Tuesday, August 30, 2011

• After the opening week of play, four teams still own undefeated records in the A-Sun; ETSU (1-0), Stetson (1-0), Belmont (1-0) and Mercer (0-0-1). Stetson is 5-0 in the past five season openers and has outscored its opponents, 27-1, while the 1-0 start for Belmont is the first for the program since 2008.

• ETSU opened the season with a 3-0 win against Presbyterian at Summers-Taylor Stadium, the host of the 2011 A-Sun Championship. The Buccaneers boast a 9-2 record over their past 11 games dating back to last season. During that span, the Bucs have only lost to No. 2 North Carolina (2-1; OT) and College of Charleston (3-2; NCAA Tournament).

• As a conference, the A-Sun started the season with a 3-6-1 record. In the three wins, the A-Sun outscored its opponents 9-1, while in the six loses were outscored 17-4. ETSU's Aaron Schoenfeld, the A-Sun Player of the Week, leads the conference in points with three, while 13 student-athletes all registered one goal to tie for the conference lead. Four Stetson players registered goals in the season-opening win against Florida Tech. Two players tallied two assists to lead the A-Sun in the opening week; Stetson's Kai Eckenrode and Belmont's T.J. Brown, the A-Sun Defensive Player of the Week.

• Three programs opened up the 2011 season with incredible attendance numbers as FGCU, ETSU and North Florida all welcomed 700+ fans to their season openers. The Eagles led the way with 1,050 at the FGCU Soccer Complex, while 972 and 707 fans watched matches at Summers-Taylor and Hodges Stadium, respectively.

• Belmont's Brandon Tarr, a two-time all-conference selection, gave the Bruins the 2-1 win against Missouri State on a header with only 17 seconds remaining on the scoreboard. The game-winner was the fourth of his three-year career and 16th total to give the Bruins the win against the 60th-ranked RPI team in 2010.

• Jacksonville opened its 2011 season by facing UCF, a 2010 NCAA Tournament Second Round Participant. This week, A-Sun teams face five NCAA Tournament teams with Stetson squaring off with two teams; Ohio State (Third Round) and Penn State (Third Round) in the Ben & Iris Wolstein Classic at Columbus, Ohio. ETSU travels to UNC Greensboro (First Round) on Wednesday, while Lipscomb welcomes Xavier (First Round) to Nashville on Sunday. Also playing on Sunday, Belmont takes on UCF at 6 p.m.

• Sixteen games are slated for this week with only six taking place on A-Sun soil. Mercer and Belmont open up their 2011 home schedules with matches on Thursday, while Lipscomb, Jacksonville and USC Upstate also host opponents for matches this week.

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