Interview with Coach Dooley

Oct. 31, 2006

Lehtinen and Simpkins Earn Postseason Honors

BOCA RATON, FL - Head coach Brian Dooley will lead the Florida Atlantic University women's soccer team into Lafayette, LA where the Owls will enter the Sun Belt Conference Tournament this week, hosted by Louisiana-Lafayette.

The Owls have won six in a row to springboard into the no. 4 seed, where they will face no. 5 seed Western Kentucky. Should the Owls survive, they would face the winner of the 1 vs. 8 match up which features regular-season champion Denver, who went 11-0 in conference play, and the UALR Trojans who won each of their final two contests to edge out Florida International for the final tournament seed.

The single-elimination tournament begins on Wednesday, with Florida Atlantic scheduled to play at 2 p.m., eastern. Should FAU win, second-round action is slated for Thursday at 5 p.m., eastern. The championship game is scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m., eastern.

FAU's offense has been given a lift of late with the play of Tessa McGarrity and Alicia Tirelli. The pair have combined for 11 goals in the team's last six contests, including McGarrity's pair of goals against Florida International to give her six tallies in as many games.

Tirelli leads FAU in offensive production with 25 points on 10 goals and five assists. McGarrity is second with 19 points on eight goals and three assists, while Susanna Lehtinen is close behind with 18 points on five goals and eight assists.

Megan Coyne has used her strong play of late to bring some stability to the back end of Florida Atlantic's play. The senior has now taken hold of the full-time goalkeeping position after sharing much of last year and the first half of this year with sophomore Jessica Badders. She finished the year with three solo shutouts, but the team has now posted five goose-eggs in its last six contests, largely to do with the improved play of Coyne and the Owl defenders. FAU finished with seven shutouts in the 2006 regular season, giving the team 23 over the past two seasons.

FAU finished the regular season 3-4-0 vs. the field, with wins over South Alabama, Western Kentucky and UALR.

An early goal by Natalie D'Oria off a rebound in the fourth minute and a redirection off a free kick by Beckie Ware gave FAU a 2-0 lead in the 66th minute, but WKU would score in the 81st minute off a turnover and applied heavy pressure the final 10 minutes of regulation, including a shot that hit the crossbar in the 85th minute. The Owls held on to their 2-1 win, out-shooting the Lady Hilltoppers 11-7, but shots on goal were just 5-4 in favor of FAU.

In 2005, Florida Atlantic blazed through the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament for their first postseason A-Sun title, and the first NCAA College Cup berth in program history. The Owls are in their first season as a member of the Sun Belt Conference.

Fans can watch all the action live via the conference's web streaming. You can find more information at www.sunbeltsports.org .