Arkansas State (0-0) at Lipscomb (0-0)
Aug. 18, 2011 • Nashville, Tenn. • 6 p.m.
Arkansas State vs Mississippi State (0-0)
Aug. 20, 2011 • Jonesboro, Ark • 2 p.m
KICKING IT OFF: The Arkansas State soccer team opens 2011 regular season action this Friday at Lipscomb at 5 p.m. and then returns home to open its home slate on Sunday hosting Mississippi State on Sunday at 2 p.m.
THE SERIES: ASU beat Lipscomb 2-0 last season at the ASU Soccer Complex. The Red Wolves have not played Mississippi State in regular season action.
THE OPPONENT: Lipscomb did not play any exhibitions this year and went 4-14 last season overall with a 0-10 conference record and a 2-6 home mark.
Mississippi State picked up a 3-0 win over Samford in their only exhibition match of the preseason. The Bulldogs went 8-12 last season including a 1-10 SEC mark. MSU returns 16 letterwinners and nine starters from last year.
TOP RETURNERS: ASU returns its top four goal scorers from a year ago led by senior Michele Clark who had six goals scored last season including three game-winners. Also returning is senior forward Kara Nitti who had five goals last season. Senior Kelsey Finders and sophomore Christine Giles also return after leading the Red Wolves with three assists each last season Finders had two goals scored while Giles had one.
DEFENSE: ASU also returns two of their starters along the back line in seniors Stasha Siers and Lizzy Niles. The pair have been anchors on the defensive line for the past four years and are tied for seventh-most games started in ASU history at 57. The duo helped anchor a defense that had four shutouts and allowed opponents to score just 27 goals all season while also setting the single-season team record for goals against average at 1.37 (27 goals against).
INTERNATIONAL FLAIR: The Red Wolves welcomed seven newcomers to the squad this season including a trio of international players. Junior College transfer Aja Aguirre comes to the Red Wolves from Burnaby, British Columbia and will play goalkeeper for the Red Wolves. Freshman Jessica Jingblad comes to the Red Wolves from Norrkoping, Sweden and will play forward for A-State. Freshman defender Blaine Laing comes to the Red Wolves from Brampton, Ontario.
EXHIBITION: The Arkansas State soccer team battled host Alabama-Birmingham for three 30-minute periods but ultimately the Blazers took a 2-0 decision from the Red Wolves in the two squads' exhibition opener.
“We tried to make sure that everyone got some playing time and moved people around to different positions to try different things,” said head coach Tafadzwa Ziyenge. “Given it was the first game I was really proud of what the girls did.”
UAB scored early in the match in the 11th minute (10:52) when Pascale Pinard took a feed from Carolyn Polcari to take a 1-0 advantage.
The Red Wolves held the match scoreless through the next 30-minute period, but gave up a goal in the 65th minute (64:23) when Sarah Hooper connected with Abby Phillips who scored to give the Blazers a 2-0 lead.
ASU was outshot in the contest 20-4 including a 9-2 advantage to UAB in shots on goal.
Senior Kara Nitti led ASU with two shots while Mallory McGilvray and Christina Fink each also recorded a shot.
Junior goalkeeper Aja Aguirre made four saves in goal for the Red Wolves while freshman Bethany Kremer had three saves.
PRESEASON COACHES POLL: In preparation for the start of women's soccer season this weekend the Sun Belt Conference has released its Preseason Coaches' Poll Wednesday which ranked Arkansas State 10th in the poll. The Red Wolves received 46 points.
Denver was picked to finish first and is vying for its eighth Sun Belt championship and received seven of the possible 12 first place votes for a total of 139 points. FIU tabbed second-place points with 121 and one first place vote, followed by MTSU with 115 points and two first place votes.
North Texas was picked fourth with 112 points and one first place vote while WKU was fifth with 95 points. Troy finished sixth in the voting with 78 points and garnered the final first place vote.
Florida Atlantic (63), Louisiana-Lafayette (60) and UALR (51) finished above the Red Wolves at 7-9 places while South Alabama and Louisiana-Monroe brought up the rear with 36 and 20 points respectively.
The Preseason All-SBC team was also announced with FIU's Chelsea Levia was named the Preseason Player of the Year.
The Red Wolves begin regular season play on Friday at Lipscomb and return home for their home opener against Mississippi State on Sunday at 2 p.m.
