Nebraska Returns Home to Conclude Non-Conference Play

Game 8: Cal State Fullerton (2-4-0) at Nebraska (5-2-0)
Date: Friday, Sept. 17, 2010
Time: 5 p.m.
Location: Nebraska Soccer Field, Lincoln, Neb.
Live Audio: 90.3 KRNU
Live Stats: Huskers.com
Promotion: UNL Faculty/Staff Appreciation Day

Game 9: Iowa (6-1-0) at Nebraska (5-2-0)
Date: Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010
Time: 1 p.m.
Location: Nebraska Soccer Field, Lincoln, Neb.
Live Audio: 90.3 KRNU
Live Stats: Huskers.com
Promotion: Hometown Husker Day (Omaha)

The Husker soccer team returns to the friendly confines of the Nebraska Soccer Field this week when it hosts Cal State Fullerton and Iowa to wrap up non-conference play. The Big Red has not lost at home in the past 15 matches and will look to keep that streak alive Friday at 5 p.m. against the Titans, before meeting the Hawkeyes on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. Live radio broadcasts will be available for both matches by 90.3 KRNU (krnu.unl.edu) in addition to live stats on Huskers.com.

Nebraska brings a 5-2-0 record into this week after splitting matches against Arizona and No. 25 Arizona State last week in Tempe. The Huskers had won five in a row before falling to the ranked Sun Devils and will aim to get back on the winning track in a four-game homestand over the next two weeks. Cal State Fullerton (2-4-0) will be the first California school NU has faced since 2008 and will be UNL Faculty/Staff Appreciation Day at the Nebraska Soccer Field, giving free admission, popcorn and a drink to UNL faculty and staff. Sunday will be a preview of future Big Ten opponents when Nebraska faces Iowa (6-1-0), who is currently riding a six-game winning streak. It will also be Omaha Hometown Husker Day, as NU will honor the city's eight players on the 2010 roster.

Sophmore Morgan Marlborough enters this week tied for the Big 12 Conference scoring lead with 13 points. Along with Texas A&M's Alyssa Mautz, Marlborough's total has come on five goals and three assists. Her most recent goal in last Friday's win over Arizona was the 26th of her career, putting the Lee's Summit, Mo., native into a tie for 10th place on Nebraska's all-time goal chart. Former Husker Christine Latham (1999-2002) holds the school record with 69 career goals. Marlborough could ascend quickly through the next three players on the list, as Nikki Baker (2002-04) is seventh with 30 career goals.

Nebraska remains at home following this weekend, as the Huskers begin Big 12 Conference action against Texas and No. 6 Texas A&M. The Huskers and Longhorns square off Friday, Sept. 24 at 4:30 p.m., while the Aggies meet NU on Sunday, Sept. 26 at 1 p.m.

Huskers Carry Nation's Seventh-Longest Home Unbeaten Streak
Nebraska currently has the nation's seventh-longest home unbeaten streak, carrying a 13-0-2 record since its last loss at the Nebraska Soccer Field, a 2-1 setback to No. 15 Colorado on Oct. 17, 2008. During that span, NU compiled a 9-0-2 record in 2009 that was the best home record since the 2001 Huskers went 12-0-0 at the Abbott Sports Complex. Since moving on campus in 2005, Nebraska has won 74 percent (41-11-10) of its home matches. Last season's home success included a 2-1 upset of No. 14 Texas A&M, while the two ties came against Arizona State and Baylor. The Huskers scored at least two goals in 9-of-11 home matches and a combined 29 goals in the first four games.

Nebraska has played three home matches this season, earning shutouts over Loyola Chicago, Loyola Maryland and IUPUI.

