C-USA Men's Soccer Weekly Notes - Oct. 1-7

RECENT RESULTS

Sunday, September 30
(8) UAB 2, Charlotte 1 (2OT)
Cincinnati 1, Kentucky 0
Memphis 4, Vanderbilt 1

Saturday, September 29
Memphis 3, East Carolina 2
(8) South Florida 1, Louisville 0
(4) Saint Louis 4, TCU 0
Western Illinois 2, DePaul 0

Friday, September 28
(8) UAB 2, Marquette 1


UPCOMING MATCHES


Wednesday, October 3
Elon at Charlotte, 6:00p
(4) Saint Louis at DePaul, 3:00p
Appalachian State at East Carolina, 2:00p
Wis.-Milwaukee at Marquette, 7:00p

Friday, October 5
(8) UAB at (9)South Florida, 6:00p

Saturday, October 6
DePaul at Cincinnati, 6:00p
Marquette at Louisville, 5:00p
Memphis at (4) Saint Louis, 7:00p

Sunday, October 7
Charlotte at TCU, 1:00p
(11) South Florida at East Carolina, 12:00p
Alabama A&M at (8) UAB, 3:00p

All times Central.
Conference Matches in Bold.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

OFFENSIVE:
Lars Thorstensen, Memphis
Sr., F, Sandesfjord, Norway

Memphis senior forward LARS THORSTENSEN is the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week for the period ending Sept. 30. He recorded a three goal, six-point weekend to help the Tigers to their first two wins of the season. He had a goal against C-USA foe East Carolina and then picked up two more goals, including the game-winner, against Vanderbilt.

DEFENSIVE:
Sacha Nathu, Cincinnati
So., GK, Wellington, New Zealand

Cincinnati's SACHA NATHU is the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week for the period ending Sept. 30. In his first appearance of the season, Nathu had three saves to shut out Kentucky, 1-0. The Wildcats were ranked No. 27 in the Sept. 24 NSCAA poll.




CONFERENCE USA MEN'S SOCCER NOTES


POLLING PLACE
Conference USA is the only league in the nation with three teams among the top nine in the Oct. 1 NSCAA poll. This is the first time in league history that C-USA has had thee Top 10 teams.

NSCAA (Oct. 1)
1. SMU
2. Stanford
3. St. John's
4. Virginia
5. Saint Louis
6. Indiana
7. Washington
8. UAB
9. South Florida
10. Rutgers
11. San Diego
12. North Carolina
13. Loyola-Md.
14. Fairfield
15. Ohio State
16. Furman
17. South Carolina
18. Seton Hall
19. Penn State
20. Connecticut
21. William & Mary
22. Columbia
23. Marshall
24. Boston College
24. Clemson

Soccer America (Oct. 1)
1. SMU
2. Virginia
3. Furman
4. Saint Louis
5. St. John's
6. Washington
7. Indiana
8. South Florida
9. Stanford
10. San Diego
11. North Carolina
12. Penn State
13. South Carolina
14. Clemson
15. Connecticut
16. Loyola-Marymount
17. Rutgers
18. Ohio State
19. Cal State Fullerton
20. Loyola-Maryland

REGIONAL RANKINGS
Three Conference USA schools were regionally ranked in the Oct. 1 NSCAA regional polls. Here's a look at the polls in C-USA's regions:

Great Lakes Region
7. Marquette

Midwest Region
2. Saint Louis

South Region
1. UAB
2. South Florida


SA TEAM OF WEEK
A total of 43 Conference USA players have been named to Soccer America's Team of the Week in the league's first six seasons. Here's a look at this season's winners:

S4 Brad Davis, F, Saint Louis
S10 Dipsy Selolwane, M, Saint Louis
S10 Jason Cudjoe, F, South Florida

OVERTIME 49ERS
Six of Charlotte's first eight matches this season have gone to double overtime. The 49ers' school record for double overtime matches is seven, set in 1991.

THE WEEK AHEAD
No. 8 UAB travels to No. 11 South Florida in the Conference USA Match of the Week. The Bulls are 8-0, and six of their eight matches have been decided by one goal. UAB has not lost at home in its last 11 matches and has played two straight double overtime matches on the road, losing to Yale but defeating Charlotte.

