Women's Soccer Weekly Release #7

Oct. 8, 2007

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Horizon League Player of the Week

Cynthia Morote-Ariza, Loyola
Sophomore * Forward * Chicago, Ill.
Morote-Ariza scored four goals and added an assist in Loyola's three victories last week. She notched the first hat trick by a Rambler since 2004 with all three goals in Friday's triumph over Cleveland State and connected for the overtime match-winner for a 2-1 decision over Illinois State on Sunday. Morote-Ariza also assisted on the match-winner in Tuesday's victory over Valparaiso.

Other Top Performances for the Week Ending October 7

Angie Muir, Butler
Jr. * M * Carmel, Ind.
Muir scored the match-winner in Sunday's 1-0 victory over Detroit. Her shot in the 83rd minute proved to be the difference, giving her a team-high six goals on the season. Half of those have come in four League contests.

Lotte Rasmussen, Green Bay
Sr. * M * Samsoe, Denmark
Rasmussen scored her first two goals of the season to lift the Phoenix past Youngstown State 4-2 on Friday. She opened the scoring 4:29 into the match and also provided an insurance tally in the 86th minute.

Erin Kane, Milwaukee
Jr. * GK * St. Charles, Ill.
Kane added two more shutouts to her League record, raising that total to 33 in her career (seven this season) with a 4-0 win at Green Bay on Wednesday and a scoreless draw versus Iowa on Friday. She made five saves in each match.

Kendall Brown, Valparaiso
Jr. * F * Lake Zurich, Ill.
Brown set up the match-winning goal and added an insurance goal to give Valpo its first-ever League victory, a 2-0 decision over Detroit on Friday. The goal was the 16th of her career, tying for fourth place on the Valpo career charts.

Amber Kasmer, Wright State
Fr. * F * Euclid, Ohio
Kasmer scored two goals and added an assist in two victories. She tallied the match-winner in Friday's 1-0 victory over Butler and had a goal and an assist Sunday versus Cleveland State, hitting the net for the fourth consecutive contest.

Lauren Brennan, Youngstown State
Fr. * F * Springfield, Ill.
Brennan tied the match against Milwaukee on Sunday, hitting the net late in the first half. She ranks second in the League with eight goals and 18 points this season.

Previous Player-of-the-Week Honorees:
Sept. 3 -- Amy Miller, Wright State
Sept. 10 -- Jennifer Wieand, Cleveland State
Sept. 17 -- Angie Muir, Butler
Sept. 24 -- Erin Kane, Milwaukee
Oct. 1 -- Katie Fortenberry, Detroit

News From Around the League

Panthers rising to defense
Milwaukee improved to 7-3-3 on the season (3-0-1 in League play) with two wins and a tie last week. The Panthers defeated Green Bay 4-0 on Wednesday and stepped outside the League for a scoreless draw with Iowa on Friday before posting a 2-1 victory over Youngstown State on Sunday.

Junior goalkeeper Erin Kane recorded two shutouts, giving her a League-best seven this season and pushing her loop record to 33 for her career. Kane stopped five shots against Green Bay and five more in Friday's tie. She tops the circuit with a 0.43 goals-against average, yielding only six goals in 13 contests.

Sophomore midfielder Erin Kreuser set up the first tally Wednesday. She paces the team with ten points and shares the League lead with six assists.

The Panthers are undefeated in their last 21 overtime matches (9-0-12) since a 3-2 setback to DePaul on Sept. 12, 2004.

The Panthers also have gone undefeated in their last 26 regular-season League matches (24-0-2) since a 2-1 loss to Green Bay on Oct. 17, 2003. UWM, which is chasing a ninth consecutive regular-season League title, is44-1-3 in League play since 2000.

Milwaukee puts a seven-match unbeaten streak on the line Friday at Valparaiso in the team's only match of the week.

Ramblers keep rolling through competition
Loyola ran its winning streak to six matches, climbing to 8-5-0 overall (3-0-0 in the League) with three victories last week. The Ramblers posted 3-0 victories over Valparaiso (Tuesday) and Cleveland State (Friday) before outlasting Illinois State 2-1 in overtime on Sunday.

The winning streak is the longest in program history. The Ramblers have scored at least two goals in each contest during the run, outscoring the opposition 16-4.

Sophomore forward Cynthia Morote-Ariza netted a hat trick against CSU, becoming the first Rambler to score three goals in a match since Stephanie Pauli turned the "trick" against Valparaiso in 2004. The Chicago native added the overtime match-winner Sunday for her League-leading ninth goal of the year.

Morote-Ariza already has matched the school single-season record for goals, a mark she tied last fall, and is three points away from the one-year standard she established in 2006. In less than two seasons on the Loyola campus, she already ranks third on the school's career points list with 51 and fourth with 18 goals. Morote-Ariza also leads the League with six assists and 24 points.

