A pair of Saint Louis players swept this week's Conference USA women's soccer awards as the Billikens are off to a perfect 7-0-0 start in conference play and have clinched a spot in the 2004 C-USA Women's Soccer Tournament. Sophomore Dee Guempel scored seven points over the weekend with two goals and three assists and moved into the top spot in scoring for conference games. SLU keeper Amanda Martin had only allowed one goal from C-USA competition and has compiled an impressive 0.37 goals against average this season.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Dee Guempel, Saint Louis
Sophomore, Midfielder, St. Louis, Mo.
Guempel netted a pair of goals over the weekend as the Billekens extend their win streak to seven games and a perfect 7-0-0 record in C-USA play. Guempel tallied five points in Friday's 4-1 victory at UAB with one goal and assisting on the other three. She also scored the insurance goal in Sunday's 2-0 shutout at USF. In conference games, Guempel has scored a league-best 17 points and is tied for first with six goals and five assists.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Amanda Martin, Saint Louis
Junior, Goalkeeper, Nashville, Tenn.
Martin recorded her ninth shutout of the season as the Billikens defeated USF, 2-0, on the road Sunday. The win was also the seventh straight for Saint Louis as Martin has given up only one goal in conference play and has a 0.37 goals against average on the season. Martin also made 10 saves against an aggressive UAB offense on Friday.


NEWS & NOTES
Lucky Seven - Saint Louis extended its win streak to seven matches - all in Conference play - as the Billikens defeated UAB (4-1) and USF (2-0) in a pair of road games this weekend.

Queens of the Hill - Not only is Saint Louis sitting pretty with an unblemished 7-0-0 conference record this season, but the Billikens and Louisville have both registered an 11-3-1 overall mark this season. The Cardinals have won their last three in a row and shut out opponents in eight of their last nine matches.

Guarding the Net - Louisville posted shutouts against Morehead State (2-0) and Cincinnati (1-0) over the weekend and U of L goalkeeper Meredith Miller was credited with her seventh and eighth shutouts, respectively. Miller's goals against average (.400) and save percentage (.900) rank second only to Amanda Martin of Saint Louis in the C-USA rankings. Miller's eight shutouts is a school record as is the team's 10 shutouts this season.

Demon Defense - DePaul also posted two shutouts over the weekend and made its opponents "blue" by scoring seven goals. The Blue Demons defeated Houston (4-0) and TCU (3-0) with seven different players scoring goals for DePaul. Sophomore midfielder Lauren Spacht did tally six points against Houston as she was credited with the game-winning goal and then assisted on the other three (a school record). Spacht is one of five players with 15 or more points this season - a first for the program.

Special Dee-livery - Saint Louis sophomore Dee Guempel has been a key member of the Saint Louis offense. The C-USA Offensive Player of the Week, she scored a goal and assisted on the Billikens other three goals is a 4-1 victory against defending conference champion UAB. Guempel leads the league with 17 points in C-USA matches.

No Longer the Bridesmaid - After leading the Tigers with six assists on the season, Memphis freshman Vicki Greenwell scored her first collegiate goal in Sunday's 2-1 loss to UAB.

Record Watch - Southern Miss senior Lauren Prewitt is just two goals shy of earning a spot on the Golden Eagles Top 5 single-season scoring chart with nine.

Pirates' Plank - The East Carolina tandem of juniors Meghan McCallion and Carmen Calpo hooked up for both Pirate goals in Friday's 2-0 victory against Tulane. McCallion scored in the first half off a midfield pass served from Calpo, then netted the second goal recovering Calpo's blocked shot by Tulane keeper Megan Morey.

Senior Day - Charlotte closed out its home season with a 2-0 shutout of Tulane on Sunday. Seniors Megan Terlip and Kim Miles scored the goals for the 49ers and senior keeper Lauren Dansby shared the shutout. It was also the final home game for senior midfielders Leslie Canales and Jill Leeder. Miles and Leeder scored in Friday's 2-1 victory against Southern Miss. Despite a slow start, Charlotte can still qualify for the C-USA Tournament with three more conference road games on its schedule.

Hat Trick - Saint Louis will serve as the host of the 2004 Conference USA Women's Soccer Tournament. It will be the third time in the league's history teams will compete in the Gateway City as Robert R. Hermann Stadium was the site for the 2000 tournament, and SLU hosted the 1997 tourney at the Anheuser-Busch Center.