SLU BACK AT FULL FORCE
After sitting out the first three matches of the year due to a foot laceration, Saint Louis All-American forward JACK JEWSBURY has returned to the lineup and contributed two goals and one assist in three matches. With 57 career points, Jewsbury needs nine more to move into the top 20 in school history.


PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Conference USA names a men's soccer Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week each Monday this season, as selected by the conference office.

OFFENSE
S4 Brad Davis, F, Saint Louis
S10 Jason Cudjoe, F, South Florida
S10 Dipsy Selolwane, M, Saint Louis
S24 Sean Reti, F, Marquette
O1 Lars Thorstensen, F, Memphis

DEFENSE
S4 Troy Perkins, GK, South Florida
S10 Mike Kirchhoff, B, Saint Louis
S24 Adam Ubert, GK, Marquette
O1 Sacha Nathu, GK, Cincinnati




CONFERENCE USA MEN'S SOCCER NOTES


PRESEASON ALL C-USA
(as selected by the league's head coaches)

ALL-CONFERENCE
Adrian Cann, MF, Louisville
Jason Cole, D, Saint Louis
Brad Davis, MF, Saint Louis
Sean Fraser, F, Memphis
Joe Hammes, D, Saint Louis
Jack Jewsbury, F/MF, Saint Louis
David McGill, D, Charlotte
Flavio Monteiro, F, UAB
Jeremy Morales, GK, Louisville
Juan Munoz-Airey, F, Charlotte
Sean Reti, F/MF, Marquette
Lars Thorstensen, F, Memphis
Jeff Thwaites, MF, South Florida

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Brad Davis, MF, Saint Louis

PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
(as selected by C-USA coaches)
1. Saint Louis
2. UAB
3. Memphis
4. South Florida
5. Charlotte
6. Louisville
7. Cincinnati
Marquette
9. TCU
10. DePaul
11. East Carolina

AGAINST RANKED TEAMS
Conference USA posted its first wins of the season against a ranked opponent when Saint Louis won back-to-back matches against No. 10 Rutgers and No. 4 North Carolina Sept. 8-9. Last season, C-USA teams posted an 8-10-1 record against nationally-ranked, non-conference teams. Currently, Conference USA is 3-4-1 against ranked foes. Here's a look at this year's results against ranked teams:

S1 Memphis 0, (2) Creighton 0 (2ot)
S7 (4) North Carolina 2, Cincinnati 1
S7 Saint Louis 1, (10) Rutgers 0
S9 (10) Rutgers 1, Cincinnati 0
S9 Saint Louis 2, (4) North Carolina 1
S9 (18) South Carolina 3, TCU 0
S22 Marquette 1, (23) Santa Clara 0
S23 (1) SMU 7, Memphis 0
S27 (1) SMU 3, TCU 1


2001 C-USA TOURNAMENT
The 2001 Conference USA Men's Soccer Tournament will take place Thu. Nov. 15-Sun., Nov. 18 in Tampa, Fla. South Florida will serve as the host institution for the event. The championship game on Nov. 18 will be televised by the C-USA TV Network. Saint Louis is the defending champion after becoming the first team in league history to win an outright regular season title and the conference tournament in the same season with a 2-1 win over UAB in the championship match last season in St. Louis.

C-USA REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS

2000 Saint Louis
1999 Saint Louis, UAB
1998 Saint Louis, South Florida
1997 Marquette, South Florida
1996 Charlotte, South Florida
1995 UAB


CONFERENCE USA MEN'S SOCCER NOTES


AROUND C-USA...

CHARLOTTE
Charlotte suffered a 2-1 double overtime loss to No. 8 UAB on Sept. 30. Charlotte has played double overtime in six of their first eight matches. Seven overtime matches is the school record in 1991. Charlotte freshman MIRA MUPIER scored his first two career goals this week for Charlotte. One of the goals was a game winner in Charlotte's 2-1 double overtime win over Cincinnati.

