September 13, 2002
USI women’s soccer to play top regional teams this weekend
The University of Southern Indiana women’s soccer team will be tested for the second weekend in a row as it travels to the Central Classic in Indianapolis, Indiana, Saturday and Sunday, September 14-15. The Screaming Eagles, who are ranked sixth in the NSCAA Great Lakes Region poll, will play Mercyhurst College, ranked second in the region, on Saturday and Wheeling Jesuit University, ranked eighth in the region, on Sunday.
Game time both days in Indianapolis is 2:30 p.m.
The Eagles (4-0-0) are flying high after winning their first four contests of 2002. The squad is one victory short of the best start by a women’s team and has reached 4-0-0 for the fourth time in the seven year history of the program.
The longest unbeaten streak by the Eagles was in 1998 when the team was 11-0-1. USI tied Truman State in the fifth game of the season for the only blemish on the record.
USI has done the job defensively the last two games with senior goalkeeper Aude de La Salle (France) posting back-to-back shutouts and making 18 saves. Her streak of scoreless minutes is up to 193:51, but de La Salle still has a way to go to catch Heather Heseman’s USI record of 419:34 scoreless minutes between the posts.
On the offensive side, the Eagles are led by the Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Week Alisann Shetler (Evansville, Indiana), a freshman forward. Shetler has six points on three goals in the four contests and is followed by junior forward Aisha Earle-Smith (Spring, Texas) with five points on two goals and one assist.
Mercyhurst goes into Saturday’s contest with a 2-1-0 record. The Lakers defeated the University of Missouri-St. Louis in the season’s opening weekend, but split last weekend by defeating Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and losing to Northern Kentucky University.
Wheeling Jesuit is 4-1-0 after defeating Ohio Valley College, 9-0, on Wednesday. WJU will play the University of Indianapolis on Saturday before taking on the Eagles on Sunday.
Ray Simmons, USI Sports Information
