This weekend, the top six women's soccer teams in the Atlantic-10 Conference will compete at Baujan Field for the right to be named Atlantic-10 Conference tournament champions.

The tournament started Thursday night with the teams competing not only for the title, but also an automatic bid to the first round of the NCAA Championships.

Saint Louis is starting its first year in the A-10 well, earning the No. 1 seed for the tournament as well as the regular season title. The Billikens finished the regular season undefeated in the A-10 and 13-4-0 overall.

'The No. 1 and No. 2 seed are very important in a tournament like this because of the bye,' Saint Louis Head Coach Tom Champion said, commenting on the competitiveness of the A-10.

On offense the Billikens will look to junior All-American prospect Courtney Hulcer, who recently tied the school record for assists with 15. Hulcer is only two assists away from tying the career assists record for SLU of 34, set by former Billiken Jenny Kehl.

In the goal, freshman Abby Goelner has earned three shut-outs of the season for SLU, most recently against George Washington on Oct. 28. Senior goalkeeper Amanda Martin has also impressed in the goal, as she is ranked second in the A-10 for her goals against average. Along with senior Sarah Schweitzer, these three will be the last line of defense for the Billikens.

The second seed was awarded to Rhode Island. The 2004 tournament runners-up also earned a bye and will not start play until the second round on Friday.

The Rams ended the 2005 regular season with a 6-1-1 conference record and 10-5-2 overall. The Rams are coming into the tournament with a lot of momentum as they have won the last ten of thirteen games.

Senior Melanie Kasparek leads URI with 13 goals for the season and her twin sister, Megan Kasparek is second on the team for goals and first in assists with eight.

Rhode Island's lone conference lost came at the hands of UNC - Charlotte, who has been given the No. 3 seed. Also taking part in their first year in the A-10, the 49ers will open play against Duquesne.

After winning the last five of six games Charlotte, who finished 6-3 in the conference, will look to sophomore Lindsey Beam on offense. The two time A-10 player of the week honoree leads the 49ers with 18 assists.

The Flyer enters the tournament as the defending champion and the No. 4 seed. This year marks an A-10 record of active appearances in the tournament for the Flyers, as it is the tenth time the UD is represented by the women's soccer team.

UD finished the regular season with a 5-3-1 conference record and an overall record of 9-6-3. The Flyers have used the practices this week to fix and strengthen certain aspects of their game.

'Our concentration has been on the attacking end, working on finishing, penalty kicks, and set pieces,' Head Coach Mike Tucker said, also noting that the penalty kicks will be used since no ties are permitted in tournament play.

Coach Tucker also added, 'We finally found a good rhythm,' he said. 'I feel as good about the team right now as I have all season.

Facing the Flyers on their home field is no easy task for any team. Saint Joseph's, the No. 5 seed will make their third appearance in the program's history, opening up against UD.

'Our philosophy this season has been taking everything one game at a time,' Saint Joseph's Head Coach Jess Reynolds said about the Hawks preparation for the game.

Coach Reynolds also added that she will look to the school's first recruiting class, now seniors, to guide her team into the tournament, which she assures will be a hard and difficult task as they open play against the defending tournament champions.

'We know we have a very tough road ahead of us,' Coach Reynolds added.

The sixth seed of the A-10 tournament belongs to Duquesne University, who finished 5-4-0 in the A-10 this season. The Dukes, whose first home loss this year came against George Washington at the end of October, actually ended in a four way tie for fifth place in the A-10.

Saint Joseph's, Duquesne, UMass, and Xavier all finished with a .566 win percentage. Since the four schools did not all face each other the A-10 used the tie breaker of common opponents to pick the fifth and sixth seeds.

The only common opponents among the four schools were George Washington and LaSalle. Saint Joseph's beat both teams, garnering the fifth seed immediately. After removing the Hawks from the potential tournament teams, the remaining teams had all played George Washington, LaSalle, Richmond, and Charlotte. Duquesne earned the last spot in the tournament as the Dukes completed the season with the best record of 3-1 against the common opponents.

The 13th Atlantic-10 Women's Soccer Championships begin on Thursday. Games will be played at Baujan Field through Thursday, Friday and Sunday, with the Championship match scheduled for 1p.m. on Sunday, November 6th.