons are spreading the wealth as 10 different players have scored at least one goal and five players have at least 15 points. DePaul’s 2.39 points per game ranks 34th in the latest NCAA statistical rankings and leads Conference USA while Walter’s 0.56 assists per game is 25th among individual leaders.
Sitch on Hermann Trophy Watch List: DePaul junior and preseason Conference USA Player of the Year Julianne Sitch is one of 25 student-athletes named to the preseason Hermann Trophy watch list. The Hermann Trophy is annually awarded to the top men’s and women’s collegiate players. The 25 players on the preseason list are considered to be among the top players entering the 2004 college season and are the ones to watch this fall. A list of 15 semifinalists will be announced in November, with three finalists selected in early December. The winner will be announced at a dinner at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis, Mo., on Jan. 8, 2005.
Looking at UAB: The Blazers enter Friday’s game in second place with a 7-2-0 C-USA record... overall, they are 11-5-1... last weekend, they knocked off Houston, 8-0, and TCU, 2-0... Tara Kidwell leads the team with 28 points on 13 goals and two assists... Jenny Rynders has added 14 points on six goals and two assists... head coach Paul Harbin is in his ninth season at UAB. The series: Friday is the eighth all-time meeting between the two programs with the Blazers leading, 5-2... the Blue Demons have won two of the last three meetings including a 2-1 overtime game last season in Birmingham... in that game, All-American Julianne Sitch scored the game-winner with just 35 seconds left in the second overtime period.
What’s Ahead: The 2004 Conference USA Tournament is set for Nov. 3-6 in St. Louis, Mo. The top eight teams in the league standings qualify for the league tournament. A year ago, the Blue Demons won the C-USA Tournament as the No. 6 seed and advanced to the first NCAA Tournament in school history.
