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Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Women's Soccer Tries for First Atlantic Sun Championship
11/2/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Nov. 2, 2004
BOCA RATON, FL - Florida Atlantic University travels to Buies Creek, NC, to make its sixth consecutive appearance at the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament. The Lady Owls, who have played in three of the last four conference finals, will be looking for the first conference championship in program history. No. 3 FAU (11-3-3) opens against no. 6 Jacksonville (4-8-5) on Thursday at 4 pm, with the winner scheduled to face UCF on Friday.
Although FAU is no stranger to the conference tournament, the Lady Owls will be a no. 3 seed for the first time since 2001. That means FAU will have to play three games in three days in order to win the tournament. The past two years FAU had been a no. 1 or no. 2 seed and had earned a first-round bye.
The Lady Owls face JU in the tournament for the third time in five years. Both previous matches resulted in FAU losses. The Dolphins defeated the Lady Owls 2-1 in the conference finals in 2000, earning the automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. FAU was poised to defeat JU in 2002, leading 2-1 with two minutes remaining, but a free kick outside the Lady Owls box tied the game. The Dolphins scored again minutes into overtime to defeat FAU 3-2.
Since 2002, though, FAU has defeated JU twice by a combined score of 8-0, including this year's 4-0 win in Boca Raton. Katri Nokso-Koivisto scored two goals, her second consecutive multi-goal game, and Susanna Lehtinen registered two assists.
Jacksonville enters the match winless in its last eight matches (0-4-4) but tied its last three opponents, Stetson, Campbell and Gardner-Webb, all of which are in the A-Sun tournament. Jess Newport, five goals and three assists, and Stephanie Elgie, five goals and two assists, lead the Dolphins attack while Michelle Kmiotek, 1.47 goals-against average and four shutouts, starts in net.
UCF (15-3-1) heads into the tournament on a high note after defeating no. 12 Florida State 3-2 in its regular season finale. The Golden Knights already defeated FAU 3-0 in the regular season. Freshman sensation Kendra Flock leads the UCF offensive attack with 10 goals while Allison Blagriff, nine goals, and Jennifer Montgomery, six goals, add to the scoring punch. The Golden Knights lead the conference in shots, goals, points, goals allowed, goals-against average and shutouts.
The Lady Owls enter the tournament unbeaten in their last ten matches (9-0-1), having outscored their opponents 39-2 with eight shutouts. The defensive unit of Janine Aylward, Cristina Rodriguez, Meredith White and Alicia Tirelli has allowed only 133 shots this season, second lowest in program history and the lowest in the A-Sun.
Forward Katri Nokso-Koivisto enters her first A-Sun tournament scorching hot, recording eight goals and two assists in her last five games. The junior transfer finished the regular season with a career high in goals (12), assists (5), points (29) and game-winning goals (4). The forward combination of Nokso-Koivisto and Denise Brolly has scored 28 goals, second in the conference to Gardner-Webb's Leeanna Woodworth and Liz Kier, who has scored 34 goals.
Should Florida Atlantic defeat Jacksonville and UCF, it would play on Saturday, November 6 in the conference finals.
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