FULL RELEASE

Northern Colorado soccer will kick off the last game of the 2009 season at 7 p.m. at Jackson Stadium.

WRAPPING IT UP
This week the Bears will wrap up the 2009 season at home against the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks. The Bears go into this game 2-2 all time against the Lumberjacks who stand at 9-7-1 this season. Northern Colorado is hoping to improve to 2-5-0 in conference play after last week's 4-0 victory over top ranked Eastern Washington.

ALL IN THE FAMILY
Northern Colorado freshman Laura Vallen will be facing family on Friday night as the Bears play the Lumberjacks. Vallen's sister Sarah Vallen is a senior on the Northern Arizona squad playing midfield.

EVERYONE PITCHING IN
There are currently 14 players on the team that have provided the Bears with shots on goal contributing to a team shot on goal percentage of .546 compared to a shot on goal percentage of .364 from all of the 2009 opponents. Six players have scored the 12 goals for Northern Colorado which includes game winning goals from senior Sydney VanderVelde and freshman Danielle Birdsall.

COUNTDOWN TO 100
Head coach Tim Barrera is only two games away from his 100th win at Northern Colorado. Currently the most tenured coach for the Bears, Barrera's team has brought him even closer to this landmark victory with is 4-0 victory over Eastern Washington. Barrera currently has a record of 98-90-10 going into the game against Northern Arizona. 

IN THE BOOKS
With one game remaining to play in 2009 Northern Colorado goalkeeper Kirstin Salminen has grabbed the number seven spot in career saves at Northern Colorado with 122. Salminen became the starter for the Bears last season when she recorded 64 saves in 15 games. She joins junior Heidi Owen in the category who made improved to 6^th in career saves with 141. 

YOUNG BUT EFFECTIVE
Northern Colorado soccer has a relatively young team comprised of 18 freshmen and sophomores. However the young players on the team are adding a lot to the Bears effectiveness on the field. The top five players in goals and shots consist of two sophomores in Kimmie Fiedler and Ariel Cook as well as three freshmen in Alexsys Tamayo, Danielle Birdsall and JJ Wykstra. These five players have provided Northern Colorado with 12 goals and five assists.  

MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Freshman Danielle Birdsall has come in this season as a force to be reckoned with leading the team in goals scored. Coming off of the bench in all nine games this season, Birdsall has scored three goals for the Bears two of which came in as game winners and an assist.

SAYING GOODBYE
This week the Bears will be honoring seniors Sydney VanderVelde and Marcie Johnson. VanderVelde scored a total of nine goals for the Bears over 59 starts. She is also responsible for 77 shots and three assists. Johnson has scored seven goals in her time at Northern Colorado with one assist and 50 shots in 72 games played.