Oct. 5, 2004

After a stellar week, in which Florida Atlantic University's women's soccer team went 3-0, tied or broke four program records and saw two of its players garner Atlantic Sun honors, it turns its attention to two pivotal A-Sun matches. FAU, ranked 13th in the southeast region by Soccerbuzz.com, looks to extend its four game wining streak as it travels to Georgia to play Georgia State on Friday and Mercer on Sunday.

The Lady Owls (6-3-2, 3-2-0 A-Sun) registered three consecutive shutouts last week, defeating Florida International, Belmont and Lipscomb. FAU defeated the Golden Panthers, 2-0, for the second time in three years as freshman Christie Ashton scored her first career game-winning goal. The team then set a program record for shots in a game, outshooting Belmont 32-3, as six different players scored goals in an 8-0 win. Florida Atlantic capped off the week with a 6-0 win over the Lady Bisons as Denise Brolly tied a program record by scoring four goals. Susanna Lehtinen tied a program record by registering an assist in four consecutive games while the Lady Owls defense held Lipscomb without a shot. It was only the third time in program history that FAU has held its opponent without a shot.

Brolly, seven goals and two assists, and defender Janine Aylward, anchor of defense that allowed only five shots in three games, were named Atlantic Sun Women's Soccer Players-of-the-Week. It marks the fourth time in program history FAU has swept Player-of-the-Week honors. Brolly also became the fifth recipient of the soccerFla.com Player-of-the-Week award. The junior from Scotland leads the team with nine goals and 22 points and has recorded at least one point in five consecutive games and scored a goal in four consecutive games. Lehtinen leads the team with six assists while Katri Nokso-Koivisto is second on the team with four goals and 11 points. FAU improved its record for the month of October to 31-4 with 19 shutouts since the 2000 season.

Georgia State (4-2-5, 1-0-2 A-Sun) heads into the match looking for its first win over FAU. The Lady Owls are 5-0-2 all-time against the Lady Panthers and have defeated them in their last three matches, including last year's 2-1 win in the Conference semifinals. Aywlard and Brolly teamed up on a corner kick to give FAU a 1-0 lead before GSU tied the game before halftime. Former Lady Owl Lauren Lucena scored the game-winning goal with 20 minutes remaining to send FAU to its third conference championship in four years. GSU has won one of its last six games, going 1-1-4 over that span. The Lady Panthers are led by senior Sarah Feske and sophomore Lauren Chavez. The duo is tied for the team lead in goals (3) and points (8). Junior keeper Alexa Pasquarelli is second in the conference with a 0.73 goals-against average.

Mercer (4-6, 1-2 A-Sun) will play UCF on Friday before playing FAU on Sunday. The Bears are 2-5 lifetime against Florida Atlantic, with FAU wining the last five matches by a combined score of 20-2. Last season the Lady Owls defeated Mercer 2-0 as Christina Chang scored 3:54 into the match for her fifth goal of the season. The Bears are directed offensively by Catie Marshalek who leads the team with six goals, three assists and 15 points and is tied for fifth in the conference in points and goals. In net, Mercer is led by Lauren Burch. The junior goalkeeper leads the team with a 1.94 goals-against average and a .734 save percentage.

Florida Atlantic returns for a four-game home-stand starting Friday, October 15 against Jacksonville University.