UAB claimed the 2003 Conference USA regular season title and is the top seed in this week's C-USA Tournament, Nov. 5-8 in Charlotte. The rest of field has been set as well. Action gets underway on Wednesday at noon and concludes on Saturday at 2 p.m. with the championship match. Jamie Perry of Saint Louis is the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week and UAB's Katie Forbis is the league's Defensive Player of the Week for the period ending Nov. 2. Read about this and more in this week's C-USA Women's Soccer Notebook.

Jamie Perry, Jr., Foward
Saint Louis

Perry became SLU's all-time scoring leader with her game-winning goal in the Billikens' 1-0 win over DePaul on Saturday. She has scored a school-best 79 points (32 goals, 15 assists) in just three seasons at Saint Louis. Perry holds the junior class record for points with 24 and eight goals this season.

Katie Forbis, Fr., Goalkeeper
UAB

Fobris made three saves to lead the Blazers to a 2-0 win at USF and claim their first Conference USA regular-season crown. The Memphis, Tenn., native posted her fifth shutout of the season, tying her for the most in the league. Forbis improved her record in goal to 11-2 as a starter and lowered her goals against average to 0.71. She holds the freshman record for victories in a season with 11 and is in sole possession of third place on the all-time wins list.

The Field Is Set – The ninth Conference USA Women’s Soccer Tournament begins Wednesday, Nov. 5 at Charlotte’s Transamerica Field.

Sixth-seeded DePaul faces third-seeded Marquette in the opening contest at noon, followed by Tulane, the No. 7 seed, battling TCU, the No. 2 seed, at 2:30 p.m.

The evening session starts at 5 p.m., when fifth-seeded Saint Louis meets fourth-seeded USF. The day concludes with host, Charlotte, the No. 8 seed, takes on top seed and regular-season champion UAB at 7:30 p.m.

Thursday’s semifinals matches the winner of game 1 versus the winner of game 2 at 5 p.m. and the winner of game 3 battling the winner of game 4 at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday’s championship contest is slated for a 2 p.m. start and will be televised on the C-USA Television Network.

UAB Claims First C-USA Title – The UAB women's soccer team earned its first Conference USA Championship title on Friday as the Blazers defeated the USF Bulls, 2-0, on the road in Tampa. With the win, UAB extended its winning streak to five-consecutive matches and set a school record for victories in a season with 13. The Blazers accumulated a 13-4 overall record and finished the regular season with a program-best 8-2 mark against conference opponents. In Friday's 2-0 victory over the Bulls, UAB claimed its school-record ninth shutout of the 2003 campaign. UAB, the top seed in this week's 2003 C-USA Tournament, will meet the hometown-favorite Charlotte 49ers on Wednesday in first-round action.

The New Kids – DePaul is making its third appearance in the C-USA Tournament and TCU will be making its first-ever appearance. The Blue Demon program, which is in its eighth season has established team records in overall victories (12) and league wins (6) this season, is back in the tournament for the first time since 1997.

The Horned Frogs are appearing in their first C-USA Tournament since joining the league in 2001. At 9-8-1, TCU has posted its best record since going 10-9-1 in 2000 and qualifying for the WAC Tournament.

DePaul was picked to finish ninth and TCU was selected to finish 12th in the preseason coaches’ poll.

C-USA Tournament Appearances – Charlotte and Marquette are making their ninth straight appearances in the Conference USA Tournament. Here’s a look at tourney field and the number of appearances made by each:

Team No. of Appearances
Charlotte 9
DePaul 3
Marquette 9
Saint Louis 7
USF 6
Tulane 5
UAB 5


C-USA HONOR ROLL

LINDSEY PALMIERO - CHARLOTTE
Palmiero scored her first career goal, which was the game-winner in overtime in Charlotte's 1-0 win over East Carolina to clinch the 49ers the final spot in the Conference USA Tournament.

SHANNON HUFFMAN - CHARLOTTE
Huffman recorded her fourth straight shutout as she held East Carolina scoreless for over 91 minutes. She collected nine saves in leading the 49ers to a 1-0 overtime win over East Carolina to clinch the final spot in the C-USA Tournament for the 49ers.

BECKY IMHOFF – CINCINNATI
Imhoff, a true freshman, has started every game this season and is tied for second on the team in scoring with three points. She had two shots for the Bearcats against Louisville on Saturday.

