09/15/05– FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WOMEN'S SOCCER HOSTS 2005 KELME JAGUAR INVITATIONAL THIS WEEKEND
CONTACT: Kit Strief

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THE SETTING
The University of South Alabama women’s soccer team (1-2) looks to get back on the winning track as it returns home for the second home tournament of the season. USA hosts Troy, Louisiana-Monroe and Northwestern State in the 2005 KELME Jaguar Invitational. The Jaguars will face Louisiana-Monroe on Friday, Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. and Northwestern State on Sunday, Sept. 18 at 2:30 p.m.

2005 KELME JAGUAR INVITATIONAL SPONSORS
The 2005 KELME Jaguar Invitational Game Day sponsors are: Carpe Diem, Chick-Fil-A, Fazoli’s and Golden Corral. The University of South Alabama and the Jaguar women’s soccer team thanks each of these organizations for their support.

SCOUTING SOUTH ALABAMA
The University of South Alabama women’s soccer team enters the 2005 season determined to gain prominence in the Sun Belt Conference. The Jaguars are poised to climb the SBC ladder with a core of veteran players and a talented pool of newcomers.
In his seventh year at the helm, Jaguar coach Mike Varga remains focused on winning the conference and playing in the NCAA’s. With this goal in mind, Varga is optimistic about the team’s make-up, skill level and exceptional versatility.
This season, the Jaguars are led by sophomore Kelly Tarrant who has scored three goals and six points. Senior Rebecca Kahn and freshman Carly Williams are second on the team with one goal each. Junior Jen Beckwith leads the team with two assists.
Last year, Kahn earned second team All-Sun Belt Conference honors for the second year in a row last season. Kahn led the Jaguars with 11 goals and 27 points. Kahn also led the team with a .314 shot percentage. Senior Tanya Allegretti also returns to help lead the offense after scoring eight goals in 2004.

RECAPPING LAST WEEK
The Jaguars went 0-2 this past week, with both losses coming by one goal. USA dropped a 3-2 decision to Tennessee-Martin on Sept. 9 and a 2-1 double overtime loss to Murray State Sept. 11. Kelly Tarrant scored two goals in a 3-2 loss to Tennessee-Martin in the 2005 Puma Skyhawk Invitational. Tarrant followed that performance with three shots against Murray State. Kahn scored her first goal of the season in the loss to Murray State. Beckwith added her team-leading second assist against the Racers.

SCOUTING LOUISIANA-MONROE
The Lady Indians enter the week with a 5-3 record on the year and a five-game winning streak. ULM dropped its first three game of the year and rattled off five-straight, including a 1-0 win over Sun Belt member Arkansas-Little Rock. The Lady Indians posted a 4-1 victory over Grambling State in their last outing.
Tara Balogh leads the team with five goals and two assists. She is second on the team in shots and fourth in shots on goal with eight. Rachel Hobson and Kendall Dawkins each have three goals on the year. Hobson leads the team with 10 shots on goal and a .714 percentage. In goal, Rachel Marcom has played in all eight contests. She has a 1.38 GAA with 11 goals against. Marcom has tallied 31 saves and three shutouts.
Head coach Stacy Lamb is in her fifth year at the helm of the Lady Indian program. She has a 38-38-10 record. Last year, the Lady Indians made it to finals of the Southland Conference Championship, falling 1-0 overtime battle to Texas State. She was named SLC Coach of the Year in 2001.

LAST TIME THEY MET
USA leads the all-time series with Louisiana-Monroe 2-0. The Jaguars began the series with a 4-0 victory at ULM on Sept. 19, 1999 and followed that up with a 2-0 home victory on Sept. 7, 2001.

SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN STATE
The Demons enter the week with a 3-3 record after dropping matches to Baylor (7-1) and TCU (1-0 2ot) on Sept. 9 and Sept. 11, respectively. Julie Zavala leads the team with five goals and 10 points. She is third on the team in shots with 11. Natalie Waguespack and Lauren Miller are second on the team with two goals a piece. Waguespack and Marliese Latiolais lead the team with two assists each. In goal, Krystle Donaldson and Johanna Klohoker split time. Donaldson has played in all six matches and started three. She has allowed six goals and recorded 17 saves and one shutout. Klohoker has played in three games recording nine saves and five goals against.
Head coach Jimmy Mitchell is in his sixth year at the helm of the Demons. He has a 51-40-11 record during his tenure and has guided the Demons to the 2000 Southland Conference Championship and two Southland Conference Tournament Titles and NCAA Tournament appearances (2000 and 2002).

LAST TIME THEY MET
The Jaguars own a 3-0 record against Northwestern State. The series began Sept. 29, 1996 with a 9-0 victory. USA posted another 9-0 victory the following year and a 2-0 victory on Aug. 27, 2000.

