Thursday, October 13, 2011

• ETSU, FGCU and Jacksonville sit atop the Atlantic Sun Women's Soccer standings through three weeks of conference play. The Buccaneers lead the way with a perfect 5-0 record and 15 points followed by the Eagles and Dolphins tied with 13. The Lady Bucs have outscored their opponents, 13-3, in conference games with the help of senior Genna Petersen, who has a league-leading 11 points in conference games. ETSU tries to defend its unblemished A-Sun record this season in a trip to Stetson and fellow undefeated, FGCU (4-0-1).

• With wins against Mercer and Kennesaw State last weekend, FGCU extended its A-Sun unbeaten streak to 18 games, which is tied for the second-longest in conference history. The last time, the Eagles dropped a conference contest was Oct. 16th, 2009 against Belmont, 2-0. During that span, the Eagles are 15-0-3 and have scored 39 goals, while only yielding three. Only one team has a longer unbeaten streak in the history of the A-Sun; UCF - 24 (1996-2000). The Eagles are currently tied with FAU - 18 (2004-05).

• ETSU's Genna Petersen, the A-Sun Player of the Week, exploded this past weekend with three combined goals against Jacksonville and North Florida. The trio of goals propelled Petersen into the conference lead for points with 22, just one ahead of Kennesaw State's Katrina Frost. The last Lady Buc to finish in the top-five of the conference points was Jordan Monty in 2007, when she finished in fourth with 29. The six-point weekend also pushed Petersen into fifth in points amongst active student-athletes.

A-Sun Active Career Points Leaders
Rank	Player (Team)	Points	Goals	Assists
1.	Olivia Tucker (Mercer)	68	31	6
2.	Liz Fink (Jacksonville)	47	16	15
3.	Brittany Vining (Kennesaw State)	44	13	18
4.	Alyssa Mahan (Kennesaw State)	40	10	20
5.	Genna Petersen (ETSU)	34	12	10
6.	Emerald Phillips (Mercer)	32	11	10
T7.	Jessica Hurtado (Jacksonville)	31	8	15
T7.	Lauren Hopfensperger (North Florida)	31	15	1

• FGCU's junior defender Ashley Ciesielczyk, the A-Sun Defensive Player of the Week, registered her eighth assist of the season this past weekend against Mercer. Her eight assists ranks at the top of the A-Sun ahead of second place by three with four games remaining in the regular season. The FGCU record for assists in a season is nine, which was set by Lindsay Haw in 2008. The last A-Sun student-athlete to reach double-digit assists in a single season was Stetson's Katie Bitetto with 11 in 2009.

• For the past 602 minutes of women's soccer action, FGCU senior goalkeeper Stephanie Powers has held opponents scoreless, which has stretched over seven contests. Last season, Powers and the FGCU defense held opponents scoreless for 604 minutes. This season, Powers has stopped 27 shots during the streak and recorded six-straight shutouts.

• A-Sun Record Book Chasing:
1 - appearance that Jacksonville's Liz Fink needs for T-24th in career games played
1 - start that Jacksonville's Liz Fink needs for T-24th in career games started
1 - game-winning goal that ETSU's Genna Petersen needs for T-8th in single-season game-winning goals
1 - shutout that FGCU's Stephanie Powers needs for T-8th in single season shutouts
2 - shutouts that FGCU's Stephanie Powers needs for T-1st in career shutouts
2 - game-winning goal that Kennesaw State's Katrina Frost needs for T-8th in single-season game-winning goals
3 - shutouts that Jacksonville's Sarah Sierra needs for T-8th in single season shutouts
4 - wins that ETSU needs to tie for 15th for most wins in a single season
4 - starts that Lipscomb's Kristen Heikkinen needs for T-24th in career games started
6 - assists that Kennesaw State's Alyssa Mahan needs for T-8th in career assists
6 - assists that FGCU's Ashley Ciesielczyk needs for T-10th in single-season assists
7 - goals that Mercer's Olivia Tucker needs for T-10th in career goals
32 - saves that FGCU's Stephanie Powers needs for T-15th in career saves

• This weekend, Stetson and FGCU host ETSU and USC Upstate, while Belmont and Lipscomb travel down to the River City to face Jacksonville and North Florida. Kennesaw State and Mercer square off on Friday in a crucial game for both teams as the Owls enter with six conference points just ahead of the Bears with four. Mercer won the contest last season, 1-0, at Kennesaw on a last-second goal to give the Bears their first win over KSU in program history. Kennesaw State leads the series history, 7-1.

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