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Colleges

Lions keep form going on soccer field

By Times Staff
Published September 27, 2005

ST. LEO - A trip to Fort Lauderdale on Saturday extended hot starts for the Saint Leo men's and women's soccer teams.

The Saint Leo men (7-1, 1-1 Sunshine State Conference) defeated Nova Southeastern 5-0 for their fifth shutout and second in as many games.

And the women (3-2-2, 1-0-1) tied Nova Southeastern 1-1 in their third straight double-overtime game.

Both squads can improve their overall and conference marks this week against Florida Southern. The women host the Moccasins today at 4 and the men host them Wednesday at 4.

In Saturday's game, reserve midfielder Corey Ahern had a career-high, six points with two goals and two assists.

"He's extremely athletic and quick," Saint Leo assistant coach David Scott said of Ahern, a junior. "He brings another dimension when he comes off the bench."

Asmir Pervan , a junior forward whose 15 goals and 34 points lead the conference, also had two goals and two assists Saturday. And goalkeeper Matias Perez had his third shutout.

Pervan and Perez, a senior who tied his single-season record of three shutouts and has an 0.61 goals-against average, were named SSC offensive and defensive players of the week, respectively.

Saint Leo has outscored its opponents 31-4 in eight games.

"Our guys have really been focused on keeping things organized in the back," Scott said.

Anchoring the defense is senior Brent Stanze , whom Scott called "a vocal leader for us."

Senior defender Erin Jansen sparked Saturday's stalwart defensive effort by the Saint Leo women, Kristin Stephens scored her third goal and freshman keeper Lauren Hudson (Mitchell) made nine saves.

In Saint Leo's past three games (all double overtime, including a 2-1 win over Rollins and 1-1 tie with Montevallo, Ala.), Hudson has 18 saves and three goals allowed in 320 minutes.

Saint Leo's five-game unbeaten streak came after an 0-2 start.

"It's going well," coach Tony Paris said. "The first two games we lost, in all sincerity, we could have won so I knew it was a matter of time."

WEEKEND SPLIT: The Saint Leo volleyball team opened conference play with a weekend split on the east coast.

The Lions won their second straight game (for only the second time this season) on Friday, 3-1 at Nova Southeastern. Saturday's 3-0 loss at Barry dropped the team to 5-9, 2-2.

Against Nova Southeastern, Jessica Lynn had 47 assists, 12 digs and six kills. Erin Oberlin contributed a team-leading 14 kills and had a .345 attack percentage. Emily Frey and Audrey Starkebaum each added seven kills.

Nikki Prack (Hudson) had a team-high 12 digs in the loss to Barry. Oberlin chipped in with eight kills and Starkebaum seven, and Lynn had 24 assists.

Saint Leo hosts Clearwater Christian College tonight at 7.

[Last modified September 27, 2005, 02:45:31]