USI hosts first GLVC Tournament game since 2000

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Southern Indiana women's soccer team will host its first GLVC Tournament match at Strassweg Field since 2000 when it plays Bellarmine University in the opening round Sunday at 1 p.m. The Screaming Eagles (12-5-1, 10-3-1 GLVC) are the fourth seed, while the Knights (10-4-2, 9-3-2 GLVC) are seeded fifth.

USI enters the post-season after recording its best regular season mark in a decade and its first back-to-back winning seasons since1999 and 2000.

Leading the way in 2010 is junior forward Meagan Kempf (Evansville, Indiana), who has 20 points on six goals and eight assists. She is followed in the points column by freshman forward # Julia Kohnen# (Florissant, Missouri), who has 16 points on six goals and four assists, and sophomore forward Susan Ellsperman (Newburgh, Indiana) with 15 points on three goals and a conference-high nine assists.

Junior forward Nancy Newcomer (Parma Heights, Ohio) is fourth on the team in scoring with 14 points on a team-high seven goals, while sophomore midfielder Paige Nuelle (St. Louis, Missouri) rounds out the double-figure scorers with 11 points on five goals and one assist.

Between the posts, junior goalkeeper Stephanie Bodamer (Highland Heights, Indiana) has a 0.90 goals against average and a career-high seven shutouts. Bodamer's 0.90 GAA is nearly half a goal better than last year and three-quarters of a goal better than her career GAA.

Bellarmine has been on a roll the last eight matches, going 6-0-2. The Eagles and the Knights battled to a 1-1 double overtime draw at Strassweg Field last Friday. The draw was the second straight year that the two teams finished deadlocked after 110 minutes with identical 1-1 scores.

The winner of the USI-Bellarmine match-up advances to the GLVC Tournament semifinals against the winner of top-seeded Northern Kentucky University and eighth-seeded Drury University on November 5. The other two GLVC quarterfinal matches have third-seeded Quincy University hosting sixth-seeded Missouri University of Science & Technology and second-seeded University of Wisconsin-Parkside playing seventh-seeded Rockhurst University. The championship match is slated for November 7.

The GLVC Tournament semi-finals and championship match will be hosted by the top remaining seed after the first round.