Team	Record	Last Loss
1. UCLA	68-0-2	Sept. 9, 2005
2. Portland	29-0-0	Aug. 30, 2008
3. Stanford	27-0-1	Nov. 23, 2007
4. North Carolina	24-0-3	Sept. 5, 2008
5. Samford	15-0-2	Sept. 7, 2008
6. Central Michigan	14-0-3	Oct. 19, 2008
7. Nebraska	15-0-2	Oct. 17, 2008

Scouting Cal State Fullerton
The Titans (2-4-0) are coming off a two-loss weekend at the USC Tournament, dropping contests to Northern Arizona (2-3) and Auburn (0-2). Cal State Fullerton played its first four matches at home and picked up wins over Eastern Washington (4-0) and UNC Greensboro (2-0). The 2009 Titans were 6-8-5 and finished tied for fourth in the Big West Conference with a 4-3-1 league record. Cal State Fullerton lost only one starter to graduation.

Senior Christina Murillo holds the team scoring lead with seven points on three goals and one assist. The midfielder is one of two titans with multiple goals, joining freshman Nikki McCants, who has two. Three Titans have two assists each in junior Casey Volk, sophomore Jennifer Smith and junior Caitlin Mellano. Defensively, junior goalkeeper Jordan Santos has started all six games. She turned in a shutout against Eastern Washington and holds a 1.69 goals average average with a .643 save percentage.

Head Coach Demian Brown (Cal State Fullerton, 1997) is in his fourth year in charge at his alma mater. Brown is 27-31-6 and began his coaching career strong, winning the 2007 Big West Conference regular season and league titles to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. He was named the league's coach of the year and has since led his teams to 7-11-1 and 6-8-5 seasons in 2008 and 2009. The 2008 squad defeated nationally-ranked opponents California and UC Santa Barbara.

Husker History Against the Titans
Nebraska and Cal State Fullerton have not met in program history. The Huskers are 1-2-0 against Big West Conference foes, defeating UC Irvine (2005) and losing to Pacific (2004) and UC Riverside (2008).

Scouting Iowa
By winning six of their first seven matches, the Hawkeyes (6-1-0) are off to their best start in the program's 14-year history. Iowa's six-game winning streak includes victories over Northern Illinois, Central Michigan, Loyola Chicago, Northern Iowa, College of Charleston and Davidson. The lone loss of the 2010 season came against DePaul at home in the season opener. The Hawkeyes meet in-state rival Iowa State on Friday evening in Ames before coming to Lincoln.

Iowa returns eight of 11 starters from a 2009 team that went 9-11-0 overall with a 1-9-0 mark in Big Ten play. The returning players have helped lead the way to an impressive turnaround so far as junior Alyssa Cosnek, sophomore Dana Dalrymple and freshman Leah DeMoss share the team-goal lead with three goals each. DeMoss holds the overall scoring lead with nine points, while sophomore Jade Grimm is Iowa's assist leader with four. Junior goalkeeper Emily Moran has started all seven games in the net, allowing only two goals for a Big Ten Conference best 0.30 goals against average. She has four shutouts as well, second in the league.

Head Coach Ron Rainey (Wilkes, 1992) is in his fifth season at Iowa and has a 38-42-7 record, including a 128-107-28 overall mark. Rainey spent seven seasons as Ball State's head coach before joining the Hawkeyes in 2006. He was the Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year in 2001 following a 12-6-2 season. He has led a turnaround of Iowa's program after it won only nine total games from 2003-2005.

Husker History Against the Hawkeyes
Nebraska leads the all-time series against Iowa, 2-0. The teams last met on Sept. 3, 2006 at the Nebraska Soccer Field with the Huskers taking a 1-0 shutout on a goal from Aysha Jamani. In 2003, NU turned in a 3-0 shutout of the Hawkeyes at the Abbott Sports Complex.

Omaha Natives to be Honored Sunday
The eight Omaha area players on the 2010 roster will be honored Sunday on Omaha Hometown Husker Day. Three of Nebraska's starters this season are from Omaha's Millard North High School in junior Molly Thomas, junior Katie Goetzmann and senior Colleen Goetzmann, while freshman Ashley Hick has seen action in four games. Redshirt freshman Stacy Bartels (Skutt) and true freshmen Kylie Kusleika (Westside) and Megan Merrill (Millard West) each came to Nebraska from separate high schools in the past two years, as did nearby Gretna native Hannah Dittmar.

