Huskers Prepare for Tough Road Matches

The Nebraska soccer team (8-4-1, 3-1-1 Big 12) takes a break from Big 12 Conference play this Friday when the Huskers travel to Oral Roberts. Following the match with the Golden Eagles, NU, which is in a tie for first place in the league, returns to conference play with a key contest at Texas on Sunday.

The Huskers went 1-1-0 last weekend and moved up from second to a tie for first in the Big 12 standings. The Huskers are tied with Oklahoma with a 3-1-1 league mark, while Kansas and Iowa State have earned 10 points in the title race, the same as NU and OU.

NU traveled to Baylor on Friday and posted the team's third consecutive shutout of a Big 12 opponent. Sophomore Jessie Bruch scored the game's only goal off a free kick from freshman goalkeeper Jamie Klages and a header from senior Sasha Andrews.

The win was Nebraska's first over the Bears in three seasons, as NU had lost to Baylor each of the last two years. Klages picked up her third consecutive shutout in the win. The reigning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week, Klages increased her scoreless minutes streak to 353:56.

After Oklahoma tied Missouri, the Huskers entered Sunday's match at Texas A&M in a tie for first place. OU suffered its first conference loss of the season at Kansas, but the Huskers were unable to take advantage of the Sooners' loss. The Aggies scored four goals led by a hat-trick performance from Kat Krambeer to earn the victory.

This weekend, Nebraska will look to bounce back against a pair of 2004 NCAA Tournament squads. The Huskers squared off with Oral Roberts in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last season, and senior Nikki Baker recorded the first hat trick of her career in the Huskers' 3-0 win. Oral Roberts is 0-6 all-time against Nebraska and has yet to score a goal against the Big Red.

Like Nebraska, Texas advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament a year ago. The Huskers and Longhorns split their two matches during the season, with NU earning a wild 4-3 win over UT in Lincoln and Texas defeating the Huskers 2-0 in the opening round of the Big 12 Tournament.

Scouting Oral Roberts (7-6-0, 1-1-0 Mid-Continent)
Oral Roberts is 7-6-0 this season, including a 6-3-0 mark at home. The Golden Eagles and Huskers do not share a common opponent, but ORU has faced three Big 12 teams this season. Against Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, Oral Roberts posted a 2-1-0 record, but was outscored 7-3.

ORU is averaging 1.85 goals per game, while allowing an average of 1.85 goals per game. The Golden Eagles are led offensively by Jessica Kellogg, who has posted team-high totals of eight goals, five assists and 21 points.

In net, Stef Gurley has logged more than 963 minutes and boasts a goals-against average of 1.96 and has three shutouts to her credit.

Last Time We Met
Nikki Baker scored all three of the Huskers' goals, including converting a penalty kick for her final goal, as NU blanked Oral Roberts 3-0 in the first round of the 2004 NCAA Tournament at Lawrence, Kan.

Katie Wright made four saves in posting the shutout as NU outshot ORU, 22-9, including a 9-4 shots-on-goal advantage.

The Huskers lead the all-time series with Oral Roberts, 5-0-0, and have outscored the Golden Eagles, 19-0.

Scouting Texas (6-6-1, 3-3-0 Big 12)
Texas is 6-6-1 this season, but has won three of its last four matches. The Longhorns are also 3-3-0 in league play and with nine points are just one point shy of a tie for first place. UT went 2-0 last weekend, but played only one Big 12 match. The Longhorns used six second-half goals to blow past Texas Tech, 6-0, on Sunday.

Texas has outshot its opponents, 226-171, this season and has scored 19 goals, while holding its opponents to 14. Offensively, Caitlin Kennedy and Kelsey Carpenter lead a balanced Longhorn attack. Each player has four goals, while Kennedy leads the team with 10 points and Carpenter ranks second with nine.

In goal, Dianna Pfenninger has seen the most action, logging 830 minutes and recording 31 saves en route to a 0.98 goals-against average.

