September 9, 2010

Game Notes

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – For the fourth consecutive season, the USC Upstate women's soccer team will travel to Boiling Springs, N.C. for the Border Classic hosted by Under Armour and Gardner-Webb.  The Spartans will kick-off the event on Friday afternoon at 5:00 p.m. when they face the Morehead State Eagles for the first-time in program history. 

Following Friday's match, the Spartans will square off against Chattanooga on Sunday afternoon.  Kick-off between the Spartans and the Mocs is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

At A Glance...

• Scouting the Eagles and the Mocs

• Looking Back at Wofford

• Nation's Largest Freshman Class

• Catherine Nolff has yet to Miss a Second of Game Action

Scouting the Eagles

Morehead State, ranked number two in the Ohio Valley Conference preseason poll, enters the Border Classic with a 1-4 record.  To begin the season, the Eagles have played four of their five games away from Jayne Stadium.  MSU kicked off the season with a 2-1 loss at Cincinnati (8/20) and finished the two-game road trip with a 4-0 loss at Purdue (8/24).  MSU returned to the Buckeye State for a pair of matches at Mid-American Conference members Toledo and Akron.  The Eagles were downed by Toledo 6-0 on Aug. 27, before picking up the first win of the 2010 campaign at Akron (3-1) on Aug. 29.  In MSU's home opener, it hosted Wright State, with the Raiders claiming the 3-1 victory (9/5).

Senior Erin Adams leads the Eagles in goals (4), points (9), shots (15) and shots on-goal (9).  Meanwhile, junior Devan Jordan leads the team in assists with two, while ranking second in points (4), shots (8) and shots on-goal (4).  Senior Lily Meisner has started all five games for the Eagles and has logged all but 34 minutes between the pipes.  She has recorded 26 saves and owns a GAA of 3.25.

Friday's match will be the first meeting between the two schools.  Fans who cannot attend the match can catch receive live statistical updates by visiting www.gwusports.com.

Scouting the Mocs

In the preseason, Chattanooga was selected ninth in the coaches' poll after finishing 11th in the Southern Conference in 2009.  Junior Donna-Kay Henry was selected to the preseason All-SoCon First-Team.  Like MSU, the Mocs enter the Border Classic with a 1-4 record.  Chattanooga kicked off the 2010 campaign on Aug. 20, with a 2-1 loss in Nashville, Tenn. as the Mocs squared off against Atlantic Sun member Lipscomb.  The Bisons scored two second-half goals (64' and 66') to claim the victory.  The Mocs opened the home portion of their schedule on Aug. 22 with a 2-1 victory over Tennessee Tech.  The Mocs then moved on to the Lady Govs Invitational hosted by Austin Peay in Clarksville, Tenn.  In the first game of the invitational, the Mocs were upended by Miami (Ohio) 2-1 on Aug. 27.  In the second game of the invitational (8/29), host Austin Peay downed the Mocs by a score of 2-0.  On Sept. 5, the Mocs traveled to Alabama and dropped a 2-1 (OT) contest to the Crimson Tide.  Prior to taking on the Spartans, the Mocs will face Border Classic host Gardner-Webb on Friday night.

Donna-Kay Henry and Kerbi Towry lead the Mocs in goals scored with two a piece.  Henry leads Chattanooga in points (5), shots (17) and shots on-goal (10).  Towry ranks second with four points and seven shots.  Anna Cusick is the team's leader in assists with two.

Sunday's match will be the second meeting between the two schools.  Chattanooga claimed an 8-0 victory over the Spartans at last season's Border Classic.  Fans who cannot attend the match can catch receive live statistical updates by visiting www.gwusports.com.

Looking Back at Wofford

For the second consecutive match, the Spartans were downed by just a single goal.  After falling at home against Gardner-Webb 1-0 in double overtime (8/31), the Spartans made the short trip down Pine Stree to face Wofford on Sept. 5.  Wofford scored the lone goal of the match in the 66th-minute when Nikki Siebert put her shot from the right side of the box past Spartan keeper Rachel Collins.  It was just the second meeting all-time between the two institutions and Wofford now owns a 2-0 lead in the series. 

Second to None

When Renee Lopez was hired on Nov. 18, 2009 as head coach, she immediately hit the recruiting trail.  Lopez signed a total of 12 freshmen to her first recruiting class and not only is that the largest freshman class in the Atlantic Sun Conference, but only one other school in the entire nation has 12 incoming freshmen for the 2010 season.  Joining the Spartans with the 12 freshmen mark are the Argos from West Florida (Pensacola, Fla.)

The Energizer Bunny

Not only has senior Catherine Nolff seen action in all five games for the Spartans this season, the Columbia, S.C., native has not left the field for a single second.  Nolff has played all 466:21 on the pitch for first year head coach Renee Lopez. 

