Patriot booters honor seniors on Saturday during DH

Both the Francis Marion University men's and women's soccer teams will hold Senior Day matches on Saturday (Nov. 1) during a rare soccer twinbill on the FMU Soccer Field.  Admission to both matches is free.

The Patriot women (5-12-1) will conclude their 2008 season at noon when they host Campbell University (5-9-3).  The Patriot men (10-4-3), unbeaten in the last 11 matches, will play Lander University (10-2-1) at 2:30 p.m. with the winner claiming the Peach Belt Conference regular-season championship and a first-round bye in next week's PBC Tournament.

The Patriot women will honor two seniors: midfielder Kiersten Nedervelt and defender Brandi Bonifay.  The two four-year letterwinners were instrumental in FMU's move from NCAA Division II to Division I affiliation - a process that began with two provisional years (2005-06) and the program is now in its second year as a full-fledged member. 

Nedervelt, a native of Montpelier, Va., has appeared in 67 career matches (62 starts) and totaled four goals, five assists, and 13 points.  Bonifay, a native of Stuart, Fla., has started every match (70) during her four years and tallied five goals, three assists, and 13 points.

Nedervelt is a mass communications major with a grade point average of 3.70 and Bonifay is an accounting major with a 3.75 GPA.  Both were named to the 2007 NSCAA/adidas Scholar All-South Region Team, are members of Chi Alpha Sigma national college athlete honor society, and have been named to the PBC Presidential and FMU Swamp Fox Athletic-Academic honor rolls each of their first three years.

The FMU men have only one senior, defender Willie Hunt, and he will be honored prior to the start of the second match.  A native of Greer, S.C., Hunt is a four-year starter with career totals of 61 matches (55 starts), nine goals, four assists, 22 points.  This season, he has helped anchor an FMU defense that has allowed only three goals in five PBC contests.  He was named the PBC Defensive Player of the Week earlier this year, has three match-winning goals in his career, and was twice named to the PBC Presidential and FMU Swamp Fox Athletic-Academic honor rolls as a marketing major.

The Patriots will be after their first PBC regular-season title since 2002 and their third this decade.

The 2008 PBC men's soccer tournament begins on Tuesday at campus sites.