DePaul University

Weekly Notes
Live stats for Sunday's match at Saint Louis

CHICAGO - The DePaul women’s soccer team plays two Conference USA matches on the road this weekend at Memphis and Saint Louis.  The Blue Demons and Tigers play at 7 p.m. on Friday night before the team moves on to a Sunday afternoon match at Saint Louis.  The Blue Demons have won three straight and are 5-3-0 and 1-0-0 in league play.  Memphis enters the weekend at 5-2-0 and Saint Louis stands at 4-2-1.

Looking at the Blue Demons:  2004 marks the ninth season of women’s soccer at DePaul University... Julianne Sitch and Lea Hill lead the club with 17 and 15 points, respectively...  Jennifer Dyer is third on the club with 10 points on three goals and four assists... DePaul has never had three players total at least 15 points in a season... Hill has a team-high seven goals with an assist while Sitch leads the club with five assists to go with six goals... in two-plus seasons, Sitch has recorded a program-best 69 points, 26 goals and 17 assists... DePaul’s six goals and nine assists against Liberty on Sept. 5 are both school records... the club tied the scoring record in the 6-1 win against Northern Iowa on Sept. 17... head coach John Wilson is in his fifth season in Lincoln Park.

Scoring in Bunches: DePaul’s 25 goals through eight games are on pace to shatter the program’s single-season record.  A year ago, the club set the top mark with 33 goals.  Twice this season, the Blue Demons have scored a school-record six goals in a match.  The nine goals in back-to-back matches against Northern Iowa and Marquette are the most in a two-game stretch.  DePaul’s 12 goals in the last three games tie a record set in 2002 with 12 goals against IPFW, Indiana State and Drury.  The Blue Demons are spreading the wealth as eight different players have scored at least one goal.

Nationally Ranked: With the flurry of goals early in the season, the team is ranked among the nation’s highest-scoring offenses.  Through games of Sept. 19, DePaul is at No. 16 with 3.13 goals per game.  Prairie View leads the country with 6.0 goals per contest.

Regionally Ranked:  Since the start of the season, the Blue Demons have been ranked in SoccerBuzz’s top 15 for the Great Lakes region.  After two wins last weekend, DePaul moved up to No. 12 after falling to No. 15 in the previous poll.  In the preseason rankings, the Blue Demons found themselves ranked fifth by SoccerBuzz.  A year ago, the club was ranked as high as eighth in both the SoccerBuzz and NSCAA regional rankings.  The Blue Demon schedule has five of the top 15 preseason teams in the Great Lakes Region this season.  In addition to the exhibition match against Purdue, the team also plays No. 7 Indiana, No. 10 Western Michigan, No. 12 Marquette and No. 15 Eastern Illinois.

Sitch on Hermann Trophy Watch List: DePaul junior and preseason Conference USA Player of the Year Julianne Sitch is one of 25 student-athletes named to the preseason Hermann Trophy watch list.  The Hermann Trophy is annually awarded to the top men’s and women’s collegiate players.  The 25 players on the preseason list are considered to be among the top players entering the 2004 college season and are the ones to watch this fall.  A list of 15 semifinalists will be announced in November, with three finalists selected in early December.  The winner will be announced at a dinner at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis, Mo., on Jan. 8, 2005.

Last Weekend: DePaul exploded for a school-record nine goals in two matches against Northern Iowa and Marquette last weekend.  On Friday against the Panthers, Julianne Sitch and Erin Walter each scored two goals as the team tied a school record in a 6-1 win over Northern Iowa.  Sunday’s match saw DePaul open the Conference USA season with a 3-0 win over Marquette on a goal by Sitch and two goals by Lea Hill.

Looking at Memphis: The Tigers enter the weekend at 5-2-0... they have won three of their last four matches including a 1-0 win over Drury last Friday... last Sunday’s game at Samford was postponed due to tropical weather... Carla Scanniello leads the team with eight points on three goals and two assists... head coach Brooks Monaghan is in his fifth season as head coach.  The series: Memphis leads the all-time series, 5-3-1... a year ago, Kelly DeBaene’s golden goal in the first overtime led the Blue Demons to a 2-1 win in Memphis.

Scouting Saint Louis: Sunday’s opponent, Saint Louis, enters the weekend at 4-2-1... they host Rice on Friday night... the Billikens have won three straight and four of the last five matches... Maureen Hughes and Jamie Perry lead the team with six points each... head coach Tim Champion is in his ninth season.  The Series: The Billikens lead the all-time series, 8-0-1... after eight consecutive defeats, the Blue Demons played Saint Louis to a 1-1 in the championship match of the 2003 C-USA Tournament... the Blue Demons won the championship with a 4-3 decision on penalty kicks.

What’s Ahead: The Blue Demons wrap-up their four-game C-USA swing with matches at East Carolina and Charlotte.  Following the four-game swing DePaul plays six straight home matches at Wish Field beginning with Louisville on Oct. 8.