Oct. 19, 2004

After four consecutive home games, the Florida Atlantic University men's soccer team will head to Nashville later this week to take on Belmont and Lipscomb in Atlantic Sun Conference action.

FAU won twice in conference play last weekend with a 2-1 victory over Campbell and a 4-0 win against Gardner-Webb. Senior forward Kristoffer Aarskog tallied six points (2G, 2A) and senior midfielder Rustin Kluge grabbed five points (2G, 1A) in the two games.

The Owls (7-2, 3-1) open their road trip with a 5:30 p.m. (EST) game on Thursday against Belmont.

The Bruins (5-5-2, 2-2-1) started the season brightly with a 1-0 victory over cross-town rivals Vanderbilt and were 3-1 after four games. However, a 4-0 loss to Oral Roberts on September 19th began a current eight-game span that has seen the Bruins win only twice and score only seven goals. The two victories were crucial back-to-back wins over Lipscomb and Mercer in the Bruins' first two A-Sun games.

In conference action this past weekend, Belmont fell 1-0 at Stetson before playing to a 1-1 tie at Jacksonville. They are still in with a chance of making the A-Sun Tournament, but they in danger of slipping onto the bubble with any more losses.

The Bruins are led offensively by senior midfielder Tyler Suffron who leads the team in goals (3), assists (3) and points (9), and defensively by senior goalkeeper Matt Renfrow. Renfrow leads the conference in shutouts with four, is second in save percentage (.810), and second in goals against average (1.06) behind FAU's Anders Granstad (0.98).

FAU leads the all-time series 2-1 and won the 2003 meeting 4-0.

After Belmont, the Owls will face Lipscomb on Saturday at 2:00 pm (EST). The Bison are currently winless on the season at 0-13 and are 0-5 in the A-Sun.

Last in the conference in every major statistical category, Lipscomb has only scored five goals in their 13 games while allowing 55. They are by far the youngest squad in the conference, with 13 freshman, eight sophomores, four juniors and one senior on first-year coach Jim Maddux's roster.

Freshman midfielder Xander Vooys has scored three of the five Bison goals this season. FAU has only faced Lipscomb one time when the Bison ended up on the winning end of a 3-2 scoreline last season in Boca Raton.

The Owls return home to face Georgia State in conference play on Friday, October 29th at 7:30 pm.

On a scheduling note, the away game at Stetson, postponed from October 3rd because of inclement weather, has been moved to Thursday, November 4th at 2 p.m.