Defending regular-season champion Drake sits atop the women's soccer standings after a win and a tie in league action over the weekend.  Indiana State was also a winner, 2-1, over Missouri State while Creighton topped Illinois State 1-0 and the Bears rebounded from a loss to the Sycamores to beat Evansville 4-3 in double overtime.  Sarah Foote of Drake and Katie Brennan of Creighton are this week's Brine/MVC Women's Soccer Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week.

Sarah Foote
Drake
Jr. • F
Arvada, Colo.
     In two Missouri Valley Conference matches last week, in which the Bulldogs escaped with a win and tie, DU’s Sarah Foote proved to be a key factor in propelling the defending regular-season champs into first place in the standings.
   In two crucial games, Foote had nine shots total on the weekend, while also scoring two goals in Drake’s shutout win over UNI.
    On the week, Foote had five shots on goal. Foote also led the Bulldogs into a double overtime scoreless tie with Illinois State, taking four shots.

Defense
Katie Brennan
Creighton
Sr. • D
Leavenworth, Kan.    
     This week’s Defensive Player of the Week is Katie Brennan of Creighton.
     A senior defender from Leavenworth, Kansas, Brennan not only led a Bluejay defense that held Illinois State scoreless, she also scored the game-winning goal in the 33rd minute of play against the Redbirds last Saturday.  Her heroics gave Creighton the 1-0 victory.
      It was the first time since 2002 that the Jays had defeated Illinois State. Because of her play on the defensive side of the ball, the Jays have not allowed a goal in the second half for seven straight matches and are 5-3 in those games.

CREIGHTON
The Streak Continues
It has been seven straight matches that the Jays have not given up a goal in the second half of play. Creighton’s defense also had its second shutout in a row last Saturday versus Illinois State, giving the Jays their fifth shutout of the season.
 
18 and Counting
With the 1-0 victory over Illinois State last Saturday, the Jays have now extended their unbeaten conference home winning streak to 18 matches. The Jays will try to extend the streak on Friday night against Drake. Creighton is 3-0 all-time at home versus Drake.
 
Good Start
The last time Creighton started out 1-0 in the Missouri Valley was in 2002. That is the same year the Jays went 6-0-1 in Missouri Valley play and won the regular season and conference tournament title.

DRAKE
All The Right Moves
It is difficult for some players to make the move from Forward to Defender, especially when that player is a senior. Drake’s Danielle Oswald not only made that switch successfully last week, but excelled. Oswald and the Bulldogs defense held opponents scoreless on the week for the first time since Drake’s 1-0 win over Depaul.

Breaking the Record
Junior Sarah Foote has been a force to be reckoned with on the field this season, this past week she posted another milestone, recording her 10th goal of the season against UNI, tying the single-season scoring record at Drake.

Rough Seas Ahead
Drake may be in first place in the MVC standings, but its hardest test will come as it faces Creighton this week, the preseason pick to win the league, and Indiana State, the current No. 2 MVC team next week.

EVANSVILLE
Tofano Continues to Shine
Evansville sophomore forward Mia Tofano was part of all three goals Sunday in the Purple Aces’ 4-3 double-OT loss at Missouri State.  She scored her seventh goal of the season at 36:18, her eighth at 55:30, and then assisted on Heidi Grey’s goal at 83:19 that sent the match into overtime.  Tofano’s eight goals are one more than teammate Kayla Lambert, her former club team teammate in their hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Crowded House
A season-high crowd of 603 turned out Wednesday night to watch 26th ranked Indiana edge Evansville 1-0 at UE’s Black Beauty Field.  The match marked the return of former UE coach Mick Lyon, who was coaching against the Aces for the first time since taking the IU coaching position in 2002.  Lyon was an All-America player for the Aces in the ‘80s who coached the UE women’s team from the program’s inception in 1993 through 2001.

Home Sweet Home
Evansville will try to get back into the MVC championship race this weekend with its final two conference home matches.  UE hosts Indiana State on Friday and UNI on Sunday.  The Aces are 3-1 at home, and 2-5 away from Black Beauty Field.  The Aces’ two seniors will be honored Sunday–defender Sarah Groves and goalkeeper Whitney Raeon.

ILLINOIS STATE
Goals Needed
Illinois State has not netted a single goal in the last three games, all MVC contests.  The ‘Birds have lost two of those matches, while notching a double-overtime tie with Drake on Oct. 5.  Before the conference season started, ISU had scored at least one goal in all but two games and both those shutouts were overtime games with the Redbirds on the losing end. 

Home Field Advantage
That’s exactly what the Redbirds are hoping for, hosting the final five games to close out the 2006 regular season.  After three consecutive away games to open the conference season, Illinois State returns to Adelaide Street Field this weekend to host UNI (Oct. 13) and Indiana State (Oct. 15). 

Looks Can Be Deceiving
Though Illinois State ranks third among Valley opponents in shots (32) through three conference games, an average of 10.67 per contest, the ‘Birds come in last in points and goals with zero.  Ammanda Wisniewski, a freshman who currently leads the team in goals (4), points (8) and shots (42), ranks third in the league with her overall shot total, while leading the Valley with 3.5 shots per contest, through 12 games.

INDIANA STATE
Six is the Secret to Success
Indiana State’s all-time best winning streak of six came to an end against Southern Utah on Sunday afternoon.  The six-game blitz was the best in team history and included Indiana State’s first ever 2-0 start in conference.

Three Goals Not So Good
Indiana State is 1-3 in games in which the winning team scored three goals this season.

Lucky Number Five
Indiana State will look for its fifth-consecutive win against the Evansville Purple Aces this Friday when the Sycamores resume conference play.  The Sycamores have won the last four meetings by a combined score of 7-2 after losing the first two games in the series by a combined score of 0-16.

MISSOURI STATE
Nice Shootin’!
Missouri State outshot its opponents 41-22 over the weekend. In Friday’s match, the Bears fired more than twice as many shots as the Sycamores, with 24 shots to nine, and still came up short in the end with a 2-1 loss.

Overtime Wins
The Bears are 3-1-1 in overtime matches this season. They are unbeatable in home games that run past regulation. The only overtime game Missouri State lost was to Drake on Sept. 29.

Slippin’ Past
Sunday was the first time all season that Missouri State goalkeeper Jackie Jasper has allowed more than two goals to be scored on her during a match. Evansville slipped three past Jasper, with the third goal tying the match with just 1:41 to play in regulation.

UNI
Shoot To Thrill
Junior Amy Seubert is UNI’s shot and shot-on-goal leader. However, her total of 20 shots, including nine on goal, have not yielded her a goal this season. In two-plus years in purple and gold, Seubert has taken 52 shots and scored one goal.

New in the Net
Heidi O’Mara replaced regular goal keeper Krista Thorley in goal during the second half of the Drake game and played well. The junior made a number of well-executed saves and held the Drake offense to a single goal in 45 minutes of work. For the season, O’Mara has allowed nine goals in more than 236 minutes of play.

Sister Sister
Sisters Jackie and Rachel Gielau found each other on opposing sides  last Sunday after playing together at Denver High School in Denver, Iowa. Jackie prevailed on the stat sheet with two shots on goal, but Rachel’s defensive efforts helped Drake to a 3-0 victory.