Sam Huecker scored her sixth goal of the season which ties her for the team-lead. |
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Charlotte Blanks Saint Louis, 1-0, On The Road To Claim Second Straight A-10 Title
Nov. 3, 2007
St. Louis, MO - The Charlotte 49ers (14-4-1, A:10: 9-1-1), behind a goal from Sam Huecker and stellar defense, blanked Atlantic 10 foe Saint Louis (10-5-2, A-10: 7-2-2), 1-0, on the road in the regular season finale for both teams. With the victory, the 49ers clinched their second straight Atlantic 10 regular-season title and the top seed in next week's Atlantic 10 Tournament which will be held at Charlotte's Transamerica Field, November 8-11.
"Our team winning back-to-back Atlantic 10 titles is a tribute to all the hard work that our staff and players put forth each day," Charlotte coach Jon Lipsitz said. "We spend a great deal of time talking about getting better every day. I am so proud of the players for taking that to heart and for getting better each and every day."
Huecker scored the game's only goal when she gathered a loose ball just inside the Saint Louis box. She then put the game-winning goal into the back of the net in the 16th minute. Huecker's goal was her sixth of the season which tied her with Whitney Weinraub for the team lead.
The story the game again for the 49ers was their stellar defense led by goalkeeper Lauren Brown. Brown along with the 49ers starting back line of Whitney Bryant, Katie Davies, Brittany Dorsch and Megan Minnix limited Saint Louis' attack to only three shots in the game in recording the team's school-record tenth shutout of the season.
"I am very pleased with the way we played today," Lipsitz said. "We executed our game plan to perfection today. We spent a great deal of time in practice this week working on a game plan for Saint Louis' very special offensive attack. For our defense to limit Saint Louis to only three shots that was fantastic. We never allowed them to get into any kind of rhythm offensively."
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The 49ers outshot Saint Louis, 11-3. Huecker paced the 49ers with four shots. While Lindsey Ozimek added two shots to Charlotte's attack.
Charlotte's victory over Saint Louis gave the 49ers their school-record ninth Atlantic 10 win of the season. For the first time in the program's history the 49ers have claimed back-to-back league titles. This A-10 title marked the fourth league regular-season title in the program's history after Charlotte claimed the 1997 and 2002 Conference USA titles to go along with last year's A-10 title.
The 49ers return to action after a first-round bye in the A-10 Tournament semifinals at Transamerica Field, Friday, November 9 at 5:30. The 49ers possible semifinal opponents have yet to be determined since the A-10 regular season concludes tomorrow, Sunday, November 4.
