2. WOMEN: Perfect starts are on the line

• by Soccer America , Sep 15, 2006

Several unranked women's teams take unbeaten and untied records into the fourth weekend of play.

Navy (6-0-0) will get a stern test from George Mason Friday night before closing out the weekend with a second home game against Columbia on Sunday afternoon. Freshman forward Cassie Barbaresi has been a big factor in Navy's 6-0-0 start. Last weekend, she scored the winning goal against LSU (2-0) and added a goal and three assists in a 5-1 win over Butler. The Butler goal was the first the Middies allowed all season.

Manhattan puts its perfect record (5-0-0) on the line when it travels to Philadelphia for matches against Temple and LaSalle. The Jaspers' 6-0 victory over VMI last Sunday was its fifth straight shutout, breaking the program record for consecutive shutouts.

Central Michigan (6-0-0), off to its best start ever, travels to No. 16 Nebraska (4-0-2). The Chippewas have already tripled their goal output in non-conference play (15) as compared to last season. Senior Jacquie Lacek, who leads CMU with four goals, is only four goals away from tying the school career scoring record,

Old Dominion, also off to its best start in its history (6-0-0), returns home for to play Campbell on Saturday. Katie Watson and Shavon Knight have scored eight goals apiece for the high-scoring Monarchs.

Five other unranked teams began the week with perfect records: Akron (5-0-0), Mississippi Valley (4-0-0), McNeese State (3-0-0), Nevada (3-0-0) and Jackson State (2-0-0).

The only unbeaten and untied teams left in the Soccer America Women's Top 25 are No. 1. Florida State (5-0-0), No. 2. Notre Dame (6-0-0), No. 6. West Virginia (6-0-0), No. 10. Missouri (6-0-0) and No. 13. Villanova (7-0-0).

THURSDAY NIGHT


• Sophomore star Katie Larkin scored in the 85th minute to give No. 24 BYU a 1-0 victory over Pacific. The loss was the first of the season for the Tigers, who started Carmen Padilla one day after she started for Mexico in its 3-1 loss to the USA in a women's friendly in Rochester, N.Y