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

SOMERS, Wis. (Sept. 25, 2013)-- After three straight Great Lakes Valley Conference games on the road, the University of Wisconsin-Parkside soccer teams are back at home this weekend, hosting the University of Missouri-Saint Louis on Friday and Maryville University on Sunday.

Action begins on Friday at 1:15 p.m. with the Ranger women facing UMSL at Wood Road Field with the Ranger men following at 3:30 p.m. On Sunday, the women kickoff at noon against Maryville with the men slated to get underway at 2:30 p.m. Live stats will be available for all four games this weekend at parksiderangers.com/livestats.

About UW-Parkside women's soccer: The Rangers (3-2-1, 1-2-1 GLVC) return home looking to climb back into the win column after playing to a tie and a pair of defeats during the first road swing of the 2013 season.

The Rangers yielded a goal just six minutes into the game on Sept. 20 against Quincy University. The Hawks added to the lead in the 72nd minute before the Rangers netted two goals in a nine-minute stretch to tie the game with two minutes left in regulation. Emily Konior tallied the first strike in the 79th minute with Jasmine Espino getting the equalizer in the 88th minute.

QU's Kristine Vogt provided the dagger with a goal just 71 seconds later in what turned out to be the decisive score, giving the host Hawks the 3-2 victory.

Two days later against Truman State University, the Rangers suffered a heartbreaking 2-1 setback, allowing a goal in the fifth minute of overtime. The host Bulldogs struck first in the 37th minute before the Rangers equalized with a header goal from Karley Mecko in the 61st minute. TSU's Alexis Hffernan tallied the game-winner with a shot in the 95th minute of play.

Espino leads the team in points on the season with eight and is one of three players with three goals on the year, joining Emily Konior and Stephanie Barsuli. Alex Johnson leads the team in assists with four on the season and is tied for third on the team in points with six. So far this year, six Rangers have scored goals while nine players have registered a point.

Mallory Geurts has been a stalwart in goal in her debut season. The freshman has tallied 22 saves on the season with a goals against average of 1.13.

About the Tritons: UMSL, ranked 10th in the NSCAA Midwest Region Rankings, heads into Friday's clash with a 4-2 record (2-2 GLVC) and riding a two-match win streak. Three of the Tritons four wins have been shutout victories, including a pair of clean sheets last weekend against Saint Joseph's College and the University of Indianapolis.

The Tritons downed St. Joseph's 2-0 on Sept. 20, tallying goals in the 37th and 79th minutes while putting away UIndy 1-0 two days later with a goal from Hannah Kaloupek in the 75th minute.

The Missouri-St. Louis offense has generated just seven goals in six games this season with Kaloupek and Jessica Mincher the only two players with more than one goal on the year, both leading the team with two. Three of the squad's seven assists have come off the boot of Sidney Allen, who has appeared in all six games but has yet to make a start.

The Tritons have split the goalkeeping duties between Christine Lips and Kaitlyn Smugala this season. Smugala has made four starts and logged 360 minutes between the posts. In that time she has racked up two shutouts and 15 saves with a goals against average of 0.75. Lips has made two starts in net, allowing just one goal on the year and tallying 10 saves.

The Rangers and Tritons have met 14 times since 2001 with UW-Parkside owning a 10-1-3 edge in those games. UW-P has won five straight in the series, earning a 2-0 win last season on Oct. 7 in Saint Louis.

About the Saints: Maryville (0-5-1, 0-3-1 GLVC) faces Lewis University on Friday still searching for its first win of the season. The Saints snapped their losing skid on Sunday with a 1-1 double overtime draw against St. Joseph's with Wiechens scoring the equalizer in the 70th minute.

MU has tallied just three goals this season with all of them coming off the foot of Wiechens.

The Saints have been outscored by a 13-3 margin this season and been shutout in four of their six games this season.

The Rangers and Saints have met just four times with UW-Parkside winning all four encounters. In 2012, UW-P needed double overtime to earn a 1-0 victory over the host Saints on Oct. 5.

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 193-70-24 career mark, making six NCAA appearances and winning four GLVC Championships. Fabiano is just seven 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 26-1-4 record over the last 31 games at Wood Road Field. The lone loss was a 3-2 defeat to Rockhurst on Oct. 28, 2012 in the GLVC Tournament.

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.

About the UW-Parkside men's soccer team: The Rangers (2-3-1, 1-3 GLVC) return to the friendly confines of Wood Road Field hoping to snap a three-game slide. All three defeats have been one-goal losses with the Rangers holding early leads.

Thomas Diehl put the Rangers up 1-0 in the 2nd minute against UIndy on Sept. 15 before eventually falling 2-1 in double overtime.  Against Quincy on Sept. 20, UW-Parkside led 2-1 after a Milan Filipovic goal in the 56th minute before the host Hawks tied the game in the 68th minute and sealed the win with a goal in the 74th minute of action. Sunday against Truman State, a familiar script unfolded with the Rangers holding a 1-0 lead after six minutes of play thanks to a Ryan Yang goal before yielding goals to Matt Langley in the 43rd and 62nd minutes, as the Bulldogs prevailed 2-1.

On the season, Diehl leads UW-Parkside in scoring (three goals) and points (six). Filipovic and Jorge Ontiveros each have two goals this year while Ryan Shogren is the team-leader in assists with three helpers in 2013.

Marcos Perez has logged all 574 minutes in goal for the Green and White, stopping 34 shots and boasting a goals against average of 1.57.

About the Tritons: Missouri-Saint Louis (3-3, 2-2 GLVC) heads to Wisconsin having split a pair of games last weekend at home. The Tritons edged St. Joseph's 1-0 on Sept. 20 with Nick Cherry claiming the lone goal in the 24th minute before suffering a 4-0 setback to Indianapolis on Sunday.

Cherry and Jon Huelsman lead UMSL in scoring, both finding the back of the net on two occasions this season while three other players have scored goals for the Tritons.

Jeremiah Cooper has logged a majority of the time in goal, starting five games and recording 23 saves.

UW-Parkside and UMSL have met 21 times with the Rangers owning a 14-5-3 edge in the all-time series. UW-P has won two straight in the series, including a 2-0 victory last season on Oct. 7.

About the Saints: Maryville (0-5, 0-4 GLVC) heads into Friday's game against Lewis still searching for its first win of the season. The Saints have mustered just two goals this season, both coming against UIndy on Sept. 20, a 3-2 defeat as the Greyhounds tallied the game-winner in the final minute of the contest.

The last three defeats for MU have been one goal games, falling 1-0 in overtime to Quincy, 3-2 to UIndy and 1-0 to St. Joseph's. 

Josh Richter has handled all 453 minutes in goal for the Saints, collecting 32 saves on the season with a goals against average of 1.79.

UW-Parkside and Maryville have met just four times on the soccer pitch with the Rangers winning all four contests. UW-P prevailed 4-2 last season on Oct. 5 in Saint Louis.

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 159-87-23 record, including three trips to the NCAA Tournament and one GLVC Championship (2000).

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.