SCOUTING TROY
The Troy Trojans are the newest members to the Sun Belt Conference. The Trojans enter the week with a 1-2 record after a 5-0 loss to Alabama on Sept. 11. Troy has four players who have each scored a goal this season. Emily Cobb leads the team with two assists. Brittany Stoltz leads the team with 10 shots and Megan Kosbia leads with four on goal. In goal, Laura Longard has played and started in all three games recording 11 saves and seven goals against for a 2.33 GAA.
Head coach Diana Niland is in her second year at the helm of the Troy program. Niland has a 5-10-3 at Troy. She spent her previous three years at Division II Missouri-Rolla. She is no stranger to the Sun Belt as she was an assistant coach at Arkansas State prior to UMR.

JAGUAR KUDDOS
Four Jaguars earned All-Tournament honors after their play in the KELME Port City Classic Aug. 26 and 28. Sophomore Kelly Tarrant scored the game winner and first goal of the 2005 season in a 2-1 victory over Birmingham-Southern (8/26). Also named to the team was senior Rebecca Kahn, junior Tiffanie Stewart and freshman Chiara Greco.

JAGUARS PICKED SIXTH IN COACH’S POLL
The South Alabama Jaguars were picked to finish sixth in the 2005 preseason coach’s poll, released this week by the Sun Belt Conference. USA received 51 points, ahead of Louisiana-Lafayette (42), Arkansas State (31), Arkansas-Little Rock (20) and Troy (18). North Texas was picked to win the conference receiving 92 points and five first place votes.

PRESEASON COACH’S POLL
Points
1. North Texas (5) 92
2. Denver (3) 89
3. Middle Tennessee (2) 87
4. Florida International 64
5. Western Kentucky 56
6. South Alabama 51
7. Louisiana-Lafayette 42
8. Arkansas State 31
9. Arkansas-Little Rock 20
10. Troy 18

SEVEN JAGS NAMED TO SBC ALL-TIME TEAM
Seven Jaguars were named to the Sun Belt Conference All-Time Soccer Team earlier this week. The 30-person team consists of seven players from USA and Western Kentucky; three players from Arkansas State, Denver, Florida International and North Texas; and two from Louisiana-Lafayette and Middle Tennessee. Jeff Hooke was chosen as the Sun Belt’s all-time coach (Denver) and Marilyn Marin was selected as the conference’s all-time player (North Texas)

South Alabama’s Selections
Cindy Rainville 1998-2001
Amber Angermeirer 2001-2004
Kyla Rogers 1999-2002
Rebecca Kahn 2002-pres.
Yolanda Jinga 1999-2002
Kathy Steinmetz 1999-2002
Keri Osborne 1999-2002

NO PLACE LIKE HOME
South Alabama opened the 2005 season at home for the first time in four years. The Jaguars defeated Birmingham-Southern in the opener (8/26) USA opened the past three seasons on the road going 2-1 during that span. USA is 7-5 all-time in season openers and is 3-2 at The Cage in openers.

NEW FACES
South Alabama has six new faces this season and a number of them will see significant action this this weekend. Freshmen Kelsie Langford, Chiara Greco,

Cortney Stewart, Dillon Rogers, Jenny Racine and Carly Williams are all new to the program this year.

EXHIBITION SEASON
The Jaguars went 2-0 during the exhibition season as they defeated the Alumni Team, 6-0 and Auburn-Montgomery, 6-0. Against the Alumni, junior Jennifer Beckwith scored two goals and added an assist. The very next weekend, USA posted the same margin against Auburn-Montgomery. Senior Tanya Allegretti scored two goals and junior Karrie Johnson added two assists.

2005 REDSHIRTS
The Jaguars will be redshirting three players this year, including Brianna Nelson, Erika Fitzpatrick and Jenny Racine.

EXPERIENCED SQUAD
The Jaguars return 14 letterwinners from last year’s squad, including eight starters. Letterwinners returning include Rebecca Kahn, Tanya Allegretti, Karrie Johnson, Kelly Tarrant, Tiffanie Stewart, Sue Ahrens, Hallie Robertson, Michelle Leppert, Shoshana Sevel, Erika Fitzpatrick, Jenn Edgar, Brianna Nelson, Allison Brubeck
and Heather Moore.

JAGUARS EVERYWHERE
The 2005 edition of the Jaguars features players from eight states and Canada. Ohio and the Province of Ontario, Canada, make up the largest portion of the team with six players from Ohio and four from Ontario. Province of Alberta, Canada, has two players on the roster for a total
of six from Canada. Three players from Florida, two players from Virginia, Pennsylvania and Indiana, along with one from Alabama, Oklahoma.

OUTSCORED
The Jaguars’ two opponents this weekend (Northwestern State and Louisiana-Monroe) have never scored on USA in the previous meetings between the schools. USA has outscored Louisiana-Monroe 6-0 in two previous meeting and outscored Northwestern State 20-0 in two previous meetings.