Last year the UD women's soccer team lost their first Atlantic-10 tournament title in three years. This year the Flyers will look to regain their top spot at the A-10 Championship tournament in St. Louis this weekend.

To reclaim their position as the best team in the A-10, the Flyers travel to St. Louis for their first game of the tournament against the University of Rhode Island Rams. UD qualified for the sixth seed in the tournament after finishing with a 6-3-0 conference record as URI tied for second in conference standings with a 7-2-0 conference record. UD enters the tournament for the tenth consecutive time as the Rams will be participating in their fifth A-10 tournament in a row.

UD ended their A-10 tournament run last year with a loss to eventual champion, Saint Louis, 1-0. In the 2006 tournament UD will look to both rookie and veteran players to step up and guide the team back to the title. Seven players have started all 17 games for UD this season including three freshman, two sophomores and two juniors.

Freshman Mandi Back leads the team with seven goals for the season, tying her for eighth in the conference. Fellow freshman Caitlin Proffit and junior Dara Elk both have four goals for the Flyers. Goalkeeper junior Nikki Reed claims the fifth spot in A-10 rankings with her 1.48 goals against average in nine games.

'The plan is to set the tone and have the other teams step up to our level,' said redshirt sophomore Abril Carbajal about what the team is looking to due in tournament play.

Last year, Rhode Island entered as the second seed and finished the 2005 tournament as the runner-up to Saint Louis. This season the Rams have relied on junior Deb Nelson, who leads the team with 11 goals, and graduate student Amy Cochran, who has had six goals for the season. Nelson also leads the conference with 74 shots taken this season. Freshman Amanda Thomas has played in all 16 of the Rams games, logging over 1,300 minutes for the year, and contributing to the team's six shutouts for the season. The six shutouts rank URI third among all A-10 teams.

URI and UD met only once this season. The Flyers took the win in a 2-0 shutout. In that game Proffitt and freshmen Colleen Gibson each put up one goal as fellow freshman goalkeeper Tasha Dittamore earned the shutout.

The other four teams qualifying and competing for the 2006 A-10 tournament title are Saint Louis, Charlotte, LaSalle, and Fordham. Charlotte and Saint Louis received the number one and two seeds, respectively, allowing them a bye for the opening of the tournament. The fourth seeded LaSalle will meet with the fifth seed Fordham in the second game of the tournament.

Saint Louis won their first A-10 title last year, in a 1-0 win over Rhode Island. SLU made an impressive run in the NCAA tournament last season as well with an opening round win over Stanford, 2-0. Saint Louis had a strong regular season of play, leading the conference with 43 goals and ranking as high as 17th in the nation. With nine starters returning and only two lost from the 2005 championship team, the Bilikens are looking to claim their second A-10 title in two years and improve on their 2005 postseason.

Charlotte earned the first seed in the tournament and their first regular season title thanks to an 8-1-0 conference finish. The 49ers earned their position with a 3-2 double overtime win against Dayton. Throughout the regular season, the 49ers accumulated the most assists of any team in the A-10 with 41 and Nikki Labuda earned a ranking of fifth in the conference with nine goals this season. Charlotte has won their last six games, hoping to continue their winning streak through the A-10 title match Sunday.

LaSalle and Fordham come into the tournament with conference records of 6-2-1 and 6-3-0, respectively. LaSalle is entering its third tournament in school history, as Fordham has not qualified since 2003.

LaSalle is lead by sophomore goalie Amy Grant, who is tied for second in the A-10 with four shutouts. Sophomore Dana Giordano has had six goals this season, leading all the Explorers.

After a 2-1 win over Saint Joseph's Fordham earned their 2006 tournament seed. Sophomore Katie Sanchez leads the team with 11 goals and senior Leah Jerome has contributed ten.

The 2006 Atlantic-10 Tournament opens up Thursday at 6 p.m. Dayton and Rhode Island square off in the first game of the tournament. LaSalle and Fordham meet later in the evening, at 8:30 p.m.