TRACY HALE - CINCINNATI
Hale started for the Bearcats on Saturday, and did not allow a goal in her 45 minutes, facing six shots and four corner kicks, while posting one save. Hale has the best average of the Cincinnati goalkeepers, playing in 10 games this season while only allowing nine goals.

LAUREN WEBER - MARQUETTE
Weber came off the bench to record two shots and the match-winning goal in Marquette's 1-0 overtime win over Northwestern. The goal was the second of the season for her.

KATIE BISSEN - MARQUETTE
Bissen recorded her seventh shutout of the season making seven stops after facing 21 Northwestern shots in a 1-0 win. Marquette has nine shutouts on the year. She owns an 0.86 goals against average and has 73 saves for the season.

TRESSA PECHER – SAINT LOUIS
Pecher played a key defensive role in shutout of DePaul to put the Billikens in fifth place in the league. She was part of defensive unit that held C-USA leading scorer Julianne Sitch without a shot. The DePaul shutout was SLU’s 11th of the season, just one off the school record set in 2002.

SARAH BRENNAN – SOUTHERN MISS
Brennan started against Tulane and Mississippi State, scoring two goals versus the Green Wave. She has been one of the main cogs in Southern Miss scoring attack all season. She recorded eight goals on the year.

TARA KIDWELL – UAB
Kidwell scored the game-winning goal in Friday's crucial C-USA matchup against USF. The goal secured UAB's first-ever C-USA Regular-Season Championship. She moved into a three-way tie for second place on the Blazers' all-time, goal-scoring list with 24 goals in three seasons. Leads the Blazers in points (24), goals (10), shots (59), shot percentage (.169) and shots on goal (26) this season.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Each week, an offensive and defensive player of the week are selected by a vote of the league’s head coaches.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
S2 Meghan McCallion, So., F, ECU
Jessica Traver, Fr., F, TUL
S8 Carolyn Klopp, Sr., MF/F, MAR
Julianne Sitch, So., F, DPU
S15 Nikki Hawkins, Jr., MF, HOU
Lindsay Morris, Jr., F, TUL
S22 Julianne Sitch, So., MF/F, DPU
Jill Knottek, Sr., F, UAB
S29 Julianne Sitch, So., MF/F, DPU
O6 Christie Cigno, So., MF, SLU
O13 Kim Miles, Jr., MF, CHA
O20 Yuiko Konno, Jr., F, MEM
O27 Jenny Mulvihill, So., MF, USF
N3 Jamie Perry, Jr., F, SLU

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
S2 Leah Peterson, Fr., D, TUL
S8 Katie Bissen, Jr, GK, MAR
S15 Penny Perrott, Sr., D, ECU
S22 Kara Kornfeld, Jr., B, SLU
S29 Megan Morey, So., GK, TUL
O6 Anny Lucier, Sr., B, SLU
O13 Katie Bissen, Jr., GK, MAR
O20 Katie Buchanan, Fr., GK, TCU
O27 Shannon Huffman, Fr., GK, CHA
N3 Katie Forbis, Fr., GK, UAB

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. Track those accolades here.

Soocer America Team of the Week
S23 Kara Kornfeld, B, SLU
O15 Asia Simons, D, TUL

Soccer Buzz Elite Team of the Week
S9 Julianne Sitch, MF/F, DPU
S23 Julianne Sitch, MF/F, DPU
O6 Anny Lucier, D, SLU
O16 Asia Simons, D, TUL
O28 Jenny Mulvihill, MF, USF

C-USA ON TV
The championship match of the 2003 Conference USA Women’s Soccer Tournament will be televised by affiliates of the Conference USA Television Network. The veteran announce team of DON RUSSELL (play-by-play) and AMY PRICHARD (color analyst) will call all of the action. More details will be released as the championship approaches.

The top eight finishers in the regular season earn a spot in the Conference USA Tournament, November 5-8 in Charlotte, N.C.

STATIONS AIRING C-USA CHAMPIONSHIP
Charter Communications Information Network, Ch. 21 – St. Louis (Live)
College Sports Television (CSTV), DirecTV Ch. 610 – (Live)
Comcast Charter Sports Southeast (Live)
Cox Sports Television - New Orleans (Tape Delay on Nov. 12 at Noon CST)
Fox Sports Net Chicago (Tape Delay on Nov. 11 at Noon CST)
Fox Sports Net South (Live or Tape Delay – Time TBD)
UNC Charlotte Cable Television, Ch. 22 – (Live)
WXIV-TV, Ch. 14 - Greensboro (Tape Delay at 7 p.m. EST)