Over the past 10 seasons, an average of over four Omaha natives have been on the NU roster each year.

Marlborough Cracks All-Time Top 10
In only 26 collegiate games, sophomore Morgan Marlborough has already cracked the school's top 10 list with 26 career goals. Following her 26th goal last Friday against Arizona, Marlborough is tied for the 10th spot with former Husker Jenny Benson (1996-2000). Christine Latham (1999-2002) is the school record keeper with 69 career goals, although Marlborough could rise to seventh quickly as Nikki Baker (2002-04) currently holds that spot with 30 career goals.

A native of Lee's Summit, Mo., Marlborough and Alyssa Mautz of Texas A&M currently hold the Big 12 scoring lead with 13 points each. Marlborough leads NU in goals (five) and is tied with Jordan Jackson for the most assists (three).

Last season, Marlborough's 49 points (21 goals, 7 assists) led a Husker scoring attack that ranked third in the NCAA with 3.10 goals per game, the highest scoring average by a Nebraska team since 2000 (4.0). Marlborough was named a freshman All-American and earned Big 12 Offensive Player and Newcomer of the Year awards.

The fifth-highest scorer in the NCAA last fall, Marlborough broke the freshman school record for single-season goals just 14 games into the season. She is just one of seven players in school history to produce multiple hat tricks in a career after she tied the single-game school record with four goals against Akron and then had three vs. Oklahoma.Prior to the start of this season, Marlborough was named to the watch list for the 2010 Hermann Trophy, given annually to the nation's best women's collegiate soccer player, while she also claimed a spot on the 2010 Preseason All-Big 12 Team.

Established in 1967, the Hermann Trophy is presented by the Missouri Athletic Club. The Husker forward is one of only 10 underclassmen on the 45-player watch list. Past winners of the award include Christine Sinclair, Mia Hamm and Kristine Lilly, while Stanford's Kelly O'Hara claimed the 2009 honor.

Thomas Works Toward Another All-Big 12 Season
Two-time All-Big 12 selection Molly Thomas is second on the team in goals behind Marlborough with four. The Omaha native also has one assist to total nine points on the year as she aims for All-Big 12 honors for the third straight season. Thomas scored at least one point in four straight matches from Aug. 27-Sept. 6, including both goals in Nebraska's 2-0 win over Loyola Chicago. Her offensive aggressivness and speed has been the lead force in helping Nebraska currently rank third in the Big 12 with 37 corner kicks.

Thomas has started 45-of-47 career games with the Huskers. She had 23 points on eight goals and seven assists in 2009 after an 11-point freshman season.

Macdonald Moves Up All-Time Charts
Senior Tara Macdonald was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week for matches Aug. 27-29 following her strong performances in wins over Loyola Chicago and Loyola Maryland. Macdonald's player of the week award was the first of her career and the ninth for a Husker goalie in school history.

A native of Austin, Texas, Macdonald turned in two shutouts in her first action of the 2010 season, as Nebraska downed the Ramblers (2-0) and the Greyhounds (2-0) two weeks ago. Macdonald totaled seven saves in the victories, including a four-save, complete-game shutout against Loyola Maryland. She currently ranks first in the Big 12 Conference with a 0.30 goals-against average and 0.944 save percentage.

Macdonald transferred from the University of Oklahoma in 2008. Despite battling injuries in just over one season at Nebraska, she has reached eighth on the school's all-time top 10 lists for career saves with 70. She is also tied for seventh on the all-time win list with an 11-3-3 record as a Husker.

Last season, Macdonald ranked fourth in the Big 12 Conference with 3.75 saves per game and totaled 45 on the year with a .763 save percentage.

Freshmen Playing Big Roles in 2010
Four Husker freshmen have combined to earn 17 starts this season, led by forward Ari Romero and defender Maritza Hayes who have each started all seven matches. Hayes, along with senior Brittany Goosen and junior Katie Goetzmann, have helped lead the Huskers to four shutouts in the past six games. Goalkeeper Emma Stevens earned a starting role in the first two matches, while Bartels worked her way into the lineup for the season opener at New Mexico.