CINCINNATI
Cincinnati improved to 2-4-2 with a 1-0 win over visiting Kentucky on Sept. 30. The Wildcats entered the match ranked No. 27 nationally in the NSCAA poll. SACHA NATHU was named C-USA Defensive Player of the Week for shutting out the Wildcats (three saves) in his first start of the season. The Bearcats host DePaul on Saturday.

DE PAUL
With two goals in the last 20 minutes, Western Illinois turned back DePaul, 2-0 on Sept. 29. Blue Demon goalkeeper JEFF KLITKE had three saves in the loss. DePaul hosts No. 4 Saint Louis on Wednesday before travelling to Cincinnati on Saturday.

EAST CAROLINA
East Carolina suffered a 3-2 loss to Memphis on Sept. 29. Goalkeeper R.J. MARVINNEY recorded his second double figure saves performance with 12 saves against the Tigers. ECU hosts Appalachian State on Wednesday.

LOUISVILLE
Louisville suffered a 1-0 loss to visiting South Florida on Sept. 29. JEREMY MORALES had two saves for the Cardinals. Louisville hosts Marquette on Saturday.

MARQUETTE
Marquette suffered a 2-1 loss at No. 8 UAB on Sept. 28. MU scored first, but UAB rallied to hand the Golden Eagles their first league loss of the season. Freshman CHRIS LEE had his fourth goal of the season, while ADAM UBERT posted four saves. Marquette hosts crosstown rival Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Wednesday before traveling to Louisville on Saturday.

MEMPHIS
Memphis defeated East Carolina, 3-2 on Sept. 29 and Vanderbilt, 4-1 on Sept. 30. C-USA Offensive Player of the Week LARS THORSTENSEN recorded a three goal, six-point weekend. SEAN FRASER added two goals and two assists. Memphis visits Saint Louis on Saturday.

SAINT LOUIS
No. 4 Saint Louis defeated TCU, 4-0 on Sept. 29. After missing the first three matches of the season with a foot laceration, All-American forward JACK JEWSBURY has returned to tally two goals and one assist in the last three matches. After averaging 2.3 goals per game during his absence, the Billikens have averaged 3.7 goals per game since his return. SLU visits DePaul on Wednesday before returning home to host Memphis on Saturday.

SOUTH FLORIDA
No. 11 South Florida improved to 8-0 with a 1-0 victory at Louisville on Sept. 29. Six of the Bulls' eight wins have been by one goal. USF is two wins away from matching its best start in school history (10-0). South Florida hosts No. 8 UAB on Friday and visits East Carolina on Sunday.

TCU
TCU suffered a 4-0 loss to No. 4 Saint Louis on Sept. 29. This was the Horned Frogs' third straight defeat and its second to a top five opponent. No. 1 SMU handed TCU a 3-1 setback on Sept. 27. The Horned Frogs host Charlotte on Sunday.

UAB
No. 8 UAB posted a pair of 2-1 wins over C-USA foes Marquette and Charlotte (double overtime). The Blazers won for the third straight time at home and has not lost in the last 11 matches at West Campus Field. They were 6-0-2 at home last year. UAB has played two straight double-overtime matches on the road, beating Charlotte and losing to Yale. Last year the Blazers played 10 overtime matches in the regular season and the last six regular season matches on the road went into overtime. Senior midfielder MIKE GARCIA returned to the lineup for the first time against Marquette and got an assist in his first match.


C-USA ON THE WEB
For the latest Conference USA news, check out the league's official web site: www.c-usasports.com.

MEDIA TEAMLINK
Conference USA and its member institutions will offer media information via e-mail and fax through Pivotal Communications. The fax on demand system is intended for media use only. You may access the Fax On Demand directory from www.mediateamlink.com

TOURNAMENT TIME
The 2001 Conference USA Tournament will take place Nov. 15-18 at USF Soccer Stadium in Tampa. The top six finishers in the league advance to the tournament, with the top two finishers earning first round byes. The match times are 5:30 and 8 p.m. on Nov. 15 and Nov. 16 and 1 p.m. on Nov. 18. The championship will be televised by the Conference USA Television Network. Check your local listings for details.