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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 23, 1997)
imbei^ Tuesday • September 23, 1997 S The Battalion PORTS JX1 •gram am , said the :xpose st allures, rsities hav ( research 1 as fewer r onsiderin aid. “The { vourcoun I look for [range pro] ultureengi ’sASAEand irch progra a study wa: unities in 1\ i the Kellog Universityc ssorsfromW or of the Ins of the profe with the pn 1988-93 an [culture engit a wanted tot &M to see its rt. the program to seeadiffei students seel resources. Ihi i a tradition.' is communin' ha SigmaNatii has recruittiii rticipate. onor socien rot forck: a presenting lirano.aRO: iniorenviroa aid she decs rogramaftei: a to her® to help i said. A general nt aman Arena. 3-3381, orfoT 696-1363. rk: There wl t 502 Ruto uest present Mexican huy" Negreti ormation.co 1 I be a meet' and STDs at: ! run is set® ould meet!' all skill leva': information: service that its and actir ir than three: ate. Applici ents and w! •u have any! it 845-3313 A&iM gearing up for big test Third-ranked Soccer Team set to battle top-ranked Tarheels NOTEBOOK Stephen Boudreau Staff writer W ith the Texas A&M Soccer Team riding high on a perfect 8-0 record, the pollsters are taking note of their success as well. Following last weeks I - 0 victory over Nebraska, the Aggies have made A&M soccer history by attaining their highest ranking ever at number three. Tarheel test This Sunday the Aggies will face the top ranked North Carolina Tarheels in one of the biggest games of the year. North Car olina has won nine out of the last ten na tional championships and have defeated the Aggies both times they met. This year the Aggies are armed with the talent and momentum that makes this the best opportunity A&M has ever had to de feat the mighty Tarheels. The high profile showdown will be played Sunday afternoon in Houston at the Adidas Soccer Classic. Full house The 12th man is alive and well at the Ag gie Soccer Complex. The complex has been filling up in numbers that die team has nev er seen before. This weekend close to 2,600 fans attended the Utah and Oregon games. An average of 1,211 fans are attending home matches, the best attendance ever for Aggie soccer. Big 12 player of the week Still riding high on being named The Battalion’s player of the week, Melanie Wilson was distinguished even further by being named the first ever Big 12 player of the week. She received the honor for her impressive shut out performances against Iowa State and Nebraska. The sophomore keeper has an amazing 25-4 career record, including 12 shut outs. Wilson has allowed only three goals in 630 minutes this season and holds a perfect 8-0 record. Soccer America Team of the Week Last week’s victory over Nebraska reaped yet another reward for the Aggies when Junior Sharon Pickering, was named to the Soccer America Women’s Team of the Week. Pickering joined the 11- person team for her game winning goal against the then fourth-ranked Huskers. One time is usually enough In the 69 games in which A&M has scored more than once, the Aggies hold an astounding 65-3-1 record. The last defeat in which A&M fell short when scoring more than once was in the first round of last season’s NCAA playoffs, losing 5-3 to San Diego. Player of the week Without a doubt, Bryn Blalack has earned her place among the nations best players. This weekend Blalack never let the team down. Against Utah, Blalack took con trol of the game and put three balls past the keeper. Sunday afternoon, against the mighty Ducks of Oregon, Blalack broke out for two more goals. Blalack tops the all- time A&M goal scorers list with 70. For her incredible play, Bryn Blalack has received the ultimate honor any Texas A&M soccer player could dream of attaining and is being named this week’s Battalion Player of the Week. Hammer Time Fendley making impact for Aggies T < l DAVE HOUSE/The Battalion Sophomore Ashley Fendley heads a ball against the University of Nebraska. Fendley has helped the A&M defense limit its oppo nents to five goals this season. By Margaux Harris . StaffWriter lenacity, hard-working and com petitive are words teammate and Coach G. Guerrieri use t describe Ashley Fendley, defender o the Texas A&M Soccer Team. Ifyomas Fendley what she thinks her talent are, she modestly gives her teammate most of the credit. “Everyone at this level is good, so makes my job so much easier," sh said. Fendley began playing soccer t the age of five. Now she is a major at set to the Texas A&M Soccer team. “Ashley is so competitive withi herself that the hardest thing she ha to endure was growth,” Guerrieri sak Last year, Fendley played behin two All-Conference seniors. Now sh is a starter in her position and is only sophomore. Guerrieri said that he success is attributed to hard work an an inner drive. In high school, Fendley played fc the state champion club team, th Klein Challenge. Please see Fendley on Page I New Addition