KICKING IT OFF:  The Red Wolves begin their first road trip of the season traveling to Shreveport, La. to face Centenary at 7 p.m. Friday and then travel further south to take on Stephen F. Austin Sunday at 1 p.m.

THE TEAMS:  Arkansas State stands at 2-0 for the first time in program history, outscoring opponents 12-2 in its first two contests. ASU's last match was against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, which the Red Wolves won, 7-0. Centenary will host ASU in its first home match, the Ladies are off to a 1-1 start, winning their season opener, 2-0 at Mississippi Valley and falling to Stephen F. Austin, 0-1 on Aug. 29. Katie Valdez and Chelsea Granger lead Centenary with one goal each. Stephen F. Austin stands at 1-2 after three matches, most recently falling to Houston, 0-1 on Aug. 31. Kim Kimmel has scored the Ladyjacks only goal of the campaign, at Centenary. SFA will face Louisiana Tech on Friday before tangling with the Red Wolves Sunday.

NEW ERA AT ASU:  Arkansas State currently stands at 7-0 while competing as the Red Wolves.  After 77 years of competition as the Indians, the Red Wolves mascot was adopted in January 2008 after many hours of work by the University's Mascot Selection Steering Committee.  The job of the committee was to make a new mascot recommendation to Chancellor Dr. Robert L. Potts and the University administration.  The committee recommended “Wolves” at a Jan. 31 m???????eeting, and the Red Wolves mascot evolved from that point.

THE CENTENARY SERIES:  Arkansas State and Centenary have met every season in ASU's eight year history with the Ladies holding a 5-2-1 advantage over the Red Wolves. In their last meeting, ASU downed Centenary 1-0 to open the 2007 season on Aug. 31 in Jonesboro.

THE STEPHEN F. AUSTIN SERIES: ASU has faced Stephen F. Austin three times in its history, trailing in the series 0-3. The last time the two squads faced each other was in 2005, with  the Ladyjacks taking a 2-1 decision. 

SECOND HAT-TRICK IN AS MANY GAMES:  Freshman Sophie Turesson recorded three goals for the Red Wolves in their match against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. This marked the second game in a row that an ASU player had notched three goals in a single match. Kai Gear began the year for the Red Wolves by scoring three goals against Central Arkansas on Aug. 23. Her three goals were the most an ASU player had scored in a single match since 2005.

SOPHOMORE DUO IMPACT SQUAD:  Only two players are listed as sophomores on the Red Wolves roster and only one of those players, Anna Kaloghirou was a member of the squad in 2007. Kalghirou is the top returning scorer for ASU, notching four goals and for assists a year ago to lead the team with 12 points.  Sophomore-transfer Miranda Wiley has been a welcome addition on the defensive end. Wiley transferred from Loyola-Chicago for the 2008 season and has logged an average of 61 minutes in the first two games of the season, starting against the Golden Lions, when she helped ASU hold UAPB to two shots in a 7-0 Red Wolves victory. 

LAST MATCH: Arkansas State scored seven goals, five in the first half, to continue its winning ways as the Red Wolves soccer team defeated the Golden Lions of University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 7-0 at the ASU Soccer Complex Aug. 29.

Freshman forward, and Swedish import, Sofia Turesson was the second ASU player to record a hat-trick in as many games, leading all players with three goals and four shots.

Freshman midfielder Kai Gear scored three goals in ASU's opening match against Central Arkansas on Aug. 23.

Turesson scored ASU's first two goals of the match, the first coming in the 15th minute (14:25) off a header from sophomore forward Anna Kaloghirou. Turesson's second tally came in the 23rd minute (22:04) unassisted from the top of the box.

Junior midfielder Mary Geels scored the third goal of the match unassisted from 20-yards out in the center of the field in the 28th minute (27:41). 

Senior midfielder Chelsea Hopkins sent a shot to freshman midfielder Lizzy Niles who redirected the ball to junior defender Amy Koss who shot the ball into the goal in the 35th minute (34:44), notching a 3-0 lead for the Red Wolves.

ASU capped off the first half with a goal by freshman forward  Kara Nitti who beat the Golden Lions goalkeeper, Bre-Ann Laypoole, to the far post on a feed from Hopkins.

