Oct. 31, 2008

IRVING, Texas - The penultimate weekend of Conference USA Men’s Soccer action kicks off on Saturday with three league games, followed by Sunday’s nationally-televised contest between SMU and Kentucky in Dallas. The match between the Mustangs and Wildcats will be shown on CBC College Sports on tape delay Tuesday night.

SOUTH CAROLINA at No. 9 TULSA
No. 9 Tulsa will host South Carolina in the final regular-season home contest of the season on Saturday, Nov. 1 beginning at 7:05 p.m. at the Hurricane Soccer & Track Stadium. TU will honor its for seniors – Chris Clements, Eric DeFreitas, Diego Henriquez and Tyrel Lacey – prior to the contest.

The Golden Hurricane (12-3-1, 7-0 C-USA) has posted 10-straight victories, including a perfect 7-0 mark in Conference USA, and will be competing for the Conference USA regular season championship. TU has out-scored its opponent 29-5 and has tallied five shutouts in the last 10 games.

Tulsa ranks among C-USA’s top-five in eight categories. The Golden Hurricane is first among the league’s best in shots (272), goals (34), assists (36), points (104), goals allowed (11) and goals-against averages (.67), is third in corners (89), and fourth in shutouts (6). Individually, Ashley McInnes is second in shots (43), fourth in assists (4) and ninth in points (10); Austin Neil is second in points (20), goals (8) and game-winning goals (4), fourth in assists (4), and ninth in shots (31); and Jose Parada is third in assists (5) and seventh in points (13).

South Carolina (7-5-3, 2-2-2 C-USA) is coming off a 1-1 double-overtime tie with UAB on Wednesday, and has won just one of its last five games.

The Golden Hurricane and Gamecocks have met five times in school history, with Tulsa owning a 3-2 advantage in the series.

KENTUCKY at SMU (CBS C)
SMU host Kentucky on Sunday in a game that will be televised on tape delay Tuesday night on CBS College Sports. The Mustangs are coming off of two important C-USA road wins against UCF and UAB last week to improve to 9-4-2 overall.

The wins broke SMU out of a midseason “slump” that had occurred when leading scorer Paulo da Silva was out of the lineup due to injury. When he returned last weekend, da Silva was eased back into the lineup, playing just 10 minutes, but scored both goals in SMU's road victory at UCF in Orlando.

SMU is one of the youngest teams in the nation (the Ponies have 15 freshmen), and the team has improved as they have matured and grown into more significant roles. In the win at UAB, freshman Diogo de Almeida scored both goals, and in the win at UCF, he assisted on one of de Silva's goals

The Wildcats currently sit in second place in the league standings and are coming off an impressive 1-1 tie at NCAA RPI No. 1 Indiana on Wednesday. UK has not lost in four straight matches, just the team’s second four-game unbeaten streak since 2003.

UK has outscored opponents 32-13 on the season, with four shutouts. In addition, two different UK players have earned College Soccer News’ and Soccer America’s Teams of the Week

MARSHALL at MEMPHIS
Memphis will return home for the final time in 2008 to face the Marshall on Saturday, Nov. 1, at 7 p.m., at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex. The game will mark the final time Memphis' six seniors will take the pitch at Mike Rose Stadium. The Tigers are 6-9-1 this season, with a mark of 3-3-0 in Conference USA. They currently sit in third place in the latest C-USA standings. Marshall enters Saturday's game with a record of 2-11-1. The Thundering Herd is currently 2-4-0 in the conference and are in 7th place in the conference.

Memphis is coming off of their top goal-scoring performance of the season against the Central Arkansas Bears. The Tigers' scored five goals in the game in Conway, Ark. Freshman Parker Duncan, a native of Johnson City, Tenn., continued his hot streak as he scored two more goals against the Bears on Wednesday. The freshman has scored six goals in his last five games for Memphis. Duncan also tallied the first assist of his career against UCA.

Another U of M freshman Bradley Jacobs, picked up an assist and a goal against UCA. The Franklin, Tenn., product, also had an assist on Memphis' only goal against No. 11 Tulsa.

Memphis goalie Michael Goodlett has put up a record of 6-8-1 this season, his first full season as the man in goal for Richie Grant's Tiger squad. The native of Bolton, Miss., has a 1.38 goals against average this season. Goodlett has 66 saves so far this season. The junior netminder has a career goals against average of 1.46. He is 35 minutes from reaching the 2,500 minute mark, which means he has a chance to get in the record books as having the fourth-lowest goals against average for a Memphis goalie who has played at least 2,500 minutes in the Blue and Gray. He would surpass Brian Covey who was the Memphis goalie from 1996-98.

The Thundering Herd is led by Dustin Dawes, who has scored four goals this season. Dawes transferred to Marshall from Louisville. Midfielder Sammy Boateng has also played a large part in the Marshall offense this season. The native of Ghana has one goal and three assists in 2008.

UAB at FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL
Florida International will host UAB on Saturday afternoon. FIU will be looking for its second league win and third win overall this season. The Blazers are coming off a tie with South Carolina on Wednesday and have won five contests on the season. They will also be looking for their second league win of 2008.

UAB was represented on the ESPN The Magazine CoSIDA Academic All-District team by senior Dean Sorrell and junior Wes Johnson, as announced yesterday. Sorrell has played in 16 games, registering one goal on seven shots this season. Johnson has started 11 games in goal and has made 41 saves, for a .774 save percentage. He has only given up 12 goals on the season and has one shutout to his credit.

The Golden Panthers are led by preseason Offensive Player of the Year Juan Guerra.