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Lions Look To Move Up

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By BART O'CONNELL Tribune correspondent

Published: October 22, 2007

ST. LEO - Wednesday night's victory against Tampa may give the Saint Leo women's soccer team the chance to start a playoff run at home.

The Lions (14-2, 6-1 Sunshine State Conference) will have the opportunity to host the SSC Tournament beginning Oct. 30 if it can win Saturday's regular-season finale at Barry. That would also clinch at least a tie for the league title.

The NCAA II South Region, which begins Nov. 8, is a little more unclear. Saint Leo entered the Tampa match ranked third in the regional poll, while UT was first and Nova Southeastern second.

The upset likely will put the Lions ahead of the Spartans, but NSU defeated Saint Leo in a regional match this year, and the poll also considers results from conference tournaments. The No. 1 team in the final region poll usually is given the chance to host the regional by the NCAA. The next poll will be released Wednesday.

Saint Leo defeated St. Thomas 6-1 on Saturday in a tune-up for Barry. Sara Macko, Stacey Rodwell, Dari Alcantara, Kiki Day, Lui Metallo and Jessica Lebohner scored goals.

Jennifer O'Connor and Mitchell grad Lauren Hudson were named SSC offensive and defensive players of the week, respectively.

Hudson was named defensive player of the week for the second consecutive week after allowing just one goal in wins against No. 3 Tampa and St. Thomas. In the 1-0 shutout against Tampa, Hudson stopped all seven of the Spartans' shots on goal. Against St. Thomas, she made four saves in a 6-1 victory. O'Connor scored the lone goal in the Lions' first-ever win over Tampa and added an assist vs. St. Thomas to finish the week with three points.

MEN'S SOCCER: The Lions (9-4-2, 4-3) are fourth in the SSC standings with one match remaining. Last week they won home matches against Florida Southern (5-4) and Flagler (2-1), both in overtime.

Eusebio Montoya had three goals and an assist against the Moccasins, including the final two goals to pull even, and then win the match. Brandon Whitsett and Mikael Angesjo had two assists.

Jonathan Glenn also had three goals last week, two against Flagler. Glenn and Montoya are tied for the team lead with 14 goals. Glenn earned SSC co-offensive player of the week. Saint Leo has now won 13 SSC Player of the Week awards in the 2007-08 school year.

The Lions play at Barry on Friday in the regular-season finale.

VOLLEYBALL: Saint Leo (23-8, 5-5 SSC) set a school record with a pair of victories Saturday against Henderson State and Northwood, and now turns to the rest of its schedule, which includes six SSC matches. The lone match this week is Friday against Rollins at the Bowman Center.

The Lions are currently unranked in the South Region poll, but their next four opponents (Rollins, Eckerd, Tampa, Lynn) are ranked. Wins against three out of four may get them consideration for a ranking. The top eight teams advance to the regional tournament.

CROSS COUNTRY: The men's team finished fifth, and the women's team sixth at the SSC Championships on Saturday at the Abbey Golf Course across the street from campus. Freshman Javier Beuzeville finished 15th overall for the men, and freshman Dana Graham was 34th overall for the women.

Bart O'Connell can be reached at boconnell@pop.tampatrib.com.

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