Fort Collins

Freshman Rachel Collins made her collegiate debut in the match against Charleston Southern.  The Raleigh, N.C., native recorded nine saves in the first half and finished with 14 saves.  Her 14 saves tied a school-record as she joined Diana Wabnitz, Samantha Spradley and Brittany Daughtry as the only players to accomplish the feat.  Collins is the only freshman to record 14 saves in a single match. 

Since the CSU match, Collins has tallied 33 saves, including a 10-save match against Wofford as well as a pair of nine-save outings against Furman and Gardner-Webb.  Collins leads the Atlantic Sun Conference in saves (47) and saves per game (9.40).

Ashlee Barrow Named as Player to Watch by TopDrawerSoccer.com

Each season TopDrawerSoccer.com lists its top 20 players to watch in each conference.  This season, Ashlee Barrow was ranked 16th in the list of 20 players from the Atlantic Sun Conference.  The Fishkill, N.Y., native was named to the A-Sun All-Freshman Team in 2009 and has an outstanding preseason to begin her sophomore season.  With her selection to the All-Freshman Team, she became the first Spartan since 2006 and the first since the move to D-I to earn all-conference honors.  Aside from the All-Freshman Team accolades in 2009, Barrow earned All-Academic Team honors from the A-Sun as well as Upstate's Coach's Award and the Wilde Soccer Scholarship. 

Miss Dependable

Senior Catherine Nolff has appeared in every match during her Spartan career.  Nolff, a senior from Columbia, S.C., has appeared in 61 matches and has started in 60 straight, a streak dating back to the second game of her freshman season (at Furman, Sept. 6, 2007).  Nolff is the all-time D-I era leader for games played and games started.  With her start at Furman (Aug. 24, 2010) she tied Lemeh Horace (2001-04) for fifth all-time in matches played and sits alone in fifth-place in matches started.

Sweet Sixteen

A total of 16 new players will suit up for the Spartans in 2010.  Gabrielle Fennell (a transfer from Garner-Webb) and Karen Martinez joined the Spartans during the spring.  Of the remaining 14, 12 of the newcomers are freshmen  (Kimberley Anderson, Rachel Collins, Rachel Curd, Jessica Jackyra, Erika Kotterer, Kimberly Ledwell, Alyssa Librizzi, Courtney Mack, Kayli Moore, Sarah Plantz, Jessica Voigt and Danielle White).  Julia Harris joins the Spartans after a two-year stint at Spartanburg Methodist College, while Krystal Hedderman comes on board after two years at St. Andrew's Presbyterian College in Laurinburg, N.C.

The Spartanburg Circuit

Mary Rea was named as an assistant women's soccer coach on July 16, 2010 and joined the third and final Spartanburg four-year institution.  Prior to joining the Spartan coaching staff, Rea served as an assistant coach at Converse College during the 2009 season.  Converse is a NCAA Division II institution and is a member of Conference Carolinas.

She was a four year letterwinner at Wofford College from 2004-08, where she earned defensive MVP honors as a freshman and team MVP accolades as a junior. Rea, who earned all-academic honors for her hard work in the classroom, was a team captain as a senior.

These Days in History

On today's game date, Sept. 10, these notable events occurred:  The first paved coast-to-coast United States highway opens (1913)... Following similar moves in Europe and the rest of the world President Franklin D. Roosevelt starts gasoline rationing in the U.S. as part of the country's wartime efforts (1942)... The star of the Free Willy movies (Keiko) an orca (killer whale) is back in Iceland where he was captured from in 1979 (1998)... Space shuttle Atlantis docks with the international space station (2000)... Notable birthdays include: Golf legend Arnold Palmer (1929)... Home run legend, Roger Maris (1934)... American journalist and commentator, Bill O'Reilly (1949). 

On this day in Spartan history (Sept. 10), former Spartan volleyball player Heather Abrams sets a single-match school-record for attack percentage of .733 (11-0-15) at Wingate (1997).

On today's game date, Sept. 12, these notable events occured:  The first practical typewriter was sold to customers (1873)... "Lassie" was seen on CBS-TV for the first time (1954)... Chart toppers included "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Diana Ross (1970) and "I've Always Been Crazy" by Waylon Jennings (1978)... Michael Jordan signed a seven-year contract to play basketball with the Chicago Bulls (1984)... Notable birthdays include: Richard Gatling, inventor of the gatling gun (1818)... Singer Barry White (1944).

On this day in Spartan history (Sept. 12), coach Frank Kohlenstein guides the men's soccer team to its first victory in school-history, a 9-1 win over Presbyterian College (1980).