Wednesday, August 24, 2011

• Two undefeated teams remain in the A-Sun after the first week of play as Mercer, the 2010 A-Sun Tournament Champions, and North Florida both escaped unscathed. The Bears posted a 2-0 win against Jacksonville State, while the Ospreys earned a 0-0 tie against Charlotte and a 5-0 win against Coastal Carolina. Last season, ETSU stayed undefeated the longest as the Lady Bucs started 3-0-1 before dropping a contest on Sept. 5th. This week, Mercer faces Georgia Southern (0-1) and Georgia State (0-1), while North Florida takes on Western Carolina (1-1) and Florida State (1-1).
• North Florida goalkeeper, Megan Dorsey earned the Defensive Player of the Week honor to start the season after holding her opponents scoreless in 200 minutes of action. The sophomore stopped 12 shots in two games, which leads the conference, to earn the first two shutouts of her career in only her third and fourth career starts.
• Stetson’s Alexis Hermosa picked up the Player of the Week award after scoring two goals in a comeback win against FIU. Hermosa entered the game with only four career goals, but registered two second-half goals including the game-winner in the 89th minute.
• After the opening weekend, Kennesaw State’s Alyssa Mahan leads the conference in points with six on two goals and two assists, all coming against Alabama A&M. It was the first time an Owl registered six points in a game since Rachel Baer on Oct. 5, 2008 against North Florida. Mahan is tied with three others for the conference lead in goals including teammate Katrina Frost, Stetson’s Alexis Hermosa and North Florida’s Lauren Hopfensperger.
• With her two goals against Coastal Carolina, Hopfensperger moved her career goal total to 12, which is only five away from moving into the top-10 all-time at North Florida. The sophomore has played in only 20 games in her career, but led the A-Sun in scoring as a freshman.
• In the opening weekend of play, the A-Sun registered a 7-8-2 record and posted a .500 or better record against five conferences (OVC, Big Sky, SWAC, Sun Belt and Big South). Despite the losing record, the A-Sun outscored its opponents 30-25 in the 17 games.
• Kennesaw State defeated Alabama A&M, 8-0, on Sunday with seven different goal scorers. The eight goals were the most scored by an A-Sun team in non-conference play since Belmont defeated Alabama A&M, 10-0, on September 8th, 2009.
• With Mercer’s win against the Gamecocks, A-Sun defending tournament champions moved to 4-1 in season openers the following year. In those five games, the defending conference champions have outscored their opponents 18-6. Kennesaw State twice kicked off new seasons with victories (2008, 2010), while Jacksonville earned a victory to start 2007 coming off its conference championship in 2006.
• This weekend, 17 games are on the slate for the A-Sun with only seven of those being home games. In week one, the A-Sun combined to go 4-2-2 in home games and outscored its opponents 14-5. This week, USC Upstate leads the way with two home games (Wofford, Francis Marion), while Belmont, ETSU and Kennesaw State all begin their home schedules. Jacksonville and FGCU open their road schedules by travelling out to Colorado and North Carolina, respectively.

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