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10/28/2009 - WOMEN'S SOCCER
A-Sun Women’s Soccer Championships Begin Friday
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MACON, Ga. - The Atlantic Sun Women's Soccer Championships gets underway this weekend with Jacksonville hosting Mercer on Friday, and Campbell heads to Stetson on Saturday.
Stetson locked up the No. 3 seed in the Atlantic Sun Championships with a 6-2-2 record in conference play and a 10-6-2 mark overall. The Hatters enter the championships on a six-game unbeaten streak, which ranks second best in the conference. Stetson led the league in goals scored during the regular season, ranking fourth in the conference in saves. Tessa Gavilsky leads the Hatters offensively with an Atlantic Sun-best 27 points on the season. The 2008 Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Year tied for the regular-season goal lead with 10. Three Hatters finished in the top four of the A-Sun points chart. Gavilsky, Heather Berg and Katie Bitetto combined to rack up 70 points, more than six teams in the conference. Andrea Garavaglia leads the Hatter defense in net. Garavaglia finished tied for second in shutouts, with seven, and led Stetson to its fourth 10-win season. The Hatters open the championships, hosting Campbell at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday in Deland, Fla. The winner of that match advances to face the defending champions Belmont on the campus of Kennesaw State.
Noting the Hatters
* Stetson finished the regular season with a pair of A-Sun wins versus USC Upstate and ETSU and a #3 seeding in the A-Sun tournament.
* Over the weekend the Hatters passed their previous season-highs of 34 goals (2003), 32 assists (2007) and 106 points (2003). So far this year, Stetson has totaled 36 goals and 36 assists for 108 points.
* Heather Berg earned Player of the Week honors after scoring four goals and two assists in a 7-0 win against ETSU. The four goals and total of 10 points were Stetson records.
* No. 3 Stetson will host No. 6 Campbell on Saturday night in the opening round of the tournament. It will be the first time ever that an A-Sun women's soccer tournament game has been played in DeLand.
Jacksonville closed the regular season on a conference-best seven game unbeaten streak. The Dolphins started the season, 0-4-0, but since then Jacksonville holds a record of 8-2-4. Alexa Rooney helped turn the Dolphins season around, posting 1.19 goals-against average and a .744 save percentage. Rooney played her best down the stretch and enters the championships with a 526-minute shutout streak. The Dolphins feature a very balanced offense with Eva Leeper leading the way with six goals and three assists. Liz Fink, Jessica Hurtado and Lisa Hensley each begin the postseason with eight points and three game-winning goals between them. Jacksonville hosts a first round matchup with Mercer in the opening game of the A-Sun Championships. Mercer dealt Jacksonville its only home conference loss of the season, a 1-0 defeat on Oct. 2. Since the loss to the Bears, Jacksonville holds a 3-0-1 record at home, outscoring its opponents 5-1.
Noting the Dolphins
* Sophomore goalkeeper Alexa Rooney picked up A-Sun Defensive Player of the Week honors on Oct. 26. Rooney posted an impressive week, going 2-0-1 and added to her now school record of 526 minutes without conceding a goal. Rooney has recorded five shutouts this season, four from the last four games of conference play. The Dolphin streak of four consecutive shutouts is a record only matched by the 2002 team.
* The Dolphins will be competing in their sixth straight post-season A-Sun contest, a tournament that they won in 2006.
* The Dolphins' seven game unbeaten streak leads the A-Sun, and they have dropped just one game in their last 12.
Mercer claimed the A-Sun regular season title a season ago, but fell in the A-Sun Championship game for a second-straight year. Mercer started the conference schedule slow with three consecutive losses, but the Bears have turned things around, carrying a five-game unbeaten streak and a four-game winning streak into the Championship. During their winning streak, the Bears have outscored their opponents, 16-3. Olivia Tucker leads the Bears offense with 15 points on the season, including seven goals. Eleven different Bears have found the net this season with four different players netting four or more goals. Jean Worts leads the Bears defense in net with 0.99 goals-against average and a .746 save percentage. Worts ranked third in the conference during the regular season in goals against average and posted three shutouts. Mercer heads to Jacksonville for a first-round matchup with the Dolphins on Friday. Mercer holds a 4-2-1 mark on the road this season including a 1-0 win at Jacksonville.
Noting the Bears
* The Bears have clinched their fourth straight Atlantic Sun Championship appearance after a fantastic final month of soccer in 2009. After starting out conference play 0-3, Mercer went 5-1-1 in the month of October, outshooting their opponents 115 to 38, securing a spot in the conference tournament.
* Mercer defeated their first round A-Sun Championship opponent Jacksonville 1-0 to record their first conference game of 2009 on Oct. 2. Junior defender Kacie Hudson headed a shot on a free kick taken from midfield in the 63rd minute.
* The past two seasons, the Bears have made the final round of the A-Sun Championship and lost. This season, the Bears are led by sophomore captain Olivia Tucker, who ranks among the league leaders in shots, goals and points per game.
Campbell picked up the six-seed in the Atlantic Sun Championships with a 4-4-2 record in conference action and a 9-8-2 overall mark. Campbell returns to the conference championship for the first time since 2005, when the Camels made it to the A-Sun title game by advancing on penalty kicks against Stetson. Campbell started the league play, 1-2-0, and lost its final two regular season games. In their middle five conference matchups, the Camels went unbeaten, 3-0-2, with two of their victories coming on the road. Sophomores Olga Ekblom and Marisa Muller lead Campbell's offensive attack. The pair combined for 22 points on the season, with nine goals, including six game-winning goals. Ashley Wagner leads the Camels in assists (6), ranking her tied for third among all players in the A-Sun. Jamie Panfil leads Campbell in net with 1.27 goals-against average, a .750 save percentage and six shutouts.
Noting the Camels
* Campbell earned its first A-Sun tournament berth since 2005 and will play at third-seeded Stetson Saturday at 7:00 p.m. The Camels (9-8-2, 4-4-2) recorded the team's most wins since the 2004 A-Sun title winner.
* Eight of CU's nine victories this year came by one-goal margins, including wins against Lipscomb, FGCU, ETSU and USC Upstate.
* Campbell dropped a 2-0 decision at Stetson on Oct. 1. The Camels and the Hatters have evenly split the all-time series, 6-6-4, but Stetson has won the last four matches. The Hatters stand, 5-4-1 at home this season, while Campbell finished 2-5 on the road.
The Atlantic Sun Conference is an 11-member league committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun stands for achievement with integrity in both the academic and athletic arenas, with a focus on the balance between the two for our student-athletes. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun boasts six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.
