Oct. 21, 2009

The Florida Atlantic University women's soccer team looks to continue its winning ways, improve its chances of securing a berth in next month's Sun Belt Conference (SBC) championship tournament, and honor its three seniors in two matches that are part of the university's Parents' Weekend.

The Owls host Arkansas State University on Friday, October 23 at 7 p.m. before concluding the home portion of its regular season on Sunday, October 25, against the University of Arkansas-Little Rock at 11:30 a.m. Both matches will be played in the FAU Soccer Stadium, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton campus.

The women's soccer program will honor its three senior players prior to the match on October 25. Nicole Farrell, Alanna Jordan and Devon Romak have helped the program compile 21 victories so far in SBC action, and and assisted in posting three winning-seasons in league play. Romak entered this season ranking ninth in school history with 4,609 minutes played. Jordan has been a staple in the team's defensive backfield for the past two seasons, after transferring from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Farrell has played in 40 matches for the Owls and has recorded a career-high four shots this season.

"We have dealt through a lot of adversity this year, but this senior class has shown great leadership," said Brian Dooley, FAU head women's soccer coach. "I believe that a large part of our success right now is because of that leadership from our veteran players."

FAU is coming off two key, road conference victories over the weekend to improve its record to 3-5 in SBC play, moving the team into eighth place in the league standings. The top eight teams qualify for the SBC's postseason championship tournament, which FAU hosts from Wednesday, November 4 through Saturday, November 7. The team has a 5-10-2 overall record for the season.

The Owls picked up a 1-0 victory at Troy University on October 16 as freshman Meghan Brown scored three minutes into the second-half. The team then followed it up with a 2-1 win in double overtime over the University of South Alabama on October 18. Freshman Tamara Kesser scored the winning goal four minutes into the second, 10-minute overtime period. The goal was her second game-winning goal of the season. Freshman goalkeeper Ashley Lantes leads the SBC in saves per match (8.00) in league matches and ranks second in the SBC in total saves (56). She recorded 11 saves in both of FAU's victories last weekend, increasing her mark to eight occasions of recording eight or more saves in a match this season.

ASU already has won a school-record, three conference matches and stands in sixth place with a 3-4 league mark. The Red Wolves are 6-8-1 overall and have lost four straight matches. Kara Nitti leads the team's offensive attack, scoring five goals and tallying 13 points. Ashley McMurtry has added six assists and two goals.

UALR received a hat trick from Christina Veasley to pick up a 3-1 upset win over the University of Denver on October 18 to climb into seventh place in the SBC with a 3-4-1 record. The Trojans' other two league victories came against Middle Tennessee State University with a score of 2-1 on October 11, and the University of Louisiana-Lafayette with a score of 3-2 on October 4. Veasley has scored a team-best seven goals and recorded 16 points. UALR is 6-8-1 on the season.