Oct. 24 Men's Soccer Notebook
Oct. 24, 2005
Complete Oct. 24 Men's Soccer Notebook in PDF Format
Conference USA played a limited slate of men's soccer matches this weekend with four games postponed due to the threat of Hurricane Wilma on Florida. SMU won its seventh straight conference match as the Mustangs scored two goals in the final 10 minutes of play to earn a come-from-behind 3-2 victory at Tulsa Friday night. The match was televised live nationally on the Fox Soccer Channel and played in front of 1,753 fans - the eighth largest crowd in Tulsa history and the best-attended conference match of the 2005 season. SMU's Duke Hashimoto won his second C-USA Offensive Player of the Week honor and was named the College Soccer News National Player of the Week. PLAYERS OF THE WEEK OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
CONFERENCE USA MEN'S SOCCER NOTES East Carolina - The Pirates were idle this weekend after plans to travel to Florida for games at Florida International and UCF were postponed due to Hurricane Wilma. Senior Matt Kowaleski leads the Pirates' offense this season with five goals (tied for ninth in C-USA) and three in conference matches (tied for fourth in C-USA). Florida International - The Golden Panthers were scheduled to host East Carolina and South Carolina over the weekend. Matches were postponed due to the threat of Hurricane Wilma, which hit South Florida on Monday. FIU dropped to a tie for sixth place in the conference standings, but still has four more matches on the slate. Kentucky - The Wildcats split over the weekend, rallying from a 2-1 overtime loss to Memphis on Friday to defeat UAB, 4-1, on Sunday. Kentucky's Michael D'Agostino scored on a 25-yard free kick in the 14th minute to begin scoring against UAB on a rainy afternoon. Brandon Stewart scored on a loose ball in front played in by Michael Strong in the 34th and UK had a 2-0 advantage at the break. Freshman Travis Young scored twice in the second half, while Strong tallied a pair of assists for Kentucky in the match. The win was big for the Wildcats, moving them into a three-way tie for third place. Marshall - The Thundering Herd accomplished something no other team had done all season by shutting out Memphis, 1-0, on Sunday. Freshman Dana Heimbecker scored the game-winning goal off an assist from Kirk Gibson with 53 seconds remaining. Sophomore Jeff Lenix anchored the MU defense and earned C-USA Defensive Player of the Week honors. The victory moved Marshall up to sole possession of second place in the C-USA standings. The Herd defense only allowed one goal on Friday against UAB, but that was all that was needed to suffer a 1-0 defeat to the Blazers. Memphis - With 34 seconds left in the first overtime, Michael Coburn headed in an Andy Metcalf cross to score the golden goal in a 2-1 victory at Kentucky on Friday. The two teams battled through 54 minutes of scoreless play to begin the game until Memphis sophomore Jared Britcher scored the game's first goal on a header off a corner kick for a 1-0 lead. It was his seventh goal of the season. UK responded a little more than a minute later and the match remained scoreless for another 44 minutes before Coburn's goal gave Memphis its first overtime victory this season. Coburn, a defender, has scored five points this season, but his defense held the opposition to just two goals over the weekend. Seven of the last eight games for U of M have been decided by one goal or less. Included are two double-overtime ties against South Carolina and then No. 17 Tulsa. Both of the conference losses came by goals scored in the final minute. SMU - Senior Duke Hashimoto scored his team-leading seventh goal of the season and assisted on the Mustangs' other two goals in a 3-2 victory against rival Tulsa on Friday night. The game was televised live on Fox Soccer Channel. Hashimoto earned his second C-USA Offensive Player of the Week honor and was named the National Player of the Week by College Soccer News. Hashimoto assisted a Scott Corbin goal with less than three minutes remaining in regulation for the game-winner. South Carolina - USC was idle this weekend after plans to travel to Florida for games at Florida International and UCF were postponed due to Hurricane Wilma. The Gamecocks are the only other team within striking distance of taking the Conference USA regular season title from SMU. South Carolina hosts the No. 11 Mustangs in a head-to-head battle this Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. Tulsa - In a match played in front of 1,753 fans and a nationally-televised audience on the Fox Soccer Channel, the Golden Hurricane dropped a heart-breaking 3-2 loss to No. 11 SMU on Friday. After the two teams played a scoreless first half, Tulsa senior Kyle Brown netted two big goals in the second half to give TU a 2-1 lead with less than 20 minutes remaining in regulation. Goalkeeper Tyrel Lacey made nine saves in the match, but gave up the winning goal with less than three minutes on the clock. The match attendance was the eighth-largest crowd in Tulsa school history and the best-attended Conference USA match this season. UAB - The Blazers went 1-1 during their road weekend series, posting a 1-0 victory over Marshall on Friday before losing Sunday to Kentucky, 4-1. Junior Sandy Gbandi scored the game-winner for UAB, snapping the Herd's three-match win streak, off an assist from freshman Two-Boys Gumede. Sophomore Dejan Jakovic and the Blazer defense also recorded their fourth shutout of the season with the win. Sophomore Shane Elsnor scored the lone goal against Kentucky. UAB is still playing without Preseason All-America and Hermann Trophy watch lister Leandro de Oliveira, who continues to be plagued by a knee injury. He is expected to play in this weekend's home finale matches, but a final decision may not be made until game time. UCF - The Golden Knights were idle over the weekend due to the threat of Hurricane Wilma on the state of Florida. UCF currently sits in ninth place in the league, but with four more matches to play the Golden Knights still have a chance at a C-USA Tournament berth. Goalkeeper Ryan McIntosh still ranks 11th nationally with 5.75 saves per game and has a 1.31 goals against average (second in C-USA). Hermann Trophy - Both C-USA Preseason Offensive Players of the Year, Dayton O'Brien and Leandro de Oliveira, were among the 25 players selected to the 2005 Hermann Trophy Watch List, announced by the Missouri Athletic Club and compiled by a panel of coaches from the NSCAA. A list of 15 semifinalists for the award will be announced in November, with the three finalists announced in December. TV Time - Friday night's Conference USA match between league leader SMU and Tulsa was featured as Fox Soccer Channel's "College Game of the Week" live from the Hurricane Soccer & Track Stadium in Tulsa. In an exciting match, both teams battled to a scoreless tie at halftime before trading goals in the second half. SMU ended the match with a 3-2 advantage to extend its win streak to seven matches. The match was one of eight showcased this season on the Fox Soccer Channel in conjunction with the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).
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