EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Southern Indiana women's soccer team is ready to host one of the most important GLVC weekends of the year, beginning Friday with Drury University at 7:30 p.m. The weekend concludes Sunday with USI taking on Rockhurst University at 2:30 p.m.

 

At the halfway mark in the GLVC schedule, the Screaming Eagles (6-3-0, 4-3-0 GLVC) are tied for fifth in the league and are one-and-a-half games behind fourth-place Rockhurst (6-2-1, 4-1-1). The top eight teams advance to the GLVC Tournament, while the top four host a first round game.

 

Drury (5-4-0, 3-3-0 GLVC) is tied for seventh and a half-game behind USI and Lewis University.

 

To have a chance at earning a bid to host a first round match, the Eagles are going to have to string some victories together. USI is currently on the right track after finishing last weekend's road swing with a 3-2 overtime victory at the University of Illinois-Springfield.

 

Individually, USI is led by junior forwards Meagan Kempf (Evansville, Indiana) and Nancy Newcomer (Parma Heights, Ohio), who are tied for the team lead with five goals apiece. Kempf, who scored the game-winning goal in the overtime win at UIS, is the team's top scorer with 14 points on the five goals and four assists.

 

Drury has been on a roll lately in the GLVC, sweeping it last homestand and winning four of its last five matches. The Panthers had started the 2010 campaign, 1-3-0.

 

USI trails the all-time series with Drury, 5-0-0, after the Panthers defeated the Eagles, 3-0, in Springfield, Missouri.

 

Rockhurst also has been hot, winning its last three matches and six of its last eight. The Hawks, who play at Kentucky Wesleyan College Friday afternoon before coming to the Strassweg Field, have won their last two matches in double-overtime.

 

The Eagles trail the all-time series with Rockhurst, 6-0-0, after suffering a 3-2 setback to the Hawks in Kansas City, Missouri, last fall.

 

NATIONAL NOTE: USI sophomore forward Susan Ellsperman ranks second nationally in the NCAA Division II for total assists and is tied for 12^th in assists per match. Ellsperman also leads the GLVC and the Eagles in both categories.