Althoff is very solid and they have beaten all the best teams in southern Illinois. They did lose to St. Louis power, Nerinx Hall, but they were short-handed during the loss.

*Very young team with most of the best players freshmen or sophomores.

*Enrollment is under 600, so can they compete with the big schools? Won their last 15 and controlled from start to finish against a pretty good Chatham-Glenwood team.

*Lost top scorer Liz Ebel (60-plus career goals) to an ACL just before the start of the season and still managed to outscore opponents 123-19 this season.

*Solid both offensively and defensively.

*Very physical team - not afraid to shoulder tackle to get the advantage.

*Very attack minded - will attack with three or four. Not afraid to pass backwards to someone with a better angle on the goal.

*Players to watch offensively - Megan Pawloski, a sophomore wants the ball to her left side; not afraid to put up shots from 20-plus yards; and fights like crazy to get free including. Megan Jaskoviak, a senior who is tough in the box and very physical with a hard shot.

*Players to watch defensively: Jenni Hamlin and Allison Bevenue (aka AB). Both are seniors and rock solid. Very physical and will take what the refs give them unless they are completely overmatched.

*Style of play is of course a German style-build up with patience and then let it rip in the box with major physical play. Why do I say "of course" - their coach is German...Juergen Huettner.

- Joe Trost