Sept. 22, 2006

Providence, R.I. -- The Providence College women's soccer team (3-1-3, 0-1-0 BIG EAST) hopes to continue its strong start to the 2006 season when it hosts Marquette (2-3-3, 0-1-0 BIG EAST) on Sunday, September 24, at Glay Field. Game time is set for 1:00 p.m. Providence will face BIG EAST foe South Florida, while Marquette will host No. 12 UConn on Friday, September 22, in conference action prior to Sunday's match.

The Friars have gotten off to the best start in school history with an undefeated 2-0-3 record through the first five games of the season before falling 4-0 to nationally-ranked UConn in Storrs on Friday, September 15. PC bounced back, however, with an exciting 1-0 overtime win at Quinnipiac two days later. Junior Ashley Amaral (Cumberland, R.I.) tallied 2:34 into the extra period to lift the Friars to a 1-0 victory. Amaral leads the Friars with two goals - both of which have been gamewinners. Freshman midfielder Nicole Benko (Valley Stream, N.Y.) also has four points on one goal and two assists. In goal, junior Laura Elfers (Deer Park, N.Y.) has been nearly perfect - posting four shutouts in seven games. Elfers has a miniscule 0.79 goals against average and a strong .878 save percentage. Currently, the Friars rank 15th in the Northeast region in the latest Soccer Buzz poll.

The Friars and Golden Eagles have only met once before when Marquette blanked Providence, 2-0, on September 25, 2005, in Milwaukee. Lauren Weber and Emily Fitzpatrick scored for the Golden Eagles. Ashley Fedyshyn made three saves in goal for PC. Laura Boyer played 86:07 and stopped six shots for Marquette and Christy Smith came on in relief for the final 3:53 and made one save.