CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The University of North Alabama women's soccer team will try and rebound from a season-opening loss at Ole Miss when the Lions take on Southern Illinois Sunday at 1 p.m.

Southern Illinois won its season-opener 2-0 on Friday against Illinois-Springfield at home. UNA lost its opener 2-0 at Ole Miss.

This will be the first meeting between UNA and Southern Illinois in women's soccer. The only school from Illinois that UNA has faced is McKendree and the Lions are 1-0-1 against the Bearcats.

UNA returns to Florence for its home opener on August 29 against Chattanooga at 7 p.m.


2019 NORTH ALABAMA WOMEN'S SOCCER NOTES
vs. Southern Illinois - August 25, 2019

UNA SOCCER IN 23rd SEASON
* The UNA women's soccer program began in 1997 and is in its 23rd season this Fall. The Lions have not had a losing season since 2008 and made six appearances in the NCAA Division II South Regional in their final eight years in Division II.

FIRST MEETING
* This will be the first meeting between UNA and Southern Illinois in women's soccer. The only school from Illinois that UNA has faced is McKendree and the Lions are 1-0-1 against the Bearcats.

COACH CHRIS WALKER
* In his seventh season with the Lions, head coach Chris Walker has an overall 69-37-8 record and has led UNA to two NCAA post-season tournaments and to the championship match of the 2018 ASUN Conference Tournament.
* Walker is the fourth head coach of the UNA women's soccer program and came to Florence after serving as an assistant coach at Lee University.
* Walker, a Lee graduate and former player on the men's soccer team there, served as an assistant coach with the Lee women's team for the three years and helped lead the Flames to two NAIA National Championships.
Walker had a successful playing career for the Lee Flames and was an integral part of the squad that qualified for the NAIA national tournament in 2005. He was a captain of the Flames squad and earned all-conference honors on three different occasions. He graduated from Lee in December 2006 with a B.A. in Business Administration and then served as a  graduate assistant for the Lee men's team in 2006-07.  
* In 2008, Walker moved to Tennessee Tech where he worked as the top assistant and finished his M.A. in Education in July 2008. He was also working as a director of coaching at Westfields Soccer Club in Indiana before returning to Lee in 2010 as assistant coach with the women's program.
* Over his last three seasons at Lee, the school had the best women's soccer program in the history of the NAIA. Winning three Southern States Athletic Conference regular season and tournament title and back-to-back national championships (2010-11). Lee holds the highest winning percentage in NAIA national tournament play in the history of the organization. Lee also went all three seasons without a loss in league play.
* Walker is married to former Lee University soccer player, Tiffany Cox Walker and they have a son, Benjamin.

LIONS RETURN EIGHT STARTERS
Shelby Wall SR F
Tay Cavett SR F
Anna Bove' SO F
Kate Wiseman SO MF
Audrey Tanner SR MF
Haley Yarber SR D
Morgan Ebert SO D
Kelsey Jones JR D

UNA CAPTAINS SELECTED
UNA's team captains for the 2019 season are seniors Shelby Wall and Haley Yarber junior Mary Margaret Borden.

UNA IN DIVISION I
* 2019 is North Alabama's second season as a Division I program. The Lions started the 2018 season with five straight wins before losing 4-0 at Vanderbilt. UNA went on to finish 11-9-1 and advanced to the ASUN Tournament Championship match before losing 3-2 to Lipscomb.

UNA PICKED SIXTH IN ASUN PRESEASON POLL
* The University of North Alabama women's soccer team has been picked to finish sixth in the 2019 ASUN Conference preseason poll of head coaches.
* The Lions were picked to finish eighth in the 2018 preseason poll but finished sixth in the program's first season in Division I. UNA then advanced to the championship match of the ASUN Tournament and finished the year with an 11-9-1 record.
* North Alabama received 37 points in this year's poll and is ranked behind Lipscomb (75), FGCU (74)m Kennesaw State (59), Liberty (49) and NJIT (48). The Lions are picked to finish ahead of North Florida (33), Stetson (18) and Jacksonville (13).