Up 5-0 at the halfway mark, the Red Wolves scored two goals in under two-minutes early in the second half.

Nitti scored ASU's sixth goal in the 61st minute (60:46) on a shot that was deflected to the upper corner.

Turesson capped her three-goal performance one-minute and thirty-three seconds later on a feed from Geels and freshman midfielder Elin Stavren-Eriksson and converted the scoring chance on a shot from the top of the box to the far post.

The Red Wolves out shot Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 27-2, taking 11 shots in the first half and 16 in the second.

HEAD COACH DEREK PITTMAN:  Arkansas State Head Coach Derek Pittman begins his second season with the ASU soccer program after coming to Arkansas State prior to the 2007 season.  Pittman, an assistant coach for the University of Missouri's women's soccer program for the three years prior to coming to Jonesboro, worked primarily with goalkeepers and defense at Missouri. He assumed his duties at ASU Jan. 4, 2007.   The 34-year-old Pittman joined the Missouri staff in 2004 after spending the 2003 season at the University of Georgia. He was responsible for coaching the Tigers' goalkeeper to career bests in shutouts and saves as well as the team to season bests in shutouts and fewest goals allowed.

At Georgia, he was responsible for the Bulldogs' recruiting in addition to his coaching duties. While there he coached the goalkeeper to career bests in wins, shutouts and goals against average. In 2003, the Bulldogs finished 13-10-0 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.   A 1998 graduate of Tulsa, Pittman also served as a graduate assistant coach for the school's men's soccer program from 2001-03. Under his direction, Tulsa's goalkeepers had career bests in saves, shutouts and goals against average in a season. During the 2002 season, the Hurricanes were ranked 12th nationally and fifth in the Midwest Region. Pittman, who is licensed by the United States Soccer Federation with a USSF "B" coaching license, has also coached on the club level including stints with the Pride Soccer Club of Missouri, the Tulsa Soccer Club of Oklahoma and the Little Rock Futbol Club of Arkansas. As a four-year letterman, he was the starting goalkeeper at the University of Tulsa from 1993-96 and was a second-team Missouri Valley All-Conference pick in 1995. As a senior, the Hurricanes were ranked in the top 25.   Professionally, Pittman played for the Barrow Amateur Football Club in England while studying at Lancaster University. After training with the Division I Sheffield United and Burnley Football Club, he returned to the United States and played with the Columbus Comets and the Savannah RugRatz in the Eastern Indoor Soccer League. Pittman, originally from Owasso, Okla., received his bachelor's of science degree in business administration from Tulsa and has done graduate work in education toward his masters degree. He is married to former Amber Swinehart, who was an All-Big XII player at Missouri.

ASSISTANT COACH LISA BERG:  Beginning her first season with the ASU Soccer program, Lisa Berg was named assistant soccer coach at Arkansas State University Aug. 9, 2008.  Berg comes to ASU from Minnesota, where she served as a volunteer assistant for the last two years with the Golden Gopher soccer program.   Berg was an Academic All-Big 10 player for the Golden Gophers from 2003-05 and helped rebuild the Minnesota soccer program during her time as a player and assistant coach.  While at Minnesota, Berg helped lift the Gopher program from the bottom of the Big 10 to a consistent qualifier for the conference tournament in a league that annually sends multiple teams to the NCAA Tournament.  She graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2006 after majoring in Kinesiology/Pre Physical Therapy, with minors in Chemistry and Spanish.  Berg currently holds a USSF National C Coaching License and while in Minnesota worked with the St. Croix Soccer Club, the North Suburban Soccer Club and the East Select Soccer Club.  She also worked with the Minnesota Olympic Development Program.

HELP BUILD A WINNING TRADITION:  ASU soccer fans have the opportunity to help the Red Wolves build a winning soccer tradition by joining the Red Wolves Goal Club.  Level 1 ($50) members receive a quarterly newsletter and an autographed 2008 ASU Soccer poster.  Level 2 members($100) receive the benefits of Level 1, plus a ticket to the ASU soccer banquet and an ASU T-shirt.  For more information or to join the Red Wolves Goal Club, contact assistant coach Lisa Berg at 870-972-8193 or lberg@astate.edu.