Valparaiso (4-1-2, 0-0 Horizon)
Match #8: Friday, Sept. 17, 7 p.m. CDT
at Vanderbilt (3-3, 0-0 SEC)
Vanderbilt Soccer Complex - Nashville, Tenn.
Match #9: Sunday, Sept. 19, 1 p.m. CDT
at Austin Peay (7-2, 0-0 OVC)
Morgan Brothers Soccer Field - Clarksville, Tenn.

This Week in Crusader Soccer: Valparaiso begins its longest road trip of the season this weekend with a trip to the Volunteer State.  The Crusaders will battle Vanderbilt on Friday night before traveling to Austin Peay for a Sunday matinee.  Valpo will remain on the road for its next four matches, and seven of the next eight overall.

On the Air: Neither of this weekend’s matches will be broadcast live over the air in the Valparaiso area.  Friday’s match at Vanderbilt will have free live video online, provided by the Commodore athletic department, and can be viewed through the link at www.valpoathletics.com.  Live stats will be available through www.valpoathletics.com for both matches as well.

Head Coach John Marovich: John Marovich holds a 25-16-6 record both overall and with Valpo in his third season at the helm of the Brown and Gold.  Just the third head coach in program history, Marovich has the best winning percentage (.596) ever at Valpo, and ranks second in total victories.

Series Notes: This will mark the first meeting ever between both Valparaiso and Vanderbilt as well as Valparaiso and Austin Peay on the soccer pitch.

Wrapping Up Last Week’s Action: Valpo rallied from a two-goal halftime deficit to force overtime on Friday, but Eastern Michigan scored just over three minutes into the second extra session for a 3-2 victory over the Crusaders.  Catherine Terrell and Luisa Desario scored Valpo’s goals with Casey Pedersen notching a pair of assists.  Janine Lytle provided the lone goal of the match on Sunday as Valpo downed IUPUI 1-0.  Kristen Manski made five saves in the shutout.

Scouting Vanderbilt: The Commodores have dropped two straight matches entering Friday following a 2-1 overtime loss at Virginia Tech last Sunday.  Megan Kinsella leads Vanderbilt with seven points on the season (two goals, three assists), while Candace West has a team-best three goals, including a pair of match-winners.  Rachel Bachtel has played every minute in goal this season, sporting a 1.47 goals against average and a .719 save percentage.

Scouting Austin Peay: The Governors are off to a solid 7-2 start following a 6-0 shutout victory over Alabama A&M on Tuesday evening.  Tatiana Ariza already has 14 points on five goals and four assists, while recording three match-winning goals.  Jocelyn Murdoch also has five goals on the season while Andy Quiceno has added six assists.  Carley Newman has played the majority of the minutes in goal, posting a 0.62 goals against average.

Pedersen Records Two Assist Match: Casey Pedersen dished out two assists within a two minute span last Friday evening against Eastern Michigan, helping the Crusaders force overtime.  Pedersen became the 23rd player in program history to register more than one assist in the same contest.  Three players have recorded three assists in a match with the other 20, including Pedersen, just having two each.  Pedersen was also the eighth Horizon League player to record a multi-assist match.

Desario Leads Valpo in Scoring: Luisa Desario scored her third goal of the season last weekend at Eastern Michigan, and leads the Crusaders in scoring this year.  Two of her three tallies have been of the match-winning variety.

Huge Crowd Watches Valpo Down IUPUI: More than 500 fans were in attendance on Sunday afternoon as the Crusaders shutout IUPUI 1-0.  Students showed up in full force, complete with vuvuzellas to help provide a festive atmosphere.

Nearing the All-Time Charts: Luisa Desario enters the weekend with nine career goals, just two shy of moving into the top-10 all-time at Valpo.  Rachel Hoaglin is one tally behind Desario with eight goals as both players move through their sophomore seasons.  Desario is also tied for ninth all-time with four career match-winning goals.  Her 23 career points also rank just three points outside of the top-10 in the all-time charts.

Pencil Them in the Lineup: Junior Tracy Roos has started all 47 matches during her career at Valpo.  Sarah Melhorn also has an impressive streak of her own, having started the last 45 straight matches dating back to the 2008 campaign.

And When They Start They Finish: In addition to starting every match this season, Tracy Roos and Sarah Melhorn have also stayed on the field for all 683 minutes this season.  Sophomore Janine Lytle has joined them in playing every minute, as has goalkeeper Kristen Manski.

An Offensive Explosion: Valparaiso’s explosion of four goals on at IPFW on Sept. 3 turned out to be the most goals scored by the Brown and Gold in a match since the Crusaders scored four on Sept. 7, 2007, also against IPFW.  Valpo has not scored five times in a contest since a 5-1 win against Lewis on Oct. 8, 2006.

Looking to Continue the Winning Tradition: Valparaiso enters the 2010 season having posted six consecutive winning seasons following last year’s 11-9-1 record overall.  Last year also marked the sixth 10-win season in program laurels, all of which have come during the last six years.

On the Shutout Charts: Freshman netminder Kristen Manski has already registered three shutouts this year, and is tied for eighth on the single season charts.  In fact, her two clean sheets also rank her in a tie for fifth place on the career lists.

She Shoots, She Scores: Luisa Desario leads the Horizon League with 30 shot attempts already this season.  The sophomore now has fired off 91 total shots since arriving on campus last season, and ranks ninth on the career charts at Valpo.  Desario is one shot attempt behind Erin Crowgey (1997-2000) for eighth on the all-time charts.  She had nine shots at Evansville on Aug. 29, still a season high this year for any Horizon League player.

Crusaders Picked Third in Preseason Poll: The head coaches selected Valparaiso to finish third in the Horizon League this season according to the preseason poll.  The Crusaders finished third in the regular season a year ago before advancing to the tournament championship match.

This and That: Casey Pedersen made her first start ever in a Crusader uniform Sunday against IUPUI ... Valpo plays seven of its next eight matches on the road before returning home for the final three contests of the season ... Horizon League play begins Sept. 26 as the Crusaders head to Detroit.