Judson News
Thu, Oct 25, 2007 - [Women's Soccer]
Elgin, Ill. - Judson will face Robert Morris College in the 2007 CCAC Women's Soccer Championship Match on Saturday, October 27th, at 12:00 p.m.  It is the first time for JU to play in a CCAC Championship Match.

BROADCASTING

The CCAC will be broadcasting the match over the internet. Thomas Wuestenfeld will be calling the match.

THE SERIES
This is the 11th meeting between the two schools with RMC holding a 9-1 advantage. RMC has won the last nine meetings. JU won the first meeting back in 1996, 4-0, but RMC has won the last nine matches.
 
THE COACHES
Judson University

Freddie King, Jr. is in his fifth season at Judson and holds a 46-40-5 at Judson and an overall record of 155-128-13. He has picked up his first two CCAC tournament wins this season with victories over Olivet Nazarene and #6 St. Xavier. He also helped Judson win their first-ever match vs. SXU, defeat a top 10 team in the nation, and advance to their first-ever CCAC Championship match. Last year, Judson finished with a 15-7-3 record, finished third in the CCAC, and went to the NCCAA National Tournament. King is a1992 graduate of Judson University and is second all-time on the career scoring list. He was also an all-American and was inducted into JU’s inaugural Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002.

ROBERT MORRIS
Kurt Melcher has guided RMC to four NAIA playoff berths in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005 with a Final Four finish in 2004 and a #2 national rating. He has won six regular season CCAC Championships and two CCAC Tournament Championships. He is in his 11th year after being hired to start the program in 1995. He played soccer at NCAA Division I University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) and as the captain led them to its best record ever. His coaching career began in 1992 at UIC as the first full-time assistant coach.

ON THE RUN
Judson has been on the run the past eight matches with an eight-game unbeaten streak. It started with a 4-0 win over St. Francis and has included four shutouts over USF, Roberts Wesleyan, Cardinal Stritch, and St. Xavier. In this run, JU has picked up a win over then #12 Trinity Christian and a tie with #6 St. Xavier.

FIRST HELPINGS
The 2007 season has brought a lot of first-time adventures for Judson. It started on with a 4-3 win over #12 Trinity Christian as the first-time JU had ever defeated a nationally ranked team. Then JU picked up their first-ever CCAC Tournament win over ONU and then advanced to their first-ever CCAC Championship match. It was also the first time that JU has hosted a CCAC Tournament match against ONU.
GOING NATIONAL
Senior Samantha Vestal was given the NCCAA National Player of the Week this week for her performance in last week’s matches vs. Cardinal Stritch and ONU. She scored two goals vs. CSU and then netted the game winning goal on a free kick against ONU in the CCAC Tournament. She is the first player to receive the NCCAA National Player of the Week award.
LITTLE PUNCH
At 5-3, sophomore Christina Thornton is nobody to mess around with. She currently is second in the CCAC in goals per game (0.94) with 16 goals and is third in points per game (2.40). She has 39 career goals which is 3rd all-time at Judson.
GAME WINNERS
JU has had three game winning goals in the 2007 season with all of them coming in the eight-game unbeaten streak. Christina Thornton had the first one in OT vs. Trinity Christian and then Rebecca O’Donnell headed in the second one vs. ONU for a 2-1 win in regulation. Samantha Vestal picked up the third game winning goal in OT vs. ONU in the CCAC Tournament.