June 27, 2006

PHILADELPHIA - With a combination of veteran experience and youthful aggression the Saint Joseph's University women's soccer team put together one of its best seasons to date. A third straight appearance in the Atlantic 10 Championship, the program's first regional and national rankings along with numerous individual honors combined to make the 2005 season an exceptional one.

Jumping out to a 2-1 record, the Hawks earned the first-ever regional rankings in program history. The National Soccer Coaches Association of America ranked the SJU seventh in the Mid-Atlantic Region, while SoccerBuzz.com ranked it 13th in its most recent Mid-Atlantic poll.

The Hawks would go on to earn two more regional rankings before the season's end, but would have to wait for the final weekend of the regular season to secure a playoff berth. A 3-1 victory at St. Bonaventure helped Saint Joseph's finish with a 4-3-2 A-10 record and earn the fifth seed in the A-10 Championship.

Despite arguably leaving everything it had on the field, Saint Joseph's season came to an end at Baujan Field as the fifth seeded Hawks fell to the fourth seeded Dayton Flyers 2-1 in the Atlantic 10 Championship quarterfinals.

Individually, the 2005 season was a stellar one for Hawk student-athletes as Saint Joseph's placed three players, seniors Alisha Paine and Jess Daugherty and junior midfielder Kimmy Leigh, on the Atlantic 10 All-Conference Second Team in voting conducted by the league's head coaches. In addition, junior Megan Schutt was selected to the A-10's Academic All-Conference Team. Paine would also go on to earn A-10 All Championship Team, ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District 2 Second Team and All-Mid-Atlantic Third Team honors. Paine posted team-bests in goals (nine), assists (five) and points (23) and finished fourth all-time in program history in points (34), fifth in goals (13) and tied for seventh in assists (eight).