Oct. 8, 2009
Complete Release in PDF Format 
LOS ANGELES, Calif. -
Briefly
After turning in a stellar non-conference performance, LMU (8-3-1) will look to continue the hot start as it opens West Coast Conference play this Sunday on the road against Pepperdine (7-4). This week's match between Pepperdine and LMU is the second overall contest between the two schools in this year's PCH Challenge. To learn more about the PCH Challenge and view the current scorecard, please click here.
There is no TEAM LMU game this week because LMU has no home events. The purpose of TEAM LMU is to bring Lion fans together as one, creating an atmosphere that helps build the Lions into champions, while allowing all to enjoy the benefits of our corporate partners. For more information about TEAM LMU, log on to www.LMULions.com/teamlmu.
Guide Available Online
The 2009 LMU women's soccer guide is now available online for viewing and download at www.LMULions.com. This is the only source of copies of the guide.
Last Week Recap
The LMU women's soccer team finished the 2009 non-conference portion of their schedule with a big road win, defeating Arizona of the Pac-10, 2-1, at Mulcahy Soccer Stadium in Tucson, Ariz., late Friday night. With the win the Lions improve to 8-3-1 on the season as they head into the tough West Coast Conference next week. Senior Lacey Bartels scored the game-winner for the Lions, knocking in a shot at the 53-minute mark to snap the 1-1 tie. It was her second goal of the season. The action was heated from the start and it didn't take long for the host Wildcats to get on the board. Brittany Berger scored just two minutes into the contest to put Arizona up 1-0. LMU didn't waste anytime on their end either, as Cori McGovern scored just three minutes later to tie the game at 1-1. The action remained fast and then with just three minutes left each team suffered a redcard from field players and were forced to play a player short. The second half belonged to goalie Allyssa Clark as she made four saves in the half as Arizona outshot the Lions 7-3. LMU was called for five offsides to none for Arizona. Clark finished with five saves.
About the Pepperdine Waves (7-4)
Pepperdine enters the conference-opener toting a 7-4 overall record. Before earning a 1-0 victory over Cal State Bakersfield on Thursday of this week, Pepperdine had dropped three of its previous five contests. Most recently, the Waves were shutout by then-No. 4 UCLA at home on October 2. Before Thursday's win, Pepperdine's last victory came on September 27 at Utah, a 1-0 shutout over the Utes. Michelle Spacciapolli and Callie Payetta pace the squad with three goals apiece, followed by Kelly Reilly and Sophia Medina with two each. Reilly owns six overall points, teaming her two goals with two assists. Her points total trails only Spacciapolli with seven (three goals, one assist). Roxanne Barker is the primary goalkeeper for the Waves, clocking just over 952 minutes in the net. She has allowed nine goals in 11 matches played, an average of 0.85 per game. She has managed six shutouts and 36 saves. Pepperdine has been outscored 6-5 in first halves this year, but has rebounded to hold a 5-3 edge in the second half, a period that they out-shoot opponents, 63-33. Along the same lines, the Waves have taken 30 corner kicks in second halves this year, allowing just eight for the opponents.
Pepperdine, led by 12th-year Head Coach Tim Ward, leads the all-time series with the Lions, 9-5-3. The Lions are just 2-6 on the road against the Waves, but they have won the last two overall meetings, and have not lost in the last three, in the series. The two teams last met on October 11 of last year, a 1-0 overtime victory for the Lions at home.
Julie Gallaudet Named WCC Player of the Week
Junior Julie Gallaudet was named the West Coast Conference Player of the Week for September 21-27 after leading LMU to a pair of victories that week. She played a part in three of LMU's four goals on the week as the Lions posted a 2-0 record with a pair of shutouts. On Friday against Long Beach State, it was Gallaudet who was fouled just outside the penalty area, leading to Kelsey Wilson's free-kick goal in a 1-0 Lion win. Gallaudet played a more active role in Sunday's 3-0 defeat of Cal State Bakersfield, scoring once and assisting on another. She opened the scoring just 45 seconds into the contest with her second goal of the season. Later, she helped cap three LMU goals in the opening 25 minutes by serving a cross for Kelley Lawson's header. Gallaudet is the first LMU women's soccer player to earn the award this season and this is her first player of the week award.
Home Streak Now at Six
A six-match home winning streak might not seem that impressive but if you add in the fact that none of the visiting teams in those six games have scored? Now we're talking something special. So far in 2009, LMU is 5-0-0 at home and has yet to be scored upon at Sullivan Field. That means that, going back to last season's 2-0 season finale shutout of Saint Mary's, LMU has not allowed a goal in its last six home matches. By the time the Lions take the field against Gonzaga on October 16, it will have been over 555 minutes that the Lions had last conceded a home goal. In fact, since Joe Mallia took the helm in 2007, the Lions have conceded just six goals in 25 matches at Sullivan Field, while never allowing more than one in a game.
Defending Their Turf
The shutout streak leads us into our next segment. Sullivan Field has been Home Sweet Home for the Lions, who have lost just one game in the stadium in each of the last two seasons. The Lions' 3-0 win over Northern Arizona in this year's home opener meant that they are now 9-4-4 in home openers and 4-1-3 since 2001. With a perfect 5-0-0 record at home thus far in 2009, that means that overall in two years under Mallia, LMU is 21-2-2 at Sullivan Field.