CLOSE CALLS
Nearly half of Conference USA team losses have been by one goal. Louisville has had nine of its 15 matches decided by one goal, with the Cardinals coming out on top 6-3. Here is how C-USA schools have fared in one-goal matches so far during the 2004 season:
Team Matches Record
Charlotte 6 1-5
Cincinnati 7 3-4
DePaul 6 2-5
East Carolina 2 1-1
Houston 5 2-3
Louisville 9 6-3
Marquette 4 3-1
Memphis 8 5-3
Saint Louis 4 2-2
Southern Miss 7 2-5
TCU 5 2-3
Tulane 7 3-4
UAB 5 4-1
USF 4 2-2


PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
An Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week is selected each Monday morning by the Conference USA women's soccer coaches.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
A30 Lauren Prewitt, Southern Miss
S7 Lindsey Morris, Tulane
S13 Nikki Hawkins, Houston
S20 Julianne Sitch, DePaul
S27 Jamie Craft, Louisville
O4 Alison Loughrin, Marquette
O11 Tara Kidwell, UAB
O18 Dee Guempel, Saint Louis
O25
N1

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
A30 Megan Morey, Tulane
S7 Natalie Haerens, Memphis
S13 Natalie Haerens, Memphis
S20 Amanda Martin, Saint Louis
S27 Meredith Miller, Louisville
O4 Kim Sinclair, Saint Louis
O11 Courtney Hulcer, Saint Louis
O18 Amanda Martin, Saint Louis
O25
N1


C-USA PRESEASON AWARDS
UAB, the 2003 Conference USA regular season champion, has been selected to win the 2004 C-USA Championship by the league's coaches. Junior midfielder/forward Julianne Sitch of DePaul was named the Preseason Player of the Year after earning Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2003. Sitch represented the United States this summer as USA won its sixth straight Nordic Cup in Iceland, the world's premier soccer tournament for the women's under-21 age group. Sitch is also on the 2004 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List.

2004 C-USA PRESEASON AWARDS

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Julianne Sitch, Jr., MF/F, DePaul

ALL-CONFERENCE
Breck Bankester, Sr., GK, USF
Jamie Craft, So., F, Louisville
Nikki Hawkins, Sr., MF, Houston
Tara Kidwell, Sr., F, UAB
Yuiko Konno, Sr., F, Memphis
Megan McCallion, Jr., F, ECU
Briana McCarty, Sr., D, UAB
Nicky McLeod, Jr., MF, Memphis
Jessi Moore, Sr., F, TCU
Jamie Perry, Sr., F, Saint Louis
Julianne Sitch, Jr., MF/F, DePaul

2004 C-USA PRESEASON POLL
(as selected by C-USA coaches)
1. UAB
2. Saint Louis
3. DePaul
4. Marquette
5. Charlotte
6. TCU
7. Cincinnati
8. Memphis
9. East Carolina
10. USF
11. Tulane
12. Houston
13. Louisville
14. Southern Miss

NATIONAL HONORS
In addition to the C-USA Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, league players are occasionally honored for their outstanding performances throughout the season by Soccer America and Soccer Buzz.

Soccer Buzz
National Elite Team of the Week
S21 Jamie Craft, Lousiville
S28 Jamie Craft, Louisville
O13 Courtney Hulcer, Saint Louis

NATIONAL POLLS
Here's a look at the 2004 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA), Soccer America, Soccer Buzz and SoccerTimes.com Top 25 polls.

NSCAA (Oct. 12)
1. Notre Dame
2. North Carolina
3. Penn State
4. Portland
5. Virginia
6. Texas A&M
7. Washington
8. UCLA
9. Kansas
10. Duke
11. Princeton
12. Tennessee
13. Michigan
14. Florida State
15. Stanford
16. Ohio State
17. Santa Clara
18. West Virginia
19. Auburn
20. SMU
Boston College
22. USC
23. Florida
24. Illinois
25. San Diego

Soccer America (Oct. 11)
1. Notre Dame
2. North Carolina
3. Penn State
4. Virginia
5. Portland
6. UCLA
7. Washington
8. Texas A&M
9. Tennessee
10. Stanford
11. Princeton
12. Santa Clara
13. Florida
14. California
15. Nebraska
16. Duke
17. Florida State
18. Kansas
19. West Virginia
20. Pepperdine
21. Wake Forest
22. Auburn
23. Maryland
24. Arizona
25. SMU


Soccer Buzz (Oct. 12)
1. North Carolina
2. Notre Dame
3. Penn State
4. Portland
5. Virginia
6. Kansas
7. Texas A&M
8. Stanford
9. UCLA
10. Duke
11. Florida State
12. Princeton
13. Washington
14. Tennessee
15. Santa Clara
16. California
17. Michigan
18. Ohio State
19. West Virginia
20. Florida
21. Pepperdine
22. Nebraska
23. Wake Forest
24. Auburn
25. Villanova
26. Illinois
27. SMU
28. Dayton
29. Arizona
30. Boston College

SoccerTimes.com (Oct. 11)
1. North Carolina
2. Notre Dame
3. Penn State
4. Virginia
5. Portland
6. Tennessee
7. Texas A&M
8. UCLA
9. Washington
10. Duke
11. Florida State
12. Florida
13. Kansas
14. Stanford
15. Princeton
16. West Virginia
17. Michigan
18. Ohio State
19. California
20. Santa Clara
21. Nebraska
22. Pepperdine
23. SMU
24. Illinois
25. Wake Forest