Freshman Thrasher makes early jump look easy Ni DAVE HOUSE/The Battalion Freshman Nikki Thrasher brings up the ball against Oregon. By Stephen Boudreau Staff writer ' ikki Thrasher may seem like just an other one of the nine May High School graduates on the Texas A&M Soccer Team Roster this fall, but she is not your traditional freshman. Thrasher took summer courses this past summer and graduated from El Paso’s Franklin High School a year early in order to play for A&M. “I don’t regret (leaving high school ear ly) at all. I love it here,” Thrasher said. “It was kind of scary though. I never came on an official visit to Texas A&M or anything, so I was coming in kind of blind.” The freshman midfielder had been cor responding with A&M coach G. Guerrieri through letters during her junior year at Franklin when the opportunity to join the Aggies became a reality. “(Coach) G. knew I wasn’t very happy with high school ... I just wasn’t into it,” Thrasher said. “An opportunity arose, so I took a whole bunch of courses over the summer and graduated.” Inexperience is not a problem, though. During her three years in high school Thrasher scored a combined 89 goals and tallied up the same number of assists. De spite those impressive statistics, she re mains humble. “High school is a totally different game. Just in order to put on the A&M jersey is an honor,” she said. “It’s been a dream for me since I was a little girl to play with a top 10 Division I team. For them to ask me to come a year early was just awesome. I can’t think of anything more incredible.” Her teammates playfully nicknamed her, “youngster”, but in reality do not treat her any differently than the other girls. “We call her ‘youngster’ and give her a hard time about not having a drivers li cense, but she gets around on her bike,” senior midfielder Bryn Blalack said. “It’s all in fun. She’s a great contributor on and off the field.” Thrasher said, “The team is awesome. I don’t think they really think of me as a 17 year-old. Sometimes it’s hard to get into some of the places they go to, but that’s OK. The girls are all great.” Already a solid member of the starting line up, Thrasher is turning heads around the nation. She has scored three goals and assisted in another through eight games. She, along with Blalack, was mentioned in the fall issue of Sports Illustrated Women’s Sports as a strong midfielder for the Aggies. “Nikki Thrasher, true to her name, thrashes up opposing defenses and gets the job done. (She) is always a key factor in the game,” Guerrieri said. “All of our re turning stars do their part, but Nikki and all the freshman have stepped up and are doing a great job.” When Thrasher gets the ball, all hei teammates anticipate that something is going to happen, Blalack said. “Everybody on the team has confi dence in her. Nikki has great tenacity and loads of talent. She adds a lot to this team,” Blalack said. The youngster has high hopes for hei future with the A&M soccer program Armed with loads of talent coupled with a positive attitude, her ultimate goal of a na tional championship may not be a dream for very long. “We are in a position to build the pro gram up to be number one. We shfcm progress just in beating Nebraska,” she said. “That is just one of the steps we £re taking on our way to the top. This team is capable of so much.” ms son Sessional oducts iKm. ESSEN' xpires 12/^ [PUTE& RICES AIKIR warraM . COMPUTERS Ladies &.T 0 Rf)s cm) BRIDAL OUTLETS DESIGNER BRIDAL & BRIDESMAIDS FACTORY DIRECT TO YOU! 15% TO 70% OFF At the Texas Ave. entrance of A&M Open Weeknights until 7 p.m., Saturday until 5 p.m. 764-8289 Parents’ Night Out A free babysitting service for the faculty, staff, & students of Texas A&M University provided by the members of Alpha Phi Omega will be Friday, Sept. 26, 1997 6:30 - 10 p.m. in 301 Rudder QUESTIONS? Cali Us!! Alissa 847-1336 Troy 846-9239 /""I T?: vjrlli - < Come find out more at the First General Meeting - Tuesday (September 23rd * 7:00 pm Dudder 402 < J MSG L.T. Jordan Institute : for International Awareness for more information or to inform us of your special needs, please call 845-8770 Major Event! Thursday Sepiaal 9 pm With You! ^ WourS o-p 919 Harvey Road 211 University Drive Big Weekend in Big “D” Aggie Football Texas A&M vs. The University of North Texas Student Tickets are 1/2 Price Only $12.50 Saturday, September 27 2:35 at Texas Stadium (Aggie Band and Corps Trip) For Tickets: 845-2311 G. Rollie White Coliseum # NEW! Local Radio News from the newsroom of campus and community news 8:04 a.m. Monday through Friday during HPR Morning Edition on KAMU-FM 90.9 College Station / Bryan Now on The Battalion’s web page A 24-hour, multimedia news service for the Internet from The Associated Press ■ A comprehensive, up-to-the-minute news report combin ing the latest AP stories with photos, graphics, sound and video. • Headlines and bulletins delivered as soon as news breaks. http://bat-web. tamu. edu