USI returns home to finish regular season this weekend
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Southern Indiana women's soccer team enters the final stretch of the 2010 campaign with three matches this week, beginning Wednesday night at future GLVC-rival McKendree University. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Lebanon, Illinois.
USI finishes the week and the regular season at Strassweg Field when it hosts Bellarmine University Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Kentucky Wesleyan College Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
The Screaming Eagles (10-4-0, 9-3-0 GLVC) are coming off their second-best offensive performance of the year in their 5-0 win over the University of Missouri-St. Louis last Sunday. Sophomore forward Susan Ellsperman (Newburgh, Indiana) led the way against the Tritons with her first two goals of the year and an assist.
Overall, junior forward Meagan Kempf (Evansville, Indiana) maintained her overall team-lead in points with a pair of assists in Sunday's win. Kempf, who is fourth in the GLVC in points, has 20 points on six goals and eight assists in 2010.
Junior forward Nancy Newcomer (Parma Heights, Ohio) is tops on the squad with seven goals this year, while Ellsperman has a team-high nine assists. Ellsperman is tied for eighth nationally and ranks first in the GLVC in assists.
As a team, the Eagles have clinched a spot in the upcoming GLVC Tournament, which begins October 31, for the first time since 2005 and have a chance to capture a first-round match-up at Strassweg Field. USI, currently third in the standings, needs a win over Bellarmine University or a loss by Quincy University to secure home field advantage in the first round as one of the top four teams in the league.
McKendree (12-1-1) started the year 9-0 and are 3-1-1 since tying Missouri Valley College on September 27. The Eagles are the only GLVC opponent on the schedule for the Bearcats, who join the GLVC next fall.
USI leads the all-time series with McKendree, 4-3, and won the last meeting, 2-0, at Strassweg in 2006.
Bellarmine (9-4-1, 8-3-1 GLVC) is on a five-match winning streak after sweeping Maryville University and Missouri University of Science & Technology last weekend. The Knights lead the all-time series with the Eagles, 7-6-1, and have taken four of the last five matches after the teams battled to a 1-1, double overtime tie last year.
KWC (3-11-0, 2-11-0 GLVC) broke a nine-match losing streak last Sunday with a 1-0 double overtime win over Maryville University. The Panthers host Brescia University Tuesday for a non-conference match before coming to USI Sunday.
The Eagles are 12-0-0 all-time against the Panthers after a 2-1 win in Owensboro, Kentucky, last fall.
