Oct. 10, 2008

 

IRVING, Texas - Four more Conference USA Men's Soccer league matchups are on tap for this weekend with two matches each on Saturday and Sunday, while No. 22 SMU will host Central Arkansas on Sunday in a non-league matchup. No. 14 Tulsa will look to remain undefeated in the C-USA standings as it hosts Marshall on Saturday to highlight the action.

UPCOMING MATCHES
Saturday, October 11
*UAB at UCF                                   7:00p
*Marshall at (14) Tulsa                    7:05p

Sunday, October 12
*Memphis at Florida International      Noon
*(18) South Carolina at Kentucky       1:00p
Central Arkansas at (21) SMU            7:00p

MARSHALL at No. 14 TULSA
Tulsa tallied a 2-1 win over Kentucky on Wednesday night at the Hurricane Soccer and Track Stadium. After a scoreless first half, Joe Salem got pulled down in the box to set up a penalty kick that sophomore Chris Taylor punched in in the 57th minute. Nearly 20 minutes later Diego Henriquez hit a great cross that a Wildcat defender accidently put in the net for an own goal, giving Tulsa the 2-0 advantage. Kentucky, however, battled quickly down the field to counter with a goal from Tim Crone just 32 seconds later.

Freshman Austin Neil has a team-best three goals, including two game-winners, and eight points, leading TU in all three categories. Senior Eric DeFreitas and sophomores Jeovahnni Sandez and Zach Nulisch have two goals apiece.

The Golden Hurricane are ranked No. 24 in the latest NCAA RPI report and come in at No. 2 in the NSCAA Midwest region.

UAB at UCF
Playing the second game of a three-game homestand, the UCF men's soccer team will host UAB Saturday night in a Conference USA game at 7 p.m. The Knights will enter the game at 5-5-0 overall and 2-1-0 in C-USA action while the Blazers are currently 4-5-2 overall, including a 1-1-0 mark in league play.

UCF will be looking to bounce back from a tough loss to visiting FIU Wednesday night. The Knights held a 1-0 lead for nearly 70 minutes of the game before the Golden Panthers scored twice in the final 12 minutes for a 2-1 win. It was UCF's first loss at home this season and first setback in conference play.

Despite the loss the Knights find themselves near the top of the standings in C-USA. At 2-1-0, UCF is in second place, just one game and three points back of league-leading and 20th-ranked Tulsa, who has a 3-0-0 record.

Getting just an own goal in the first half, UCF will look to find the net again Saturday. Freshman Kevan George continues to lead the squad with four goals while sophomore Yaron Bacher has fired a team-high 29 shots.

UAB will come to Orlando fresh off a 4-1 victory over Alabama A&M Wednesday night in non-conference action. With three goals apiece from Two-Boys Gumede and Derek Rios, the Blazers have outscored their opponents 15-13 this season.

UAB leads the all-time series with the Knights 2-0-1, including a 2-1 victory last season on Oct. 27, 2007, in Birmingham, Ala.

No. 18 SOUTH CAROLINA at KENTUCKY
The Gamecocks tied No. 22 SMU on Wednesday night in Dallas, 1-1. Sophomore striker Blake Brettschneider tallied South Carolina's lone goal of the match, while goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer collected six saves in net for the Gamecocks.

Maurer has already tied the C-USA record with four Defensive Player of the Week honor this season and appears in the latest NCAA stats in goals against average (No. 32), saves (No. 42) and save percentage (No. 18).

Sophomore forward Sam Arthur leads USC offensively with 10 goals to rank third in the NCAA goals per game rankings. Arthur is also No. 6 in points per game.

UK junior goalkeeper Dan Williams totaled seven saves in the Tulsa match on Wednesday, a season-high for the 6-foot-2 native of Fairfax Station, Va. Williams helps lead a stout Wildcat defense, along with preseason Defensive Player of the Year, Barry Rice.

Michael Strong also appears in the latest NCAA stats to pace the UK offense.

MEMPHIS at FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL
The Memphis men's soccer team will continue its three game road trip when they head to Miami, Fla., to face conference foe Florida International on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. (CST) at University Park.

The U of M arrives at Miami with a record of 3-8-0 and a 1-2 mark in conference play. The Tigers are coming off of a 1-0 loss to No. 3 Creighton on Wednesday in Omaha. Memphis hopes to have Michael Coburn and Brian Farrell back for the game against the Golden Panthers. Both players missed the Creighton game with injuries suffered prior to the game. Coburn, a senior defender from Dundalk, Ireland, was named the C-USA Offensive Player of the Week on Monday. Coburn played the role of hero in the Tigers' upset over No. 15 SMU last Sunday. The senior headed in the game winner off of a Sean Goulding free kick in the third minute of the first overtime period at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex.

Parker Duncan, a freshman forward from Johnson City, Tenn., earned his second start of the season on Wednesday against Creighton. Duncan got the nod at forward after a stellar performance against SMU where he helped set the pace for the Tigers. It was a foul committed by SMU's defender against Duncan that set up Goulding's free kick to set up Coburn for the game winning goal.

Michael Goodlett, the U of M's goalie, comes into the game boasting a 1.39 goals against average. The junior from Bolton, Miss., has 45 saves on the year.

FIU enters Sunday's match with a mark of 2-6-2. They are coming off of 2-1 win over UCF on Wednesday. UCF was ranked as the No. 9 team in the South Region according to the NSCAA at the time of the match. FIU has also played the likes of No. 1 Wake Forest and No. 16 North Carolina. They tied UMKC who defeated No. 3 Creighton earlier in the season.

The Golden Panthers are led by C-USA Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Juan Guerra. Guerra, a junior midfielder from Caracas, Venezuela, was a First Team All-C-USA midfielder last season for FIU. Guerra comes into the match with five goals and two assists for a total of 12 points on the year.

FIU is coached by Munga Eketebi. Eketebi is in his second season as the head coach for the Golden Panthers. Memphis is 1-2 in matches against FIU. In their last match in Miami, the Tigers lost 2-0 to the Golden Panthers.

CENTRAL ARKANSAS at No. 14 SMU
SMU battled league foe South Carolina to a 1-1 draw on Wednesday at Westcott Field and will host Central Arkansas on Sunday night.

SMU freshman Arthur Ivo forced his way through the USC defense and into the penalty box, where he was taken down. Mariel converted the ensuing penalty kick to tie the score, 1-1.

The Mustangs sit at 6-3-2 on the season and are No. 15 in the latest NCAA RPI report and No 5 in the NSCAA Midwest region.