Senior forward Katie Heidenreich scored twice in the first five minutes against Valpo. After not scoring a point in the team's first seven matches, she tallied ten points in a four-match flurry.

Raiders get back to winning ways
Wright State has won six of its last seven contests (with the only loss in that time coming at #6/7 Texas), improving to 9-3-0 overall and 2-0-0 in League play after edging Butler 1-0 on Friday and defeating Cleveland State 4-0 on Sunday. The Raiders have outscored their opponents 13-4 over the last seven contests with four shutouts during that span.

WSU has now won five consecutive matches at home and is 2-0-0 in League play for the first time since 2004.

Freshman forward Amber Kasmer has scored a goal in each of her last four matches and ranks second on the team with five goals and 13 poinst. Junior forward Amy Miller tops the team charts with six goals and 14 points, and ranks tenth in school history with 16 career goals. Junior midfielder Jess Rooma also has three goals this fall.

Freshman goalkeeper Meghan Hackerson logged her fourth and fifth shutouts of the year and lowered her season goals-against average to 0.76, second-best on the League charts.

The Raiders have scored multiple goals in seven of 12 matches this season. WSU's 22 goals scored are second only to Loyola (23) among League teams this fall.

Wright State hits the road for two matches this week, visiting Detroit on Friday and playing at Youngstown State on Sunday.

Bulldogs gain split
Butler moved to 4-7-1 on the season and remained level (2-2-0) in League play after splitting two contests last week. The Bulldogs fell 1-0 at Wright State on Friday but bounced back to defeat Detroit by that same score Sunday.

Junior midfielder Angie Muir scored the deciding goal in the 83rd minute against UDM, giving her a team-high six markers for the season. She also has four assists and 16 points, ranking third on the League charts in all three categories. Muir finished each of her first two seasons with six goals and five helpers.

Three of Muir's goals have come in League play.

Sophomore midfielder Carrie Twyman stands second on the team with three goals and six points, with all three of those coming in one match, Sept. 11 versus Indiana State. Sophomore forward Lindsey Fox also has six points after setting up Muir's tally Sunday for her second helper of the year.

Senior goalkeeper Annalise Larkin recorded her second shutout of the year Sunday, stopping six shots against Detroit. Both of those clean sheets have come in the last three outings, as Larkin has yielded only one goal in her last three contests to lower her season goals-against average to 1.29.

Butler hosts Green Bay on Friday before venturing to Loyola for a Sunday matinee.

Phoenix experience highs, lows
Green Bay starts the week at 2-10-0 overall (2-3-0 in the League) after dropping two of three matches last week. The Phoenix lost 4-0 decisions to Milwaukee on Wednesday and to Drake on Sunday, while out-scoring Youngstown State 4-2 on Friday night.

Senior midfielder Lotte Rasmussen scored her first two goals of the year in Friday's victory, moving into a tie for the team scoring lead. Sophomore defender Amanda Stinson also has two goals (including one Friday), with freshman defender Chelsea Lyons boasting a goal and two assists for her four points. Both of Lyons' helpers came in Friday's victory, setting up the first two Phoenix markers.

Junior midfielder Maria Vittorio registered her first career match-winner with a header in the 55th minute against the Penguins to give the Phoenix a 3-1 lead.

The four goals scored by Green Bay against YSU matched the team's total for the season entering the contest. Green Bay carried a 2-0 lead to halftime after scoring goals in the first stanza for the first time in 2007.

Senior goalkeeper Brooke Wikgren ranks third in the League with 74 saves this year while compiling a 2.06 goals-against average.

Green Bay travels to Indiana for two League matches this week, stopping at Butler on Friday and at Valparaiso on Sunday.

Titans hit the wall
Detroit slipped to 3-8-2 overall (1-2-1 in the League) after losing two of three matches last week. The Titans played IUPUI to a scoreless draw Tuesday but fell 2-0 at Valparaiso on Friday and 1-0 at Butler on Sunday.

Detroit has been shut out in each of its last four matches and eight times this year. The current streak is the longest in school history.

Junior goalkeeper Katie Fortenberry posted her fifth shutout of the year with seven saves in Tuesday's tie. She lowered her season goals-against average to 1.48 and now has 65 saves for the season. Fortenberry's GAA was at 3.00 on Sept. 14, but she has yielded only five goals in her eight outings since then. Fortenberry's play has enabled the Titans to salvage two ties during their current scoring drought.

Sophomore Trina Kochanski leads the team with four goals and nine points, but sophomore forward Emily Kiely and freshman forward Selena Stanski are the only other Titans with more than one marker. Each has two goals, with Kiely's five-point total also including one assist.

