STATESMEN SOCCER GAME NOTES - WEEK 3 (PDF)

CLEVELAND - The Statesmen soccer team heads into the third week of the season with a pair of games on the lineup for the weekend; conference tests against transitioning Gulf South Conference member Shorter University and against The University of Alabama in Huntsville.

The Statesmen come into the weekend 3-1 after a pair of wins over Millsaps College (4-1) and Mississippi College (4-2) last week.

STATESMEN RIDING A 3-GAME WIN STREAK
Delta State has reeled off three wins in a row after taking a setback in the season opener. The Statesmen have outscored opponents 11-5 in the three games.

The longest win streak in program history is five games, set back in 2008. The five straight wins came after a season opening loss, with the first three wins coming on the road, away from Delta Field.

DSU RANKED IN NSCAA POLL FOR FIRST TIME IN HISTORY
The Statesmen soccer program made history this week by being ranked in the NSCAA/Continental Tire College Rankings for the first time in the program's nine year history.

The Statesmen are ranked No. 10 in the South region rankings after posting a 3-1-0 record through the first two weeks of the season and outscoring opponents 11-5 during the win streak.

LAMBERT CONSISTENTLY GETTING ON THE SCORESHEET
Jaxon Lambert has registered at least one point in all three Statesmen victories. In total, the freshman has three goals and three assists on the season for a team leading nine points.

Lambert leads the GSC in Assists (3), Assists Per Game (.75), Points (9), and Points Per Game (2.75). He also sits in fourth in the conference in Goals (3) and Goals Per Game (.75).

Nationally, Lambert ranks 11th in assists, 13th in points and 32nd in goals in Division II.

DA SILVA NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK AFTER RECORD SETTING PERFORMANCE
The GSC named Caue Da Silva its Player of the Week after he scored a hat trick in the Statesmen's 4-2 win over Mississippi College last week. Da Silva became the first freshman in Delta State history to complete the feat while he also matched three other Statesmen records.

The São Sebastião do Caí, Brazil native matched the most goals scored by a Statesmen in a single game at three. It was the third time a Statesmen had scored a hat trick, with the other two coming from Daniel Junkin (Sept. 5, 2008 at Robert Morris-Springfield) and Rodrigo Luczensky (Oct. 9, 2007 at Louisiana College).

Da Silva also tied the record for the most points (6) in a game in Statesmen history matching Junkin and Luczensky. He finished with six shots on goal, tying another Statesmen record with Michael Smith (Sept. 27, 2005 at Louisiana College).

Through two weeks, Da Silva leads the GSC in Goals (4) and Goals Per Game (1.0) and sits eighth nationally in goals and 26 in points (8).

BOSKOVIC SETTLING IN AT KEEPER FOR STATESMEN
Milos Boskovic has settled in nicely for DSU after the first week of the season, helping the Statesmen to the 3-game win streak.

The freshman has had a .737 save percentage since the first week, up from a .571 before. The Nuremberg, Germany native also has had a 1.66 goals against average after having a 3.00 GAA in the first week.

After two weeks, Boskovic leads the GSC in Saves  (18) and Saves Per Game (4.5) and ranks 27th and 51st nationally in those categories.

DEBLAERE QUIETLY MAKING HIS MARK
Junior midfielder Daniel Deblaere has been a key role in the success of the Statesmen through the early part of the season. Deblaere has started all four games for the Statesmen and found himself on the scoresheet in both games this past weekend.

The Sydney, Australia native scored the first goal of the game for the Statesmen against Millsaps College, putting the Statesmen up 1-0 in an eventual 4-1 win with a great unassisted effort.

In the next game, Deblaere took a ball from Jaxon Lambert and nicely set up Caue Da Silva's first goal against Mississippi College.

JACKMAN A KEY PART OF DEFENSE
Defender Austin Jackman has fit in to head coach Matt Watts plans nicely through the early part of the season.

The St. Charles, Ill. native has played every minute of the season for the Statesmen, primarily at left back, a tall task that the freshman has handled well.

While Jackman has been at the back, he has comfortably stepped up into the attack for the Statesmen and it paid off nicely against Mississippi College when he fed Caue Da Silva with a ball that he scored the eventual game-winning goal with.

Jackman has the one assist in 360 minutes of play through four games.

SERIES AGAINST ALABAMA-HUNTSVILLE
The Statesmen have played Alabama-Huntsville nine times in program history and Delta State is still looking for its first win against the Chargers.

Alabama-Huntsville holds a 9-0-0 record against Delta State. The Statesmen have been outscored 35-7 in those nine matches.

Last season, the Statesmen took an early lead, but in the end, Alabama-Huntsville used three second half goals to come away with the 4-1 victory.

The Statesmen scored the first goal of the match in the seventh minute. Sophomore midfielder Jonathan Boggus sent a pass to sophomore forward Eljay Allen, who buried the ball into the back of the net.

The match remained a 1-0 affair for most of the opening half, until the 39th minute. Felix Hjalmarsson put the ball past junior keeper Flavio Romero to tie the game up at 1-1 heading into the halftime break.

The Chargers came out fast in the second half, and took the lead. In the 50th minute Hjalmarsson scored his second goal of the match.

Less than 10 minutes later, the Chargers struck again as Mitchell Wilson scored his first of the game. Up 3-1, the Chargers put the game away in the 70th minute. Kyle Simmons scored an unassisted goal.

AGAINST THE STATES
Friday's matchup with Shorter University will be the first ever game for the Statesmen against Shorter and against a school from the state of Georgia. This will be the first of two meetings between the teams this season.

Delta State will play a team from the state of Alabama for the first time in 2012. The Statesmen are 7-16-0 all-time against the state of Alabama as they head into this weekends match against Alabama-Huntsville on Sunday. The Statesmen will play four games against the state this season.

A NEW LOOK GSC
The make up of the Gulf South Conference will look a little different this season. With two schools leaving and three programs coming into the GSC for men's soccer in 2012, old conference rivalries and battle's are out.

With the departure of Harding and Ouachita Baptist to the Great American Conference, an opening was created Union University and Shorter University to step into one of the premier conferences in Division II. Along with those schools joining the conference, the number of teams will jump to seven in 2012 with the addition of the University of West Alabama's men's soccer program.

In total, four teams will qualify for the GSC Tournament in Pensacola, Fla. in November. Shorter and Union will not be eligible, as they go through their mandatory transition years, leaving a tight battle between the remaining five schools for the four slots.