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  Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
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SIUE Women's Soccer
Cougar Ruler

Elizabeth Valenti
Elizabeth Valenti

 October 15, 2007

First-Place Cougars Sporting Seven-Game Win Streak
         EDWARDSVILLE, ILL. -- It's a seven-game winning streak, and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville women's soccer holds it heading into the final week of the regular season.
         SIUE, 10-3-1 overall, leads the Great Lakes Valley Conference by a single game after Sunday's 3-1 victory over Quincy. The Cougars will have three games this week to close out the regular season.
         It begins Wednesday with a local battle with McKendree at 6 p.m. SIUE then travels to Saint Joseph's and Indianapolis on Friday and Sunday, respectively, to close out the GLVC regular season.
         Coach Lynda Bowers said nothing changes as SIUE now holds the lead in the GLVC going into the final week. SIUE will have a quarterfinal round home game in the GLVC Tournament but will not know its opponent until after this Sunday's games. For now, Bowers is hoping the first-place position will give SIUE some respect in the Great Lakes Regional Rankings, which had SIUE in seventh due to some road losses.
         "I think we just keep working on our game," emphasized Bowers. SIUE plans to continue an organized, possession-type offense while attacking with speed, noted Bowers.
         Elizabeth Valenti (Overland Park, Kan.) scored a natural hat trick Sunday in the 3-1 win over No. 21-ranked Quincy. The junior midfielder joined Katie Yearian (Waterloo) with eight goals and five assists for the season.
         Bowers said the Cougar defense also stepped up against the high-powered offense of Quincy.
         "I think Kelley Humphrey (Edwardsville) needs to be recognized. She often gets overlooked. She has been the backbone of that defense," said Bowers.
         Humphrey and Kelly Limpert (St. Charles, Mo.) draw tough assignments on defense. SIUE has now outscored its opponents 22-8 during the seven-game winning streak. In its first seven games of the season, SIUE had been outscored 13-12.
                  -siue cougars-