Lions in the Regional Rankings
LMU opened the 2009 season ranked fifth in the NSCAA West Region poll. After dropping to as low as ninth, the Lions have rallied and have been fourth in the last two polls (September 29 and Oct. 6). For all 13 weeks last season, LMU bounced between the "receiving votes" category and top-15 for the Soccerbuzz.com West Region rankings. This week's ranking runs their streak of consecutive weeks in any West Rankings to 28.
Lions in the National Rankings
Thanks to its 7-3-1 start to the year, LMU returned, kind of, to the national rankings. With one vote from the NSCAA/adidas voters on September 29, LMU was in the "Also receiving votes" category. That marked the first time since the now-defunct Soccerbuzz.com 2008 preseason poll that LMU has been listed in any of the national polls.
Shots Ring Out
If LMU keeps up its current pace, opposing goalkeepers are going to have their work cut out for them. The Lions have attempted 140 shots over their first 12 matches, an average of 11.67 per game, and unleashed 10 or more shots in each of their first five games and seven overall. Why is that significant? Well, in 19 games last year, LMU topped 10 shots just seven times, and only once did they do it in back-to-back games. LMU last put up five straight games of double-digit shots in 2007, when they had 11 games of 10+ shots and finished with 228 for the year, an average of 12.0 per game. Perhaps this is a no-brainer but, in five of LMU's eight victories in 2009, the Lions have held the shot advantage. In games where the opponent attempts more shots? LMU is 3-3-0. In other words, LMU outshooting its opponent usually leads to victory.
Rising to the Top
Sophomore Erin Rementer has taken over the reigns as LMU's leading scorer with five goals and 10 points. After scoring twice as a freshman in 2008, Rementer went on a tear, scoring four goals in a five-match stretch, starting with her second half goal against Northern Arizona on August 30. She followed that up with the game-winner in overtime to .defeat Vermont and then had her first career two-goal game at Oregon on September 11. Her multi-goal performance against the Ducks helped earn her a place on the Oregon Nike Tournament All-Tournament Team. All told, from the second half of the Northern Arizona game through to the end of the Oregon match, she had four of the team's five goals, with all coming in a stretch of 300 team minutes. Her four goals came on just seven shot attempts. She is currently tied for fifth in the WCC in goals and eighth in points.
Gallaudet Picks Up Where She Left Off
Junior Julie Gallaudet wasted no time in finding her form from last season, scoring LMU's second goal in the season-opening win at UNLV. She then tied the school record with three assists against Northern Arizona, equaling the feat of Cindy Carullo in 1993 and Jessica Lyon in 1997. Gallaudet, who led the Lions with five goals and 14 points in 2008, is currently atop the Lions' scoring charts with two goals and seven assists for 11 points. Her seven assists lead the WCC and already put her in a tie for fourth on the LMU single-season top-10 while she is tied for seventh on the LMU career list with 11 assists. Gallaudet also has seven goals for her career, tied for second among active players behind senior Lacey Bartels' nine.
More Clean Sheets for Clark
Speaking of picking up where she left off, senior Allyssa Clark surrendered goal in an LMU victory for the first time this year last weekend. She has posting a league-best six solo shutouts. She also leads the conference with 54 saves, an average of 4.50 per game. Adding to her eight clean sheets from last year, her 14 career shutouts rank fourth all-time at LMU, as do her 18 goalkeeper wins. She also became the fifth player to go over the century mark in saves and now sits fifth with 151. Against Oregon State on September 13, Clark made a career-high 11 saves, topping her previous high of 10, set last September 25 at #5 USC. She followed that up with nine saves in the Lions' 1-0 upset of #26 Missouri, including stopping a penalty kick that would have tied the game.
The World According to Barts
Senior Lacey Bartels has more or less flown under the radar for her entire career, despite being LMU's active leader in goals. Her game-winner against Arizona was the ninth goal of her career, putting her two ahead of Erin Rementer and Julie Gallaudet. Her 24 career points (9 G, 6 A) are second to Gallaudet's 25.
Getting off the Ranked Schneid
Bartels' game-winning goal against Missouri not only handed LMU the win over a ranked opponent but also halted the Lions' 10-game winless streak over a nationally-ranked foe. LMU hadn't defeated a top-30 opponent since beating #16 USC 2-1 on Sept. 24, 2006, so taking down the 26th-ranked Tigers was a welcome sight.
Tiffany Harrison, Game Winner
As generalities go, it is safe to say that when Tiffany Harrison scores, LMU will win. The senior has six collegiate goals to her credit and LMU has yet to taste defeat with her on the scoresheet, going 5-0-1. In fact, Harrison has been the main cause of those wins and tie. After scoring the game's only goal against Houston, her last three goals have all been game-winners.
McGovern Makes Quite a Debut
Quick, what do Cori McGovern and Tiffany Harrison have in common? The answer is that they are the last two Lions to score in their collegiate debuts. Harrison, now a senior, netted her first career goal in her debut three years ago while McGovern registered LMU's first tally of the season at UNLV, latching on to a long throw in the 51st minute to put the Lions on the road to a 2-0 victory.
- GO LIONS -
