Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Owls to Face Sun Belt Leaders This Weekend
9/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 25, 2006
BOCA RATON, FL -- This weekend will be an excellent litmus test for the Florida Atlantic University women's soccer team.
The Owls will travel on Friday to Denver and on Sunday to North Texas. The two schools have combined to win the previous five conference titles, with North Texas taking each of the last two and Denver the three previous. The last time one of these two schools didn't win a conference title was in 2000 when Florida International took the crown.
"We're trying to get as much information as we can to prepare. We've never played these teams and we don't know a lot about them. That makes it difficult but it also makes it exciting. Everygame you are going into an environment where you don't know what to expect. These have been the two dominant teams for the past five years. It's going to be a challenge for us, especially if we're going to be limited by injuries.
FAU (4-4-2, 1-1-0 SBC) is coming off a 1-1-0 weekend where they defeated Western Kentucky 2-1, and lost to Middle Tennessee by the same score. The Owls are led by Susanna Lehtinen (5g, 1a) and Alicia Tirelli on offense, each with 11 points. Lehtinen leads the team with her five goals.
Both Denver (6-2-1, 2-0-0 SBC) and North Texas (6-2-2, 2-0-0 SBC) are coming off 2-0-0 weekends versus the Sun Belt's two Louisiana schools--Monroe and Lafayette.
The Pioneers of Denver University have three girls with three or more goals. Senior Lleane Grimditch leads the squad with four tallies, while junior Jenna Billingsley and freshman Lizzy Carlson have each added three. The Pioneers have six others with one goal, are outscoring their opponents 15-5.
"Denver is a possession oriented team who likes to attack They're playing at home, so they'll have a lot of confidence. Our defense is definitely going to be tested," Dooley said.
Senior goalkeeper Danielle Wiley has started all nine contests, playing all but 40 minutes. She's allowed just four goals on the year in 797:38 of action, making 23 stops and posting three solo shutouts while splitting two others.
Denver has a win over #23 Mississippi and a tie with #19 Vanderbilt to its credit.
North Texas is led offensively by freshman Kendall Juett (7g, 3a, 17 points) and junior Heather Hutyra (4g, 2a, 10 points). The Mean Green is outscoring its opponents, 21-10.
Between the pipes for North Texas is junior Kandice Ellis. She's started each of the team's 10 games on the year, allowing just 10 goals for a 0.95 goals-against average while making 38 saves. Ellis and the Mean Green defense have posted four shutouts this season.
The Owls will face Denver on Friday at 2:30 p.m., and North Texas on Sunday at 2 p.m.
