Zags Head To California To Close Out Road Slate
10/28/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 28, 2009
Match 18
Gonzaga vs. San Diego
San Diego, Calif.
Friday, Oct. 30, 7 p.m.
Gametracker and Video streaming Available
Match 19
Gonzaga vs. UC Irvine
Irvine, Calif.
Sunday, Nov. 1, 1 p.m.
Gametracker Available
Complete Release in PDF Format 
THIS WEEK: Gonzaga University heads to southern California for a pair of weekend matches, first facing off against University of San Diego in a West Coast Conference match Friday before heading to orange county for a non-conference matchup against UC Irvine Sunday.
FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS LIVE: All Gonzaga University home matches will be video streamed and available via Gametracker on the internet at http://www.gozags.com. Check the Gonzaga web site to sign up for live video streaming and view other Gametracker links. Friday's match at the University of San Diego will be videostreamed through www.usdtoreros.cstv.com.
FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS ON TWITTER: Follow the team every step of Gonzaga University's women's soccer season at www.twitter.com/zagswsoccer. You can also get instant game scores and updates at the official Bulldog athletic twitter site at www.twitter.com/GonzagaBulldogs.
LAST WEEK: Gonzaga University is coming off a perfect home weekend, posting a 3-1 victory over the University of San Francisco last Friday and a 2-1 come-from-behind win over Saint Mary's College this past Sunday. In the win over the Dons Emma Dolcetti came off the bench to dish out two assists while Catherine Cullen's first career goal early in the second half proved to be the match-winner. Last Sunday's win over the Gaels was highlighted by two second half Gonzaga goals with Christi D'Agostino heading in the match-tying goal midway through the second period before Sarah Rhodes' rocket from 25 yards out into the top left corner capped the Zags perfect weekend.
COMING UP: Next weekend, Gonzaga University will close out the regular season hosting No. 14 Santa Clara University 1 p.m. Saturday. Prior to the match the Bulldogs will honor its six seniors, Jessie Thalman, Taylor Hall, Lori Conrad, Christi D'Agostino, Amy Danielson and Kat Taylor.
SCHEDULE PROVIDING TOUGH TESTS: The 2009 schedule has provided its far share of tough tests for Gonzaga University and first year head coach Amy Edwards. So far this year the Bulldogs have faced five teams that made appearances in last season's NCAA Tournament, four of the five contests were played on the road. Earlier this season the Zags went through a streak that saw them play seven consecutive matches on the road, five of the matches were decided by one goal as the Bulldogs went 1-6 during that stretch. The remainder of the schedule won't get any easier for the young squad as two of the three remaining opponents have been nationally ranked at point this season.
ABOUT SAN DIEGO: The University of San Diego comes into the match against Gonzaga University with a 10-5-2 overall record including a 4-1 mark in West Coast Conference play. The Toreros lead the all-time series 14-3-0 after taking a 3-2 decision from the Zags in Spokane last season. Stephanie Ochs enters the week tied for the team lead in goals with four and leading the team with six assists while keeper Courtney Parsons owns a 1.16 GAA and a has posted seven shutouts. Head coach Ada Greenwood is in his seventh season at USD and owns a 69-49-14 career coaching record.
ABOUT UC IRVINE: UC Irvine enters their final weekend of the regular season with an overall record of 10-6-2 including a 3-3-1 mark in Big West Conference play and will face Long Beach State Friday before hosting Gonzaga University in their season-finale Sunday. The Anteaters lead the all-time series 3-0-0, earning a 2-0 win over the Zags back in 1995. Tanya Taylor and Dana Sanderlin each enter the week tied for the team lead with six goals and 16 points while keeper Danielle de Seriere owns a 0.98 GAA and has posted seven shutouts in 2009. Head coach Scott Juniper is in his third season at UCI and enters the week with a 29-22-6 career coaching mark at the school.
EDWARDS RECORDS CAREER WIN NUMBER 50: Gonzaga University's 2-0 win over Eastern Washington Sept. 6 was the Bulldogs' first year head coach Amy Edwards third victory with the Zags and the 50th win of her career. Edwards came to Gonzaga with 47 career victories with all coming during her four-year stint at the University of Tulsa and currently owns a 53-34-6 career coaching record.
CONRAD CONTINUING CAREER YEAR: Lori Conrad came into her final season at Gonzaga University with three career goals and has since doubled her career total with three goals to go along with her seven points, both tied for team-highs. The Richland, Wash. native has found the back of the net each time via header, twice off of corner kicks from Sheridan Jones in each of the season's first two matches and once off of a Morgan Manchester throw in the win over Eastern Washington University.
JONES CLIMBING THE CHARTS: 2009 preseason All-West Coast Conference selection Sheridan Jones is once again producing another solid season for Gonzaga University. The Hillsboro, Ore. native and All-WCC first team honoree from a year ago is also putting together a very impressive Gonzaga career. Jones has scored twice this season and enters this weekend with eight total points. Her team-leading four assists give her nine for her career which puts her in a tie for the third on the Zags Top-10 career assists chart. With her eight points this season she now has 23 career total points, putting her tenth in the school's Top-10 career points list and with her 26 shots registered this season she is now in sole possession of fourth place on Gonzaga's all-time list for shots taken in a career.
MAKING THEM COUNT: Sarah Rhodes is once again tied for the team-lead in goals (4) after posting her third match-winner of the season this past Sunday. With the scored tied at 1-1 in the match against Saint Mary's Rhodes spun away from a Gael defender and rocketed a shot into the top left corner from 25 yards out for the eventual match-winner. The Victoria, B.C. native has also posted match-winners against Seattle University and the University of Idaho earlier this season. Rhodes finished last season with a team-high three goals and is just two goals away from breaking into the school's top-10 list for career goals in just her sophomore season.
THE FINISHER: Jessie Sorenson comes into the week tied for the team-lead with a career-high four goals this season with each of the goals coming in a Gonzaga University win. Her first goal came in the season-opening 3-0 win over the University of Montana and her other three goals each came in the final minutes to seal up GU victories. The Salt Lake City native's goal in the 89th minute sealed the 2-0 win over Eastern Washington University while her third score came in 86th minute of the Zags 2-0 win over University of Wyoming and her latest score sealed up the Zags 3-1 conference win over the University of San Francisco last Friday.
HOME SWEET HOME: Gonzaga University opened the season by taking two of its first three home matches and has since gone on to produce a four-match home winning streak. After playing their previous seven matches all on the road the Bulldogs returned home to post a perfect home weekend, posting West Coast Conference victories over the University of San Francisco last Friday and Saint Mary's College this past Sunday to improve its home record to 6-1.
PERMISSION TO FIRE: Gonzaga University launched a season-high 30 shots in the Sept. 6 2-0 win at Eastern Washington University surpassing its previous season-high of 29 shots which came in the 3-1 win over McNeese State University Aug. 28. The Zags had 12 players record shots against EWU and 10 players fire on net against MSU.
