Saint Leo has announced it will not bring its women’s soccer team to Pensacola, Florida, this weekend for scheduled matches against West Florida and Delta State because of concerns involving the H1N1 virus.

St. Leo officials said five members of the soccer team are exhibiting flu-like symptoms that could indicate H1N1 infections.

“It’s obviously not a good thing to have happen to us right now,” said St. Leo coach Ged O’Connor. “We need to compete more than anything else, but on the other side, we don’t have any other options. These things happen. It’s unfortunate, but it’s the only thing we can do right now to keep everyone safe.”

O’Connor said St. Leo would work with both West Florida and Delta State to see if the games can be rescheduled.

St. Leo Director of Athletics Francis Reidy said the affected student-athletes have been excused from practice and their symptoms are being monitored closely. To date, all affected individuals have shown mild symptoms and are quarantined to their rooms as required by university health center policy. The student-athletes will return to practice only after the health center has cleared them, Reidy said.

“We did not feel we could put our student-athletes at risk, and the other factor involved is our men’s team is also making this trip,” Reidy said. “We could not chance the risk of exposure to them, and possibly have two teams unable to play in the coming weeks. It simply has become a student-athlete well-being issue, as well as a consideration for our opponents.”