FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Albanese, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Media Relations

SOMERS, Wis. (Oct 17, 2013)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside soccer teams close out its regular season home slate this weekend at Wood Road Field, hosting William Jewell College on Friday and Rockhurst University on Sunday for Senior Day.

The Ranger women face William Jewell at 1:15 p.m. on Friday with the men following at 3:30 p.m. On Sunday, the women hit the pitch at noon with the UW-Parkside men slated to get underway at 2:30 p.m.

About the UW-Parkside women's soccer team: The Rangers (8-2-2, 6-2-2 Great Lakes Valley Conference) head into the weekend with a shutout streak that has reached 456 minutes, a streak spanning across five games as UW-Parkside is unbeaten in its last six games (5-0-1).

The Rangers dominated last weekend, downing University of Illinois Springfield and University of Southern Indiana by identical 3-0 scores to remain undefeated at home this season (7-0).

Kaela Hoecherl is the Rangers' leading scorer, finding the back of the net on seven occasions this season. Her tally currently ranks second in the GLVC while leading the league in game-winning goals with four on the year. Emily Konior is fifth in the conference in goals with six on the season while Stephanie Barsuli and Jasmine Espino have tallied four and three goals, respectively. Alex Johnson leads the team and is third in the GLVC in assists with five helpers on the season. Katie Gavin and Jasmine Espino each have three assists in 2013.

Goalkeeper Mallory Geurts continues her stellar debut season, posting seven shutouts on the season in just 12 starts. Girard owns a goals against average of 0.66 on the season with 46 saves. She has been honored as the GLVC Defensive Player of the Week on two occasions this season while earning the Disney Soccer/NSCAA Player of the Week accolade last week after posting a pair of overtime road shutouts.

As a team, UW-Parkside leads the league in shots (18.4 per game) and goals per game (2.17) while on the defensive end ranks third in the GLVC in both goals against average (0.64) and shutouts (seven).

About the Cardinals: William Jewell (7-5-1, 5-4-1 GLVC) heads to Wisconsin riding a two-game win streak, downing University of Missouri-Saint Louis 3-2 on Oct. 11 and edging Maryville University 2-1 on Sunday. The Cardinals opened the season with a 4-0-1 mark before dropping five of their next six.

Four of Jewell's five GLVC victories have come from the comforts of home, the Cardinals are just 1-3-1 in GLVC road games in 2013.

Sarah Franklin leads the Cardinals' offensive efforts, tallying six goals, four assists and 16 points on the season. Ashley Licata and Jade Gifford sit tied for second on the team in goals (four), assists (two) and points (10).

Two different goalkeepers have started for WJC this season with Kelli Sontag seeing the majority of action. Sontag has started in 11 of the squad's 13 games, making 56 saves and owning a goals against average of 1.31.  Alex Dressman has handled the remaining two starts, logging 16 saves on the season with a goals against average of 2.40.

UW-Parkside and William Jewell have met three times since 2001 with UW-P owning a 2-1 edge in the series. The Rangers fell 2-0 to WJC in Liberty on Sept. 26 last season before avenging the loss in the NCAA Tournament, downing the Cardinals 2-0 on Nov. 9 in the first round in Quincy, Ill.

About the Hawks: Rockhurst (8-3-2, 6-2-2 GLVC) heads into Friday having won seven of its last nine GLVC games, including a sweep of Maryville and UMSL last weekend.

The Hawks have been nearly perfect at home this season, posting a 5-0-1 record at Bourke Field but own just a .500 record (3-3-1) in games away from home.

Rockhurst faced #24-ranked University of Central Missouri on Tuesday in a midweek non-conference showdown, falling 2-1 in overtime to the Jennies after yielding a goal in the 96th minute.

The Hawks feature a balanced offensive attack with 10 players recording a goal on the season. Taylor Skala is the leading scorer with three goals while Kasey Lierz is the top distributor with three assists to her name.

Ali Wallner has started all but one game in net for the Hawks, maintaining a goals against average of 0.64 with 45 saves and six shutouts.

The Rangers and Hawks have met 10 times since 2001 with UW-P holding a 5-3-2 advantage in the series. Rockhurst beat the Rangers twice in 2012, first on Sept. 14 in Kansas City (1-0) and again on Oct. 28 in the first round of the GLVC Tournament (3-2), snapping UW-Parkside's home unbeaten streak at 27 games (23-0-4).

14 and Counting: Under head coach Troy Fabiano the Rangers have experienced 14 straight winning seasons a streak spanning all the way back to 1999, Fabiano's second year as coach. He currently owns a 198-70-25 career mark, making six NCAA appearances and winning four GLVC Championships. Fabiano is just two wins shy of joining the 200-win club. Only 20 NCAA Division II women's soccer coaches have eclipsed that mark, including 17 current coaches.

Three and Counting: UW-Parkside has made the NCAA Tournament the past three seasons and four of the last five years. The Rangers earned a berth to the Sweet 16 in both 2012 and 2010 while advancing to the second round in 2011.

Home Sweet Home: The Rangers have been nearly invincible at home in recent years, posting a 30-1-4 record over the last 35 games at Wood Road Field. The lone loss was a 3-2 defeat to Rockhurst on Oct. 28, 2012 in the GLVC Tournament. UW-Parkside is 7-0 at the friendly confines of Wood Road Field in 2013.

