USF hosts San Jose State in their home debut Thursday night at 7:00 PM

Sept. 11, 2003

September 11th vs. San Jose State @ 7:00 PM Negoesco Field

September 14th vs. Pacific @ 2:00 PM Negoesco Field

USF READY TO SHOW THE HOMETOWN FANS WHAT THEY CAN DO

A LOOK AHEAD: After two straight weekends in Oregon, the Dons are anxious to play in front of a hometown crowd for the first time for a variety of reasons. USF will host San Jose State (1-3) on Thursday, September 11th. On Sunday, September 14th they host the University of Pacific (0-4). Starting the season 2-2 with impressive wins against Boise State and Rice, the team will look to rebound from a weekend that saw them drop two straight to Oregon State and Oregon. In the first game, the Dons lost 3-1 in a game that was close all the way until Oregon State put the game away with a goal in the 84th minute. USF's lone goal came in the 21st minute off the foot of Ashley Davies. It was Davies's second goal of the season. In the second game, USF lost a tough one to Oregon, 2-1. The Dons got on the board first when Shuree Hyatt found the net in the 19th minute. Chelsea Hunt and Annika Schmidt assisted on the goal. It was Hyatt's second goal of the season.

Annika Schmidt NAMED CO-WEST COAST CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK, AMONG LEAGUE LEADERS IN MOST OFFENSIVE CATEGORIES: Junior midfielder Annika Schmidt was named co-West Coast Conference player of the week for the week of 8/25 -8/31. Schmidt was instrumental in the Dons two victories in the Oregon Fall Classic two weeks ago. In the game against Rice, she dished out the game-winning assist to junior midfielder Ashley Davies for the 1-0 victory. Against Boise State (8/31), Schmidt had two assists and netted her first goal of the season in a 6-0 dismantling of the Broncos. Schmidt leads the WCC in assists (four) and assists per game average (1.00 per game). She is also tied for third in total points (six) and is fourth in points per game average (1.50).

FRESHMEN HUNT AND HYATT PACING THE DONS Freshman midfielder Chelsea Hunt and freshman forward Shuree Hyatt have been key contributors in the Dons 2-2 start this season. Hunt leads the team in shots with 19. She has a goal and two assists, for four points. Hyatt is the co-leader in goals scored with two and is second on the team with 18 shots taken. Hunt's 19 shots and Hyatt's 18 put them atop the WCC leader board in that category. Her two goals have Hyatt tied for third in the league, along with junior midfielder Ashley Davies.

THE DONS RANK HIGH IN CONFERENCE TEAM STATISTICS: The Dons strong start to the 2003 campaign has them ranked high in many of the WCC statistical categories. The Dons rank second in shots (73), trailing only 2002 National Champion Runner Up Santa Clara. They also rank second in goals (9), goals per game average (2.25), and corners (23) behind Santa Clara and points (25), assists (7), and assists per game average (1.75) behind only Santa Clara and 2002 WCC champion Pepperdine.

SCOUTING SAN JOSE STATE San Jose State comes into this match up having lost three straight games. After beating Pacific 2-1 on August 29th, the Spartans have run into what many consider to be the top three teams in the WCC, Portland, Santa Clara, and Pepperdine. In their last match played on September 7th, they were shut out by Portland 4-0, running their record to 1-3. They were out shot in the match 19-2. On Friday, September 5th, the Spartans went against Pepperdine and were no match for the Waves. Pepperdine out shot San Jose State 24-5 in route to a 7-0 shutout. Senior forward Marie McCann is the leading returning scorer this season for the Spartans. Last year McCann had two goals and four assists for a total of eight points. As a member of the Western Athletic Conference, last season the San Jose State had a record of 3-14-1.

SCOUTING PACIFIC: Pacific comes into their match with the Dons having dropped four straight games. They have yet to win a game this season. In their last game, the Tigers lost a close match to Nevada, 2-1. Pacific got on the board first with a goal in the 39th minute. Nevada tied the game in the 64th minute, and then got the game-winner with four minutes left. Pacific out shot Nevada 15 to 12. On September 4th, the Tigers took on Santa Clara and it was a tough game from the start. Santa Clara scored three times in each half to take the game 6-1. Senior Gabby Olivares scored the lone goal for the Tigers in the 69th minute. Freshman goaltender Eryn Kishimoto had a career-high 11 saves. Olivares is the top returning scorer for the Tigers. In 2002, she tallied nine goals and four assists for a total of 22 points, good for second on the team. She was named to the All-Big West second team.

FIVE DONS NAMED TO THE 2003 OREGON FALL CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: After going undefeated in the Oregon Fall Classic, the Dons had five players named to the all-tournament team. Junior Annika Schmidt was named Tournament MVP. Senior defender Shannon Allen, freshman forwards Shuree Hyatt and Kate Nelson, and senior goaltender Jennifer Orantes joined Schmidt on the team. Allen led the defense, which held its opponents to only 14 shots in two games. Orantes was terrific in goal for the Dons, registering three saves in back to back shutout victories. Hyatt and Nelson played a key role up front for the Dons and meshed well with Schmidt to create a strong attack.

A LOOK AHEAD: After this week's matches, the Dons will hit the road again. They will take on another three Pac-10 teams in there next three matches, starting with the #13 ranked Arizona State Sun Devils (3-1) in Tempe on Friday, September 19th. From there, the Dons will take Interstate 10 east to Tucson to square off with the Arizona Wildcats (1-3) on Sunday, September 21st. The road trip will conclude with a drive down south to Palo Alto to take on the #4 ranked Stanford Cardinal (1-2).