DePaul University

Complete Notes

Live Stats for the first and second round matches.

CHICAGO - The DePaul women’s soccer team plays in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against the Purdue Boilermakers.  Host Illinois takes on Western Michigan in the second match on Friday afternoon with the two winners meeting in the second round on Sunday.

This is DePaul’s first NCAA appearance in the program’s eight-year history.  The Blue Demons earned Conference USA’s automatic bid by winning the league tournament in Charlotte last week.  The club won three matches in four days including a shootout on Saturday against Saint Louis.  Following a 1-1 tie through regulation and a pair of overtime periods, the Blue Demons won on penalty kicks, 4-3.

First Round - Friday, Nov. 14
DePaul vs. Purdue - 4 p.m.
Illinois vs. Western Michigan - 7:30 p.m.

Second Round - Sunday, Nov. 16
Winners of Friday’s matches - 2 p.m.

DePaul’s record…
at home: 6-1-0
on the road: 6-5-1
on a neutral field: 2-0-1
during the day: 11-3-2
at night: 3-3-0
in overtime: 4-0-2
in one-goal matches: 9-5-0
in two-goal matches: 4-1-0
in three-goal matches: 0-0-0
in four or more-goal matches: 1-0-0
when taking more shots: 10-5-1
when taking less shots: 3-1-1
when taking more corner kicks: 9-5-0
when taking less corner kicks: 3-1-2
when taking equal corner kicks: 2-0-0
in a shootout: 1-0-0

Against the Field
Of the 64 teams in the NCAA field, DePaul faced off with two teams in 2003.  The Blue Demons opened the season with a 1-0 loss at Nebraska and finished the home schedule with a 1-0 win over Eastern Illinois.  Nebraska opens tourney play against Washington in Portland while the Panther take on Missouri in Columbia, Mo.

A Quick Look at the Champaign Regional
First Round Opponent
Purdue Boilermakers
Record: 12-5-3
Location: West Lafayette, Ind.
Coach: Robert Klatte
Record at Purdue: 60-48-9 (sixth season)
Conference: Big Ten
Series: Purdue leads 4-0-0
Last meeting: Purdue, 2-0 in Chicago, 10/5/01

Purdue-DePaul Notes: Fifth meeting in series history... Purdue has won the four previous meetings... the last meeting saw the Boilers win, 2-0, at Wish Field... Lauren Sesselmann leads the club with 24 points on nine goals and six assists... she is followed by Annette Kent with 22 points and Courtney Coppedge with 18 points... goalkeeper Lauren Mason holds a 0.79 goals against average in just over 1,500 minutes in the net... as a team, the club has outscored their opponents, 43-17, and outshot their opponents, 313-191... 26 of their 43 goals have occured in the first half... head coach Robert Klatte is in his sixth season in West Lafayette and holds a 60-48-9 record.

Possible Second Round Opponents
Illinois Fighting Illini
Record: 16-3-2
Location: Champaign, Ill.
Coach: Janet Rayfield
Record at Illinois: 25-14-3 (second season)
Conference: Big Ten
Series: first meeting
Last meeting: n/a

Western Michigan Broncos
Record: 13-7-1
Location: Kalamazoo, Mich.
Coach: Mike Haines
Record at Western Michigan: 86-59-10 (sixth season)
Conference: Mid-American Conference
Series: first meeting
Last meeting: n/a

Second Round Notes: DePaul has never faced Illinois or Western Michigan.

Seeing Double
The Heil family will be busy this weekend as twin sisters Jennifer of DePaul and Kristen of Missouri will be in action in the NCAA Tournament.  The Blue Demons tangle with the Boilermakers at 4 p.m. on Friday while Missouri hosts Eastern Illinois at 7 p.m.

Jennifer, a defender, has played in all 22 matches for DePaul this season with an assist.  Kristen, a forward, is second on the Tiger squad in scoring with  21 points on nine goals and three assists in 22 matches.

A Season of Firsts
The 2003 campaign has produced a number of “firsts” for the DePaul women’s soccer program.  Among the first-time occurances for the Blue Demons are:
- first 14-win season
- first 6-win Conference USA season
- first Conference USA Tournament championship
- first win over five teams DePaul was previously winless against (Eastern Illinois, Houston, Marquette, Saint Louis, TCU)
- first Conference USA Player of the Year
- first Conference USA Tournament Offensive and Defensive MVP’s
- first Great Lakes Region top 10 ranking by Soccer Buzz and the NSCAA