Last Time We Met
The Longhorns and Huskers met twice in 2004, with each team earning one victory. NU erased an early 1-0 deficit with two goals in the ninth minute and built a 3-1 lead before holding on for a 4-3 victory. Nikki Baker had a career-night, posting then career highs of two goals and two assists. Brittany Timko also had a good night, notching a goal and an assist.

In the opening round of the Big 12 Tournament, the Longhorns avenged the loss with a 2-0 win over a Husker squad that was at less than full strength. Kelly Wilson, who has since graduated, scored both goals for UT.

Nebraska leads the all-time series, 8-5-0, but is just 2-3 in Austin.

Big 12 Race
Nebraska is 3-1-1 and has earned 10 points in the Big 12 Conference standings this season. The Huskers' 3-1-1 league mark is tied for the best in the Big 12 with Oklahoma, while NU's 10 points are tied with OU, Iowa State and Kansas for the most in the conference.

The Huskers entered last weekend in second place, but a 1-1-0 weekend, combined with an 0-1-1 weekend from league-leading Oklahoma, vaulted Nebraska into a tie for first place.

NU has not won the regular-season Big 12 title since 2000, but owns a league-best eight conference titles in Big 12 history.

Klages Assists Offense
Freshman goalkeeper Jamie Klages added to the Huskers' offense while in the midst of a three-game shutout streak. In her shutout performance against Baylor on Friday, Klages also played a key role in the lone goal of the game. Klages took a free kick from just behind the midfield stripe and played a perfect ball to senior Sasha Andrews, who re-directed the ball to sophomore Jessie Bruch for the goal.

The assist was the first point of Klages' career. While goalkeeper assists are rare, they are no stranger to Nebraska. In 2004, NU goalkeeper Katie Wright notched a pair of assists in 23 games.

Bruch Battling Back
Sophomore Jessie Bruch has battled through injuries to become a key part of the Huskers' attack. After missing the entire 2004 season while recovering from knee surgery, it took Bruch a few games to get back to her old form. She found her form at Colorado on Sept. 23., recording her first multi-goal game in leading NU to a 2-1 victory. Bruch injured an ankle the next week in practice, however, and missed two straight games before returning and scoring the Huskers' only goal of the game in a 2-1 win at Baylor on Friday.

Klages Impressive Scoreless Minutes Streak Ends
Freshman Jamie Klages is 4-2-1 this season, but had a pair of impressive streaks end in the Huskers' loss at Texas A&M on Sunday. The match against the Aggies marked the end of her 375:53 scoreless minutes streak, and A&M's two first-half goals marked the first time in nine career starts that Klages has allowed more than one goal in a game.

Multi-Talented
Freshman Selenia Iacchelli recorded a career-high three points against Missouri on Oct. 2, scoring one goal and assisting on another. The assist was the first of her career. Iacchelli, who is tied for second on the team with three goals, has recorded all of her goals, assists and points in the Huskers' last eight games after being held without a point through the first five games.

Twice the Fun
Freshman Aysha Jamani doubled her pleasure with two first-half goals against Missouri on Sunday. Her multi-goal effort was the second of her career and the third by a Husker this season. Jamani's first goal proved to be the game winner. She now has two game-winning goals this season and is tied with senior Sasha Andrews for the team lead. Jamani leads the team with six goals.

There's No Place Like Home
After its dominating 3-0 win over Missouri on Oct. 2, the Huskers are 6-1-1 this season (and all-time) at the Nebraska Soccer Field. In contrast, the Huskers are 2-3 away from Lincoln, losing a pair of tough one-goal decisions at Big Ten schools Illinois and Purdue before winning at Colorado on Sept. 23 for their first road win of the season.

Last season, Nebraska was 5-2-0 away from Lincoln and just 7-6 at home.

Timko Ranks Highly in Assists
Junior Brittany Timko has recorded 11 assists in 13 games this season. When the NCAA statistical rankings were released on Tuesday, Timko ranked fourth in the nation with an assist-per-game average of 0.85.