Husker underclassmen have made up nearly 50 percent of Nebraska's starts this season.

Two California Natives Will Meet Home State Foe
Nebraska's two California natives will be meeting a familiar school this Friday. Senior Jaclyn White hails from Long Beach, Calif., just 26 miles to the southwest of Fullerton, while redshirt freshman Emma Stevens is from Corona, Calif., 24 miles to the east.

Cardona, White Return to Starting Lineup
Forward Alexa Cardona has earned three starts this season, marking a return to the lineup for the first time since Nov. 2, 2007 when she scored a goal and had an assist in a 2-2- tie against Iowa State. Since then, the Lincoln, Neb., native was forced to sit out the 2008 season due to a foot injury and then missed the last six games of 2009 with a dislocated knee cap. Before her injury-shortened junior season, Cardona tallied two assists in 11 games. With action in 35 career matches, she is one of the more experienced players on the NU roster.

Another veteran Husker who saw a recent return to the starting lineup is utility player Jaclyn White. The senior from Long Beach, Calif., has started the last three matches, her first starts since 2007. White has made the most of her opportunity as she scored her third career goal in NU's 3-0 win over Arizona last Friday.

Review: Huskers Split Matches at Sun Devil Desert Classic
The Huskers split matches on its third road trip of the year last weekend as NU shut out Arizona, 3-0, to improve its winning streak to five games before it was defeated by No. 25 Arizona State, 5-0, at the Sun Devil Desert Classic in Tempe, Ariz.

A pair of first-half goals propelled Nebraska to its fifth straight victory and best start since 2001 in the victory over Arizona on Friday evening. The shutout also marked the fourth time the Huskers have held their opponent scoreless this season.

An explosive Nebraska offensive jumped on an Arizona defense that had given up 2.75 goals per game to take a 2-0 halftime lead on goals from sophomore Jordan Jackson and senior Jaclyn White. Jackson put the Huskers up 1-0 in the 11th minute on a cross to the far post from sophomore Morgan Marlborough. Jackson was coming off a two-goal match in NU's 4-0 win over IUPUI and picked up where she left off by scoring her third goal of the season against the Wildcats.

A pair of seniors teamed up for Nebraska's second goal of the match in the 22nd minute when Jaclyn White scored for the third time in her career. White received a long ball from classmate Anna White and beat Arizona goalkeeper Ashley Jeff to tap in her third career goal, while Anna White picked up her second career assist.

In only her 25th collegiate game, sophomore Morgan Marlborough scored her 26th career goal to enter Nebraska's all-time top 10 in a tie with Jenny Benson (1996-2000) for the 10th spot. The Lee's Summit, Mo., native scored in the 72nd minute on a cross from freshman Stacy Bartels to give NU a 3-0 lead and solidify the fifth win of the season.

The Huskers outshot Arizona, 20-10 overall, including a dominating 10-2 advantage in shots on goal.

Nebraska was unable to keep the momentum rolling in Sunday's finale against the nationally-ranked Sun Devils.

Arizona State forward Karin Volpe turned in a hat trick and began the Sun Devil scoring early by giving her team the eventual game-winning goal in the ninth minute. Two more first-half goals from Alexandra Elston and Miah Mollay gave ASU a three-goal halftime lead. Volpe then added two more in a four-minute span in the second half (64:40, 68:32) and the Huskers were unable to cut into the increasing ASU lead.

Senior goalkeeper Tara Macdonald played the first 45 minutes and suffered her first loss of the season, dropping her to 5-1-0 on the year. Macdonald and the NU defense had held four of its previous five opponents scoreless before meeting the Sun Devils. Freshman Emma Stevens was in the net for the second half.

Offensively, junior Molly Thomas led Nebraska with five of its 14 shots. The Huskers put four of those on goal but were shut out for only the second time this season.

Sophomore Jordan Jackson was named to the Sun Devil Desert Classic All-Tournament Team. The Overland Park, Kan., native scored Nebraska's game-winning goal in Friday night's victory over Arizona.