Oct. 21, 2009
There are two Conference USA men's soccer matches slated for tonight as the regular season race heats up with less than three weeks to go. No. 16 Tulsa will host SMU as the Golden Hurricane would like to take sole possession of first place in the C-USA standings, but the Mustangs are jockeying for a berth to the 2009 C-USA Championship. Marshall is looking to rebound from its first conference loss of the season as the Herd returns home to play Memphis. The Tigers are coming off a win, that just so happened to be career victory No. 100 for head coach Richie Grant.
Complete Men's Soccer Notebook and Stats in PDF Format 
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK (10/19)
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
AUSTIN NEIL, TULSA
Sophomore, F, Broken Arrow, Okla.
Neil led TU with six shots, including three on goal, two goals and one assist as Tulsa posted a 5-1 victory over UAB Saturday night to move into a tie with the Blazers atop the C-USA standings. Neil opened the match with an assist on the game-winning goal. Then he scored his first goal in the 15th minute and his second in the 66th minute. Neil now has five goals and three assists for 13 points on the season to tie for seventh place. This is Neil's first Offensive Player of the Week honor this season, and second of his young career.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
DAN WILLIAMS, KENTUCKY
Senior, GK, Fairfax Station, Va.
Williams saved three shots in a 1-0 win at South Carolina, ranked No. 7 in the NCAA RPI. It was his fourth clean sheet of the season and the 18th of his career (fourth-most in UK career history and just four shy of the UK career record. Williams also made five saves in a 1-0 loss at No. 7 Louisville Wednesday. Williams faced 10 Cardinals attempts, keeping UK in the game throughout, despite a potent UL offensive attack. On the year, Williams has totaled a 0.85 GAA saving 36 shots and allowing only 12 goals in 14 games. The weekly honor is the second for Williams in 2009 and is the sixth of his career. The six career honors ties current South Carolina GK Jimmy Maurer for the most all-time for a C-USA defensive player.
SEVEN TEAMS APPEAR IN REGIONAL RANKINGS
More than 75 percent of Conference USA teams are currently ranked regionally in both the NSCAA Midwest and South regions. After Tulsa posted a big win over UAB to move into a first-place tie in the C-USA standings with the Blazers, TU also moved into the top spot of the Midwest Region. UAB ranks fourth and Kentucky rounds out the Top 5. South Carolina is also among the top five in the South Region, tying for fourth. Marshall and Memphis are ranked ninth and 10th, respectively, in the Midwest. UCF, currently riding a three-match win streak.
COLLINS AND GRANT REACH COACHING MILESTONES
With a 1-0 win over South Carolina on Saturday night, Kentucky head coach Ian Collins notched his 200th career victory. In his 16th season at UK and 19th year overall as a head coach, Collins has totaled a 200-149-41 career record and is177-114-32 with the Wildcats.
Memphis head coach Richie Grant captured his 100th victory as the Tiger boss with a 1-0 victory over FIU on Saturday night. A native of Dublin, Ireland, Grant is in his 11th season at the helm in the Bluff City with a record of 100-81-14. He becomes only the second coach in Memphis men's soccer history to reach the century mark. UAB's Mike Getman is just one win shy of his 200th victory as head coach of the Blazers.
SHOOTING STARS
• UCF handed Marshall its first Conference loss of the season with a 1-0 decision in a match that was televised by CBS College Sports. Knights' junior captain Yaron Bacher (Atlanta, Ga.) scored his third goal of the season in the 58th minute and freshman GK Shawn Doyle (Fort Myers, Fla.) made five saves for his first C-USA shutout. and his third straight win.
• Tulsa made a big move in the C-USA regular season race with a 5-1 victory against UAB. With the win, the Golden Hurricane moved into a first-place tie with the Blazers and a potential tie-breaker to hosting the 2009 C-USA Men's Soccer Championship. Tulsa scored four goals within the first 20 minutes of play against visiting UAB.
• The Blazers had their four-game win streak and eight-game unbeaten streak snapped with the loss, but sophomore F Babayele Sodade (Windsor, Ontario) prevented the shutout with his goal in the 59th minute.
• Kentucky freshman MF Matt Lodge (Rossington, England) netted the game-winner in the sixth minute and senior GK Dan Williams (Fairfax Station, Va.) saved three shots, boosting the Wildcats to a 1-0 road win over the South Carolina. It was the sixth goal of the season for Lodge and his third game-winner.
• With the loss to UK, South Carolina dropped its first league match of the year. The Gamecocks had previously besting SMU and UCF, in addition to tying defending C-USA Champion Tulsa. Junior GK Jimmy Maurer (Lawrenceville, Ga.) finished with four saves. Maurer also collected a season-high eight saves, including six in the second half in a 3-0 loss to No. 3 Wake Forest on Tuesday.
• Memphis freshman D Andreas Guentner (Regensburg, Germany) hit a shot from 25 years out in the 33rd minute to defeat FIU, 1-0.
• FIU freshman Sebastian Frings (Dusseldorf, Germany), tied for first in the league with the most goals this season, and put two shots on frame to begin the second half. Memphis senior netminder Michael Goodlett (Bolton, Miss.) saved both attempts by Frings.
• FIU did pick up a 2-0 non-conference shutout against in-state rival FAU on Monday night. Junior F Steven Jair Cabas (Miami, Fla.) and freshman Sebastian Frings (Dusseldorf, Germany) once again provided the offense in the Golden Panthers win. Cabas gave FIU the lead in the first half on a penalty kick and Frings iced the game 60 minutes later. The penalty kick made it three times this year that FIU has scored on a penalty kick, with the Golden Panthers winning all three contests.
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