Detroit has a brief two-match homestand this week, hosting Wright State on Friday before taking on local rival Oakland on Sunday. Friday's contest marks the debut of the renovated Titan Field on the UDM campus. The Titans had played their first four "home" matches off-campus during the renovation of their home facility.

Crusaders salvage a split
Valparaiso carries a 7-6-0 record, including a 1-2-0 League ledger. The Crusaders suffered a 3-0 defeat at Loyola on Tuesday but came back for a 2-0 shutout of Detroit on Friday.

Senior forward Kendall Brown led the way for Valpo against the Titans, logging a goal and an assist. She set up senior forward Brittany Derksen's match-winning tally in the 14th minute and posted an insurance tally with just under four minutes remaining. Brown moved into fourth place on Valpo's all-time list with 16 goals in her career and became the ninth different Crusader to hit the net this season.

Derksen is tied for sixth in school history with four career match-winners. She ranks third on the team with two goals and five assists this fall. Junior defender Jackie Thomas leads the team with four goals and eight points, with sophomore midfielder Jessie White providing three goals for six points.

Senior goalkeeper Erin Murray stopped two Detroit shots for her school-record 18th career shutout. Valpo already has tied a school one-year standard with six clean sheets this season. Murray carries a 1.20 goals-against average with four shutouts in 2007.

Valpo closes the home portion of the schedule against the Wisconsin schools this weekend, with Milwaukee coming to town Friday prior to a Sunday matinee against Green Bay.

Vikings come up empty in weekend action
Cleveland State stands at 3-10-0 overall (0-3-0 in the League) after a pair of shutout defeats over the weekend. CSU lost 3-0 to Loyola on Friday and dropped a 4-0 decision at Wright State on Sunday. The Vikings were out-shot 46-9 in the two contests, with senior midfielder Heather Clapacs taking six of those nine attempts for the Vikings.

Cleveland State has been held scoreless in three consecutive matches and five times this season.

Junior forward Jennifer Wieand continues to lead the team in scoring with six goals and 14 points, ranking third and fourth, respectively, in the League in those categories. Wieand---who missed all of 2006 due to injury---already has matched the Vikings' single-season record for goals and points.

Senior forward Shayna Back is right behind Wieand on the Viking charts with five goals and three assists for 13 points, while freshman forward Sylvia Olsby has two goals and three assists for a total of seven points.

Freshman goalkeeper Kelly Zinkiewich carries a 2.61 goals-against average after stopping seven shots on Sunday. Her 78 saves for the season rank second in the League.

Cleveland State has only one match on the docket this week, traveling to Youngstown State on Friday night.

Penguins fall short in Wisconsin
Youngstown State dropped a pair of matches in Wisconsin, slipping to 1-11-1 overall (0-2-0 in the League) following Friday's 4-2 loss at Green Bay and a 2-1 setback at Milwaukee on Sunday.

Junior defender Keeley Rice and sophomore backliner Erin Gilmour accounted for the scoring at Green Bay, each hitting the net for the first time in 2007. Rice's penalty-kick conversion pulled YSU within 2-1 midway through the first half. Sophomore forward Jordan Gapczynski set up Gilmour's late strike to close the scoring.

Freshman forward Lauren Brnnan tied Sunday's match 1-1 with her eighth goal of the year in the 28th minute. Brennan is second in the League with those eight goals and with her 18 points.

Sophomore goalkeeper Caitlin Bodzioney logged a season-high 15 saves at Milwaukee, the most by a League netminder this year and one short of her career-high (set versus Loyola last fall). YSU was outshot 37-3 but Bodzioney kept the Penguins in contention. She also had nine saves against the Phoenix.

Bodzioney ranks fifth among the national leaders with 110 stops this year (9.17 per outing) while fashioning a 1.87 goals-against average.

Youngstown State returns home for two matches this weekend, facing in-state foes Cleveland State on Friday and Wright State on Sunday.

Championship time approaching
Only three weeks remain in the regular season before the League Championship opens Oct. 30. That means each match becomes more critical as teams battle for positioning in the League summit, and this week's seven loop contests could go a long way in determining the seeding.

Friday's action sees front-runner Milwaukee head to Valparaiso, while Green Bay travels to Butler and Wright State visits Detroit for the first match on the newly-renovated Titan Field complex. The other contest that evening has Youngstown State hosting Cleveland State.

On Sunday, Loyola attempts to remain perfect in League play when the Ramblers host Butler. Green Bay travels to Valparaiso, while Wright State is at Youngstown State. In non-League action, Detroit hosts Oakland for local bragging rights.

Loyola plays the only mid-week contest, taking the field at Wisconsin on Thursday.