GLVC Preseason Rankings: The Rangers have been selected to place third in the 16-team GLVC according to the league's head coaches. Defending champion Quincy is projected to repeat the feat while William Jewell owns the No. 2 spot in the ranking. Bellarmine and Rockhurst round out the top five.

National Rankings: Two GLVC squads appear in the latest NSCAA Division II Top 25 Poll, released Tuesday. Quincy University drops two spots to 11th while Truman State University climbs tow positions to No. 20.

Senior Salute: Sunday's game against Rockhurst is Senior Day as the program will honor Michelle Girard, Karley Mecko, Stephanie Barsuli, Jasmine Espino and Alex Johnson. The Rangers' five seniors have compiled a career record of 51-14-7, making three trips to the NCAA Tournament, including two Sweet 16 runs while capturing the 2010 GLVC Championship.

About the UW-Parkside men's soccer team: The Rangers (6-5-1, 5-5 GLVC) look to return to the win column as they continue to jostle for GLVC Tournament positioning with five league games remaining. The top eight teams qualify for the GLVC Tournament with UW-Parkside sitting tied for seventh in the league table.

The Rangers fell 3-0 to Southern Indiana on Sunday, the squad's first home setback of the season. Before Sunday, UW-Parkside tallied three unanswered scores to escape with a 3-2 win over visiting Illinois Springfield on Friday.

A total of 12 Rangers have found the back of the net in 2013 with Ryan Shogren and Thomas Diehl leading the way with four goals apiece. Shogren additionally leads the team in assists (three) and points (11). Milan Filipovic had three goals on the season, including a team-best two game-winners while Antonio Gonzalez and Jorge Ontiveros each have a pair of scores.

Marcos Perez has handled a majority of the goalkeeping duties for the squad, starting 11 games and recording a pair of shutouts. Perez has tallied 53 saves on the season and owns a goals against average of 1.54.

About the Cardinals: William Jewell (5-8-0, 3-7-0 GLVC) heads to Wood Road Field having dropped four of its last six games. The Cardinals fell 2-1 to UMSL on Oct. 11 before downing Maryville 2-1 on Sunday with a goal from Chad Newman in the 89th minute of play.

Drew Dempsey and Zane Christenson share the team lead in goals with three while four more Jewell players have scored two goals on the year. Dempsey and Quentin Souder each have four assists on the season to lead WJC.

Shane Van Hooser has logged all 1,194 minutes in goal for the Cardinals, recording 86 saves with a goals against average of 1.96.

UW-Parkside and Jewell have met just twice on the soccer pitch with the Cardinals prevailing on both occasions. The Rangers fell 2-0 to Jewell on Sept. 16 last season in Liberty.

About the Hawks: Rockhurst (9-2-1, 8-1-1 GLVC) sits atop the league standings heading into Friday's clash with Lewis University.

The Hawks suffered their first loss of the GLVC season last Sunday, falling 2-1 to Missouri-Saint Louis. The loss snapped a six-game win streak for Rockhurst and ended a nine-match unbeaten run (8-0-1). Rockhurst has been a tough squad on the road, owning a 4-0-1 record in games played outside of Kansas City.

Mark Magee leads the Hawks in scoring (eight) and is second in the GLVC in that category while leading Rockhurst in points with 19. Mitchell Moncada has four goals on the season while Jon Schreiber, Sean Verbanic and Nick McDonald have each tallied a pair of goals towards the cause.

Netminder Ryan Bass has played every minute of every game for the Hawks' posting seven clean sheets on the season while notching 26 saves and carrying a goals against average of 0.57.

The Rangers and Hawks have clashed 18 times with Rockhurst owning a 10-7-1 advantage in the all-time series. The Hawks have won three straight, including a 3-0 victory last season on Sept. 14 in Kansas City.

Around the World: UW-Parkside's roster includes players from four states and four foreign countries. 14 players hail from the Badger State while four hail from Illinois. Minnesota and Michigan each claim a Ranger student-athlete while the squad boasts international players from France, Gambia, Germany and Serbia.

Z is for Zitzke: Jason Zitzke enters his 15th season as a member of the coaching staff and his third season as head coach. During the span, the UW-Parkside graduate and 2010 Hall of Fame Inductee owns a 163-89-23 record, including three trips to the NCAA Tournament and one GLVC Championship (2000).

National Rankings: Only one GLVC squad appears in this week's rankings. Lewis climbed six spots to No. 5 in the seventh installment of the National Top 25 as Drury University and Rockhurst both fell out of the poll. Rockhurst still appears in the "also receiving votes" section.

GLVC Preseason Rankings: UW-Parkside was selected to finish 13th in the GLVC by the league's 16 head coaches. Defending champ Rockhurst secured 14 first place votes to secure the top spot followed by Drury. Quincy is third with Bellarmine and Lewis rounding out the top five. The top eight squads qualify for the GLVC Tournament that begins on Nov. 3.

Senior Salute: Sunday's contest will be the final home match for Luke Klees, Austin Robb, Jon Gourlay, Christian Stoiber and Usiel Ramos. The five Rangers have posted a 26-31-8 record over the last four seasons, including a 19-14-3 record at Wood Road Field.