Spartans Bound for Sunshine State
10/22/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 22, 2009
Live Stats (Friday) | Live Stats (Sunday)
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The USC Upstate women's soccer team will conclude the 2009 campaign with a pair of matches in the sunshine state this weekend. Upstate (0-17-0, 0-8-0 A-Sun) will face Stetson on Friday night in DeLand, Fla., followed by a Sunday matinee with Florida Gulf Coast in Fort Myers, Fla.
Stetson enters the weekend with an overall record of 8-6-2, while posting a 4-4-2 mark in league play. Meanwhile, FGCU owns a record of 9-5-3 and a 4-4-2 mark in the conference. Stetson and FGCU, along with Campbell are in a three-way tie for fourth place entering the final matches of 2009.
This weekend will be the final matches in a Spartan uniform for senior Brittany Daughtry. Daughtry was honored on senior day last Sunday when Upstate battled Mercer. In her final home match of her career, Daughtry recorded seven saves.
In 2009, Daughtry has appeared in seven matches for Upstate while tallying 58 saves. She enters the final weekend of her career with 220 total saves in 35 career matches. The Smithfield, N.C. native will finish third all-time in career saves.
Fans can follow along with the action this weekend via live stats links found at the top of the page.
At A Glance...
• Upstate looks to break a three-match scoreless drought as they travel to the sunshine state this weekend for the final matches of 2009.
• The Spartans will face Stetson on Friday night. The Hatters lead the series 2-0 and won last season's match in Spartanburg by a score of 2-1. It was one of nine matches the Spartans dropped in 2008 by a single goal.
• To wrap up the 2009 campaign, Upstate will face Florida Gulf Coast on Sunday afternoon. The Eagles have won both matches in the series.
Scouting the Hatters
Since dropping its Atlantic Sun opener to Kennesaw State by a score of 3-0, Stetson owns a record of 4-1-2. During the seven game stretch, the Hatters have outscored their opponents 14-7.
Tessa Gavilsky has some type of impact on 16 of the 27 goals scored this season by Stetson. She leads the team in goals (9) and points (25), while ranked second on the team in assists (7). Katie Bitetto leads the Hatters in assists with nine. Andrea Garavaglia has played all 16 matches for Stetson. On the season she has allowed 23 goals while tallying 75 saves for a GAA of 1.38.
Scouting the Eagles
Florida Gulf Coast snapped a two-match scoreless drought when they defeated Lipscomb in Nashville on Oct. 18 by a score of 2-1.
The Eagles are led offensively by Amber McCall and Jessica Swartzentruber. McCall leads the Eagles in goals (6) and points (14) and is tied for second on the team with two assists. Meanwhile, Swartzentruber leads the in assists (3) and is second on the team in both goals (3) and points (9). Stephanie Powers has appeared in 16 of 17 matches for FGCU. Powers has lead the Eagles to six shutouts while recording 60 saves and allowing 14 goals for a GAA of just 0.84.
Record Chasing
Catherine Nolff, Alyssa Roegner and Leigh Ward all rank somewhere in the top five or 10 in various statisical categories. Leading the trio of juniors is Nolff who is the all-time Upstate leader (D-I era) for games played (54) and games started (53). Nolff also ranks fifth all-time in both games started and games played (all years). Right behind Nolff in games played are Roegner and Ward. In the D-I category, Roegner is second in games played with 53, while Ward is third with 45 appearances. Roegner and Ward are also in the top 10 (D-I era) for games started. Roegner ranks second with 38 starts and Ward is ninth with 21.
Roegner and Nolff find themselves in the top five in five other categories (D-I era). Roegner is tied for first with five goals and sits tied for third with three career assists. The Shelby Township, Mich. native is second with 19 career shots on-goal, second with 13 career points and ranks third with 32 career shots. Meanwhile, Nolff, the Irmo, S.C. product, is tied for fourth in career goals scored with four. She is third in points with 11. She also ranks fourth in career shots on-goal (13) and fifth in shots attempted (25).
Super Savers
In her first match of her senior season, goalkeeper Brittany Daughtry recorded a career-high 14 saves at Furman (8/24). The previous career high for the Smithfield, N.C. native was 13 that she recorded last season at High Point (8/31/08). The 14 saves by Daughtry also ties the school record for saves in a game and is the second player to accomplish the feat since the move to Division I. Samantha Spradley had 14 saves vs. Charleston Southern in 2007 (Upstate's first season in D-I), while Diana Wabnitz had two 14 save matches (at Carson-Newman, 9/9/06 and at Armstrong Atlantic State, 10/3/06).
Daughtry has appeared in six other contests this season for the Spartans. In two of those contests, Daughtry has recorded double-digit saves. She recorded 13 at Lipscomb (10/2) and 10 at Belmont (10/4).
In her second career start, freshman goal keeper Sian Jenkins recorded nine saves at Charleston Southern (9/1). The nine saves by Jenkins is an Upstate single game record for a freshman (Division I era). Jenkins tied her career high with nine save versus North Florida (9/27).
Looking for Number Three
The women's soccer team is looking for its third shutout since they moved to Division I. The last shutout for the Spartans occurred on its home field when they shutout Campbell en route to a 1-0 victory on Oct. 11, 2007. The 2008 season was the first season that Upstate failed to record a shutout. The Spartan program has recorded a total of 45 shutouts in its history.
All-Tournament Duo
Juniors Catherine Nolff and Alyssa Roegner were named to the All-Tournament team at the 2009 Border Classic. In the event, at Gardner-Webb, Upstate faced off with SC State and Chattanooga. In the match with SC State, Nolff scored just four minutes into the match to give the Spartans a 1-0 advantage. The goal by Nolff was the first in `09 and fourth for the defender's career. She was assisted on the goal by teammate Alyssa Roegner. It was the first assist for Roegner this season and third for her career.
Upstate Successful at County University Soccer Stadium
Since County University Soccer Stadium was opened in 2001, USC Upstate has had a history of success at home. Upstate is 37-34-6 all-time at County University Soccer Stadium for a winning percentage of .519. The Spartans were 10-1-0 at home during the first season of play at County University Soccer Stadium in 2001, winning the Peach Belt Conference regular season championship.
Reyes There From the Start
Not many coaches can say they were there when a women's soccer program was started and when it made its transition to Division I. USC Upstate head coach Kendall Reyes is the only women's soccer head coach in school history, arriving along with the program in 2000. Reyes has compiled a 69-104-13 record in ten seasons including a Peach Belt Conference regular season championship in 2001 and three seasons of 12 wins or more (2001, 2003, 2004). He was also named Peach Belt Conference Coach of the Year in 2001. In March 2007, Reyes was appointed to the position of State Technical Coordinator for Coaching Education by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). He is the first and only person of color to hold the position in the organization. In addition, he was also appointed as an NSCAA National Staff Instructor in the summer of 2007.