Noting the Blue Demons
DePaul’s 14 wins are a new single-season school record... the 6-3-1 C-USA record is also a program best… they have outscored their opponents, 32-18, with seven shutouts… the shutout total is a new program record… the Blue Demons have allowed 10 second-half goals this season, outscoring their opponents 21-10 in the second half and overtime… in the first 45 minutes, the club holds an 11-8 scoring advantage over the opposition... they have also taken 377 shots compared to 277 for the opposition… Julianne Sitch leads the club and Conference USA with 31 points on 12 goals and seven assists… on DePaul’s 32 goals, there have been 29 assists… in addition to Sitch, nine other players have scored at least one goal this season… freshman Lauren Spacht is second on the team with 17 points on six goals and five assists while fellow rookie Kelly DeBaene has 12 points on four scores and four assists… in non-conference matches over the last three seasons, DePaul is 19-8… all time in Conference USA play (eight years), the club holds a 16-58-7 record… the top six scorers are either freshmen or sophomores... head coach John Wilson is in his fourth season with the Blue Demons.

Road Warriors
The Blue Demons have logged some travel miles this season as 12 of the 19 regular season matches were on the road.  DePaul played 11 of their first 14 matches away from home including a program-long six-gamer from Sept. 26-Oct. 12.  With the 6-5-1 record on the road this season, the club matched their season-best total of six victories away from Wish Field set last season.  In the three neutral-field matches at the Conference USA Tournament in Charlotte, the club outscored their opponents, 5-2 in 307 minutes of play.

Conference USA Honor Roll
Prior to the Conference USA Tournament, the league announced their season honors.  Sophomore Julianne Sitch was named the C-USA Offensive Player of the Year while Amber Prindle and Lindsey Deason garnered third team honors.  Forward Lauren Spacht was named to the All-Freshman squad. 

Following the tournament, Sitch and Deason were named the tourney’s Offensive and Defensive MVP’s, respectively, while Erin Walter and Spacht picked up All-Tournament team mention.

2003 Conference USA Women’s Soccer Awards

First Team All-Conference USA
F: Tara Kidwell, UAB
F: Jamie Perry, Saint Louis
F: Yuiko Konno, Memphis
F: Megan McCallion, East Carolina
MF: Julianne Sitch, DePaul
MF: Nikki Hawkins, Houston
MF: Nicky McLeod, Memphis
MF: Kate Reed, USF
D: Penny Perrott, East Carolina
D: Lindsay Smale, Marquette
D: Asia Simons, Tulane
D: Briana McCarty, UAB
GK: Breck Bankster, USF

Second Team All-Conference USA
F: Tasha Wagner, Cincinnati
F: Jessi Moore, TCU
F: Courtney Crandell, Charlotte
MF: Anne Ioder, Marquette
MF: Christie Cigno, Saint Louis
MF: Jenny Rynders, UAB
D: Kim Moore, Charlotte
D: Kristina Wilson, Cincinnati
D: Emily Allwardt, Houston
D: Anny Lucier, Saint Louis
GK: Katie Bissen, Marquette

Third Team All-Conference USA
F: Jamie Craft, Louisville
F: Amy Van Zandt, TCU
F: Jill Knottek, UAB
MF: Kelly Ferguson, Saint Louis
MF: Karrissa Hill, TCU
MF: Jackie Obert, Tulane
D: Tiffany Ross, Charlotte
D: Amber Prindle, DePaul
D: Carolyn Klopp, Marquette
D: Stacci Sastre, USF
D: Kay Beth Costilow, USM
GK: Lindsay Deason, DePaul

All-Freshman Team
Shannon Huffman, GK, Charlotte
Becky Imhoff, MF, Cincinnati
Lauren Spacht, F, DePaul
Nicole Zygmontowicz, D, Houston
Jamie Craft, F, Louisville
Beth McGill, F, Marquette
Dee Guempel, MF, Saint Louis
Courtney Hulcer, MF, Saint Louis
Ashley Fortune, F, TCU
Jackie Obert, MF, Tulane
Pam Cooney, D, UAB
Jen Williams, MF, UAB

Freshman of the Year
Jamie Craft, Louisville

Co-Defensive Player of the Year
Penny Perrott, East Carolina
Breck Bankster, USF

Offensive Player of the Year
Julianne Sitch, DePaul

Coach of the Year
Paul Harbin, UAB

Ranked in the Region
For the first time in the program’s eight-year history, the Blue Demons have been ranked in the Great Lakes region by Soccer Buzz and the NSCAA.  Throughout the season, the Blue Demons have been in-and-out of the region’s top 10.  Entering the NCAA Tournament, DePaul is eighth Soccer Buzz poll while the NSCAA rankings have the Blue Demons ranked 10th.