When Leading at the Half...
When Nebraska overcame a 1-0 halftime deficit at Colorado on Sept. 23 to post a 2-1 victory, it marked the first time this season the Huskers have won when trailing at the half. NU is 1-3 this season when trailing at the half and is 7-27-0 all-time when trailing at the half.

In contrast, the Huskers are 6-0 this season and a remarkable 153-2-2 all-time when leading at the half.

Can't Tie Me Down
The Nebraska soccer team owned the longest tieless streak in the Big 12 Conference before playing to a scoreless tie with Kansas on Sept 30. Prior to that match, NU's last tie came 49 games ago on Sept. 12, 2003 vs. Michigan. The Huskers' last scoreless tie was on Sept. 25, 1999 at Clemson and the last tie in Big 12 play came on Sept. 29, 2002 at Kansas (1-1).

Bruch Breaks Through
Sophomore Jessie Bruch enjoyed a career day at Colorado on Sept. 23 and the Huskers used her superb effort to earn a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over the Buffaloes.

After playing the first eight games without recording a point, Bruch scored a pair of goals off set plays against CU. In addition to recording her first goal, her performance marked the first multi-goal game of her career.

Although it took Bruch nine games to record a point, it was only a matter of time until she found the back of the net. A native of St. Louis, Mo., Bruch was a 2003 Big 12 All-Newcomer Team selection after leading the Huskers with nine goals and 19 points as a freshman.

Bruch missed the entire 2004 season while recovering from offseason surgery and is also battling an ankle injury suffered in practice. Bruch returned last weekend after missing two games and scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory at Baylor on Friday.

No Assistance Needed
Junior Brittany Timko recorded a school-record six game-winning assists last season and she has picked up right where she left off. Timko has produced the game-winning assist in five of the Huskers' eight victories this season, including Nebraska's 2-1 win at Colorado Sept. 23. Her career total now stands at 11 and ranks second on the NU career chart, just two shy of Meghan Anderson's school record.

Streak Buster
Nebraska's 2-1 win over Colorado on Sept. 23 not only marked the Huskers' sixth win of the season and first in Big 12 Conference play, but also marked the end of four streaks and the beginning of another.

The victory ended NU's two-game losing streak to Colorado and also marked the first Nebraska win in Boulder since 1999.

In addition, the victory was the first road win of the season for NU, which had been 0-2-0 on the road prior to the trip. The win was also the first victory of the season when the Huskers trailed at halftime.

Coming Back
The Huskers have proven they have the ability to come back this season. In four of its last six wins, NU was down by a goal at some point in the game.

In the San Diego State game on Sept. 6, Nebraska responded after the Aztecs erased a 1-0 halftime deficit and took a 2-1 lead by scoring a pair of goals with less than 10 minutes remaining. The Huskers applied relentless pressure before junior Brittany Timko scored the equalizer at 82:57 and senior Sasha Andrews added the game winner at 84:53.

Nebraska again fell behind 1-0 to Rice on Sept. 11, but rallied for three unanswered goals to cruise to a 3-1 victory. After an Owl goal in the 23rd minute, it took just over 20 minutes for the Huskers to take the lead after a pair of goals from Andrews. Freshman Selenia Iacchelli added the first goal of her career to cap the comeback.

On Sept. 18 against UC Irvine, the Anteaters jumped out to a 1-0 lead, but goals from Iacchelli and Timko lifted the Huskers to victory.

At Colorado on Sept. 23, NU trailed 1-0 at halftime before rallying behind two goals from sophomore Jessie Bruch to post a 2-1 victory. Although the Huskers have shown the ability to come back, the win over CU marked Nebraska's first victory when trailing at the half.

Corner Kickin'
Nebraska, which has historically enjoyed a tremendous advantage in corner kicks taken, is again out-cornering its opponents by a large margin.

NU has won 93 corner kicks, while limiting its opponents to 48. Even more impressive is the second-half breakdown of corner kicks. In the final 45 minutes, the Huskers have won 50 corner kicks, while limiting their opponents to just 18 through 13 games.