Preseason Women's Soccer Coaches Poll
Pl. Team (1 st Place Votes) Points
1. Lipscomb (5)  75
2. FGCU (4)  74
3. Kennesaw State  59
4. Liberty  49
5. NJIT  48
6. North Alabama  37
7. North Florida  33
8. Stetson  18
9. Jacksonville  12

2019 ASUN Conference Women's Soccer Preseason Honors & Awards
* UNA senior defender Haley Yarber of Cleveland, Tenn., was selected for the pre-season All-ASUN Conference team. Yarber earned second-team All-ASUN honors in 2018.  

Preseason Players of the Year:
Evdokia Popadinova, FGCU & Olivia Doak, Lipscomb
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year:
 Logan McFadden, Lipscomb
Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year:
Melissa Weck, FGCU

ASUN Preseason All-Conference Team
Pos  Name                School     Cl
GK  Melissa Weck          FGCU     Sr.
D      Lindsey Patton       FGCU     Sr.
D       Logan McFadden      Lipscomb   So.
D      Haley Yarber          North Alabama  Sr.
D      Hollyn Knight           North Florida   So.
MF  Marjorie Boilesen      FGCU     Sr.
MF  Isabella Contreras      Kennesaw State Sr.
MF    Leah Cernicky          Lipscomb   Sr.
M   Thais Reiss           North Florida   Jr.
F  Evdokia Popadinova FGCU     Sr.
F  Olivia Doak           Lipscomb   Sr.
F  Fiona Wright           NJIT     So.  

UNA AT HOME
* Since the 2008 season, when UNA began playing on its home turf at the Bill Jones Athletic Complex, the Lions have a 70-21-4 record at home. UNA was 6-3 at home last season in its first year in Division I.


UNA'S 2018 ASUN HONORS
* Several Lions received ASUN post-season honors in 2018.
Shelby Wall  
Second-team All-ASUN Conference
All-ASUN Conference Tournament
United Soccer Coaches All-South Region
Academic All-ASUN Conference
USC Academic All-South Region
Haley Yarber  
Second-team All-ASUN Conference
Tay Cavett  
Second-team All-ASUN Conference
Anna Bove'  
ASUN Conference All-Freshman team
All-ASUN Conference Tournament
Kate Wiseman  
ASUN Conference All-Freshman team

WISEMAN PLAYED WITH ENGLAND NATIONAL U19 TEAM THIS SEASON
* UNA sophomore midfielder Kate Wiseman missed three matches last season after being called up to play for the England National U19 Team in September. She helped the England National U19 squad go unbeaten in thee matches in Croatia in the opening round of UEFA Women's U19 Qualifying Championship. She played in a reserve role in a 9-0 win over Malta then started in an 8-0 win over Croatia and a 4-0 win over Slovakia on October 7. She returned to the Lions and helped UNA advance to the ASUN Conference Tournament Championship match.

WALL AMONG UNA CAREER LEADERS
* UNA senior forward Shelby Wall enters her senior season at UNA ranked 10th in career goals scored (22) and sixth in career assists (21).
* Last season Wall started all 21 matches and led the Lions with eight goals, 10 assists and 26 total points
* She led the ASUN in shots (71), assists (10) and assists per game (0.48). She was third in points (26) and points per game (1.24), fourth in goals (8) and goals per game (0.38) and tied for fifth in game winning goals (3).

Most Goals Scored
in a CAREER
93 Chloe Roberts 2009-12
71 Chloe Richards 2012-15
64 Tassia Augusto 2007-09
45 Jennifer Osmond 2010-13
40 Kylie Huey 2015-18
32 Emily Cotham 2003-06
31 Rhiannon Harrison 2003-06
24 Catherine Schillig 1999-00
23 Jamie Takala 2008-11
22 Shelby Wall 2016-18
21 Allison Harris 2000-03
20 Hollie Loud 2008-11

Most ASSISTS in a CAREER
51 Nikki Brown 2009-12
51 Chloe Roberts 2009-12
32 Jo Chubb 2009-12
27 Rhiannon Harrison 2003-06
24 Jennifer Osmond 2010-13
21 Shelby Wall 2016-18
19 Tassia Augusto 2007-09
19 Emily Cotham 2003-06

UNA VS. SEC SCHOOLS
* North Alabama is 0-2 against SEC schools in women's soccer, losing 4-0 at Vanderbilt in 2018 and 2-0 at Ole Miss to open the 2019 schedule.