2011 SBC Women's Soccer Coaches' Preseason Poll
1. Denver (7) - 139 pts
2. FIU (1) - 121 pts
3. Middle Tennessee (2) - 115 pts
4. North Texas (1) - 112 pts
5. WKU - 95 pts
6. Troy (1) - 78 pts
7. Florida Atlantic - 63 pts
8. Louisiana-Lafayette - 60 pts
9. UALR - 51 pts
10. Arkansas State - 46 pts
11. South Alabama - 36 pts
12. Louisiana-Monroe - 20 pts
2011 Preseason All-SBC Soccer Team
Kaitlin Bast (Denver, Junior, F)
Chelsea Levia (FIU, Sophomore, F)
Mallory Outerbridge (WKU, RS-Senior, F)
Katy Van Lieshout (Denver, Junior, D)
Kelsey Hodges (North Texas, Senior, D)
Kaylyn Pratt (WKU, Senior, D)
Bria Beardsley (Denver, Senior, MF)
Nicholette DiGiacomo (Denver, Sophomore, MF)
Ellen Scarfone (North Texas, Junior, MF)
Melanie Raimo (FIU, Senior, GK)
Libby Stout (WKU, Senior, GK)
2011 Preseason All-SBC Soccer Player of the Year
Chelsea Levia (FIU, Sophomore, F)
HEAD COACH TAFADZWA ZIYENGE: Tafadzwa Ziyenge is in his second season as head coach at Arkansas State. Ziyenge comes to ASU after reviving both the men's and women's teams at University of Alabama-Huntsville. Ziyenge left the UAH women with a 96-90-6 career record, advancing to the semifinals of the Gulf South Conference tournament on five occasions and consistently achieving top-10 regional ranking. In his final season the women's team posted a 9-7-0 record and a third best 4-3 conference record. The women finished the season ranked seventh in the south region. In his first and only season as men's head coach Ziyenge directed the UAH men to the conference finals en route to a sixth place regional ranking. The men ended conference league play in second place. Ziyenge who is an Olympic Development Program regional coach has also coached both boys and girls youth teams.
“Tafadzwa is highly respected by his peers within his profession,” said Dr. Dean Lee, ASU Director of Athletics. “He is very passionate about the game and loves the game, which is very evident. He has a great work ethic and tremendous character, integrity and knowledge about the game.”
Ziyenge was a four-year letterwinner (1993-96) on the UAH men's soccer team. He is first overall in the UAH record books for most goals in a career, most game winning goals in a career. He also holds the UAH records for most goals in a season, most points in a season, most game winning goals in a season and tied for most shots on goal in a season. In addition, he is also second on the list for most points in a career, most shots on goal in a career. Ziyenge is ranked third overall in goals scored, fifth in points and eighth in career assists. He is only one of six players to score 100 career points at UAH.
Ziyenge who still holds the conference record for most goals scored in a season was named Conference Player of the Week on three separate occasions in the first year the GSC sponsored soccer. He was also Most Valuable Player in the Mayor's Cup Classic vs Alabama A&M in 1996. Ziyenge also set the standard for numerous conference records. During the 1996 season, Ziyenge was ranked third in the nation in goals scored. He also led the GSC in the same category, as well as total points. In his senior year, he was named to the All Region first team, GSC regular season MVP and conference final MVP.
Ziyenge's professional soccer career began in 1997 in the Eastern Indoor Soccer League where he played for 2 years with the Huntsville Fire. He finished the 1998 season as the club's second leading scorer. He continued his professional career in the USL A-League where he spent 2 seasons playing for Tennessee Rhythm before retiring in 2001. The Marondera, Zimbabwe native holds a degree in Business Administration.
Ziyenge holds a USSF C License.
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 2009 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.
RED WOLVES KIDS' CLUB: Youth ages 9-13 are invited to join the Red Wolves Kids' Club and be a ball kid at any of ASU's home soccer game. Kids' Club members also have the opportunity to participate in team introductions and pregame ceremonies. To join the Red Wolves Kids' Club, contact assistant coach Jessica Nei at 870-972-8193 or jnei@astate.edu.
FOLLOW THE RED WOLVES ON FACEBOOK: To become a fan of our Facebook Page, go to www.facebook.com and search for "Arkansas State University Soccer". On our the "Arkansas State University Soccer" Facebook Page you can find events that the soccer team will be participating in and hosting, game results, and interesting stories and photos of all your favorite Red Wolves Soccer players. We encourage all fans, alumni, and family members of the Red Wolves Soccer Program to become a fan today!
ASU SOCCER IS TWEETING: The Arkansas State soccer team is on twitter! You can follow all the action via ASU Soccer “Tweets”. To follow ASU Soccer on Twitter visit twitter.com/redwolvessoccer. Twitter is a great way to follow anyone via microblogs and get the most up-to-date information on your favorite people and groups. GO RED WOLVES!
