October 01, 2003
USI women’s soccer hopes to get on track this week
The University of Southern Indiana women’s soccer team hopes a three-match homestand will get the team back on track after a 0-2-0 record on the road last week. The Screaming Eagles start the homestand by hosting Bellarmine University Friday, October 3, at 5 p.m. and the defending GLVC champion Northern Kentucky University Sunday, October 5, at noon.
The Eagles have fallen upon tough times over the last couple of weeks and have seen their record fall to 4-5-0 overall and 1-3-0 in the GLVC. USI started the year with a 3-1 record and a win over nationally ranked Wheeling Jesuit, but since then the Eagles have gone 1-4-0.
Offensively, USI is still putting the ball into the back of the net (2.0 goals per match). Leading the way is sophomore forward Alisann Shetler (Evansville, Indiana) and senior forward Aisha Earle-Smith (Spring, Texas). Shetler has a team-leading 13 points on six goals and one assist, while Earle-Smith is close behind with 12 points on five goals and two assists.
First up for the Eagles this week is the 7-1-3 overall and 1-1-1 GLVC Bellarmine Lady Knights. Bellarmine, who plays Hanover on October 1 before coming to Evansville, has won seven of its last nine (7-1-1) matches over the last few weeks.
Sophomore midfielder Danielle Polce and freshman midfielder Megan O’Brien lead the Lady Knights with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Polce has a team best five goals and one assist, while O’Brien has scored four goals and dished out two assists.
USI leads the overall series with Bellarmine, 5-2-0, but the Lady Knights won last season’s match, 1-0, in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Eagles will conclude the weekend with Northern Kentucky. NKU, who recently fell out of the national rankings, has a 7-2-1 overall mark and a 3-0-0 GLVC record. The Norse’s tie this season came in Memphis, Tennessee, against the defending NCAA Division II national champion Christian Brothers University.
Individually, NKU is led by senior forward Kendra Zinser, who has 14 points on a team-best five goals and four assists. She is followed by sophomore forward Jamie Reynolds and freshman forward/midfielder Amy Law with nine points on four goals and one assist each.
NKU leads the series with USI, 5-3-0, including last season’s 3-1 win in Highland Heights, Kentucky and each of the last three matches.
Ray Simmons, USI Sports Information
