RICHMOND, Ky. - Erin Adams scored two goals and Samantha Corman tallied one goal as the Eagles went on to defeat Eastern Kentucky 3-1 Sunday.

"I was very proud of the team today," said MSU coach Erin Aubry. " They not only played 120 minutes of soccer straight through, but they played every minute with great intensity and heart. As well, we brought a new level of play to MSU soccer this afternoon.

"It was exciting and fun to see us play with such intellectual sophistication in addition to our strong work ethic.  I believe this program took a bold step forward this weekend."

Admission is free.

This competitive internship, based in Washington, D.C., provides an opportunity for promising students to be placed in an office of a member of the Kentucky congressional delegation or an office of the executive branch.

Each intern receives a $3,000 stipend for living expenses during the six to eight week summer internship. While completing the internship, in D.C., Smith is planning on playing soccer semi-professionally in the W-League.

"I feel honored to have received this opportunity and I am very excited about working and playing in Washington, D.C., this summer," she said.

Smith was the 2007 Geography, Government and History Outstanding Student and a 2007 Canadian Parliamentary Intern.

She is the captain of MSU's soccer team and recently received the Ohio Valley Conference's academic Medal of Honor.

Smith is president of the Spanish Club and Societus Pro-Legibus, and a member of Phi Kappa Phi honor society. The internship position she is in the running for is one in which she would be working within the White House in the speech writing, political affairs or domestic policies office.

Coach Erin Aubry was pleased with the performance of her young team.

"Overall the first scrimmage went well. We tried some new things and new people in new positions and it was fun to see our progress," said Aubry. "We are all looking forward to the rest of the spring games when we can continue to build on today"

"All in all, this 2008 signing class will take Eagle soccer to a new level. We couldn't be more excited with the addition of each and every one of these players. They will not only make us better in pure soccer terms, but they will make us better from a competitive standpoint," said Aubry. "They are all tremendous fighters and have work ethics that will improve our current standards. This class will certainly help us raise the bar in every way."

The newest student-athletes are midfielder Stephanie Gildehaus (Louisville, Ky./Assumption HS), goalkeeper Katie Blevins (Paris, Ky./Bourbon County HS), defender Brittany Kiracofe (Ottawa, Ohio/Ottawa-Glandorf HS), defender Sarah Phillip (Ashland, Ohio/Ashland HS), defender/midfielder Brittany MacLennan (Troy, Mich./Troy Athens HS), forward Devan Jordan (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville Central HS), and forward Jillian Birchmeier (Findlay, Ohio/Findlay HS).

Aubry discussed each player in detail and how they will help improve the Eagle program in the coming seasons.

"Stephanie Gildehaus will give our team a tremendous competitive boost in our midfield. She is a strong, physical player with great heart and determination. She will make an impact immediately and is a player that will continue to grow during her career at MSU."

"Katie Blevins is an exciting addition to our goalkeeper position. She is an extremely hard worker and shows great potential to play in the net for us. Katie will certainly give us depth and help create a great goalkeeper training environment."

"Brittany Kiracofe is an amazing athlete with many physical attributes. She is great in the air and extremely fast. We are very certain she will improve our defensive line immediately. She will be exciting to watch in the Fall of 2008"

"Sarah Phillip is wonderfully versatile player that will help us anywhere we need her on the field. As a defender she is patient and very tough to beat on the dribble, as a midfielder she is a great ball winner and distributor, and as a forward she is creative and quick. We are looking forward to seeing all the ways she will make the Eagle soccer team better."

"Brittany MacLennan is a great physical presence on the field. She is also very smart and able to organize a defense quickly. She will undoubtedly improve our backline and defensive midfield position as a freshman. We are thrilled to have Brittany step on the field for us"

"Devan Jordan will bring great excitement to our attack in 2008. She is a very fast forward that likes to scores goals and has great attacking instincts. She is good with her back to pressure and even better faced-up and going to goal. She will definitely be an impact player"

"Jillian is a true diamond in the rough and we couldn't feel luckier to have her joining us in 2008. She is a natural athlete but more importantly a very smart and creative soccer player. She schemes to beat defenses and has a great arsenal of ways to do it. She will certainly give our forward line diversity and will be fun to watch."

The NSCAA awarded the Eagles and four other OVC teams the 2007 Team Academic Achievement award after each team posted a 3.0 or higher team GPA. The Eagles were ranked third among OVC schools with a 3.43 team GPA. Murray State tied Central Michigan for best in NCAA Division-I with a 3.61 team GPA. Austin Peay was second in the conference with a GPA of 3.46, Eastern Illinois was fourth (3.42) and Jacksonville State was fifth (3.11).

Korat, Thailand is the host city for the 2007 Southeast Asian Games. Bangkok and Chonburi will also host selected events. The games run from December 6-15 and teams from 11 countries will compete in the games. Women's soccer will be represented by six countries.

The Philippines, Vietnam, and Laos comprise group one and Thailand, Myanmar, and Malaysia make up group two. The teams play a round-robin style competition in group play with the winner of each group advancing to the championship match. Women's soccer begins play before the opening ceremonies on December 6. The first women's soccer match is November 29.

Alley played in all 15 matches of the 2007 season. In her first season as an Eagle, the West Virginia transfer posted one assist and 11 shots. She also played a key role anchoring the MSU defense.

Look for an in-depth feature on Alley's time in Thailand in December on MSUEagles.com.