Oct. 2, 2007

BOCA RATON, FL - After splitting a pair of road games on the opening weekend of Sun Belt Conference play, the Florida Atlantic University women's soccer team faces a pair of difficult opponents at FAU Field this weekend.

The Owls will face conference favorite Denver, as well as title contender North Texas this weekend. Denver owns a win over top-ranked Stanford this season, and the Pioneers won the 2006 Sun Belt Championship. "Denver and North Texas are the traditional Sun Belt powers," said Head Coach Brian Dooley. "They have won a majority of the conference championships in recent history, so this weekend will give us a gauge as to how we match up."

"Denver is more of a possession team while North Texas is more of a speed attack team. They really get after you and pose an entirely different set of problems," said Dooley.

Florida Atlantic welcomes back Susanna Lehtinen, who missed last week's games to take part in training for Finland's national team. While overseas, Lehtinen played in a pair of exhibition matches against former FAU players Denise Brolly and Rhonda Jones, who are working out with Scottland's national team.

Lehtinen is tied with Alicia Tirelli for the team lead in points with eight. Tirelli leads the team in scoring with four goals, and Lehtinen leads the squad with four assists.

Denver's Jenna Billingsley has six goals on the year and is the only Pioneer with more than one goal this season. Lauren Cavarra is the only other player to be involved with more than one scoring play this season with a goal and an assist. Mackenzie Snyder has played 847:51 in goal, allowing eight scores and making 39 saves while posting four shutouts on the season.

North Texas (8-2-0) comes in undefeated (2-0-0) in conference play. UNT has outscored its opponents 36-10 on the season and is second in the nation in goals per game (3.6). Kendall Juett leads the team with 21 points (6g, 9a), and three other players have at least six goals, led by Brittany Cleveland's eight. Kandice Ellis has played 734:29 in net, allowing eight goals and making 32 saves. She owns a 7-2-0 record with three shutouts on the year. North Texas is 14th in the nation, shutting out opponents 60% of the time.

Kickoff for FAU's meeting with Denver is set for Friday at 7 p.m. Sunday's match-up with North Texas is scheduled for Noon. Gates open at FAU Field an hour before kickoff.

Tickets are just $4 for adults, $2 for youth, seniors and FAU staff members. In addition, fans showing their ticket stub from the October 6 football game against the University of South Florida will receive admission for half price. In addition, members of the Junior Owls Club will receive free admission, and youth soccer players wearing their jersey will get into the game for just $1.