Villanova University

Sept. 24, 2007

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Candidates were announced today for the women's soccer Lowe's Senior CLASS Award and Villanova senior goalkeeper Jillian Loyden (Vineland, N.J.) is on the list of 20 initial candidates for the award. Each year the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award is presented in eight NCAA Division I sports to a senior student-athlete who excels both on and off the field.

Loyden rates high in each of the four criteria that are used to determine a player's standing as a candidate. The four criteria are Classroom, Character, Community and Competition. The current list of 20 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists in October. The finalists will be placed on an official ballot for nationwide voting that will run from October 16 to November 21. The winner will be announced during the NCAA Soccer Championships, scheduled on December 7-9 in College Station, Texas.

Villanova is off to a 7-0-2 start this season and has outscored the opposition by a margin of 27-2. The team's defensive effort begins and ends with Loyden, who has been scored on just seven times in 30 games since the beginning of the 2006 season. This year, she owns a 0.24 goals-against average and .938 save percentage. Already this season, Loyden has set new Villanova career records for victories and shutouts.

The Wildcats are led on and off the field by Loyden, who thanks to a redshirt season as a true freshman is the lone remaining player from the program's 2003 BIG EAST Championship team. Loyden has been active in the soccer team's many community service projects and leads by example with a work ethic that is second to none.

"From a coach's perspective it is so nice to see Jillian's hard work and commitment on the field and in a leadership role now being recognized at the national level," Villanova head coach Ann Clifton said. "There is nothing better than for young student-athletes to see that if you work hard on and off the field that you will be rewarded with wonderful honors and accolades."

The list of 20 initial candidates for the Senior CLASS Award includes two other players from the BIG EAST in addition to Loyden. They are midfielder Amanda Cinalli of Notre Dame and goalkeeper Joanna Haig of Louisville. Valerie Henderson (UCLA) and Jennifer Manis (Central Florida) were the only other goalkeepers in addition to Loyden and Haig among the 20 candidates.

"We are excited to get the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award started for the 2007-08 academic school year," said Bob Gfeller, Lowe's senior vice president of marketing and advertising. "With the addition of men's and women's soccer, the awards program is active on college campuses from fall through spring, recognizing student-athletes for pursuing excellence in all facets of life. Each of these 2007 soccer candidates has demonstrated tremendous characteristics in the classroom and their community as well as on the playing field."

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the award was launched during the 2001-02 season in response to the trend of college basketball players leaving college early to turn professional. The award was conceived by sportscaster Dick Enberg, who continues to serve as Honorary Chairman, and has recognized winners in men's and women's basketball for six years.

Lowe's extended the award in the spring of 2007 to include four other NCAA sports: baseball, softball, men's hockey and men's lacrosse. With the addition of men's and women's soccer in fall 2007, a total of eight sports are now included in the awards program.

NOTE: Villanova men's lacrosse player Eric Heidenberger was a finalist for the award this past spring ... He finished fifth in the balloting for the award.