Final Weekend To Decide C-USA Men's Soccer Championship Field
Nov. 6, 2008
IRVING, Texas - The final weekend of Conference USA Men’s Soccer action kicks off on Friday with four league matches on tap that will decide the final seeds for the 2008 C-USA Men’s Soccer Championship. No. 7 Tulsa has already clinched its second Conference USA Regular Season Championship and the top seed in this year’s championship. TU closed out league play with a 7-0-1 mark, giving the Golden Hurricane its second-straight season without a loss in league play, to become just the third team in league history to claim the regular season title. Kentucky will be the number two seed when tournament play begins next Wednesday at Westcott Field in Dallas, Texas, on the campus of SMU. SMU at FIU The Golden Panthers haven’t guaranteed spot in the championship, but just need a loss by UAB to get in as the one of the bottom two seeds. FIU downed regional rival FAU on Monday, 1-0. After a relatively quiet first 17 minutes of the second half, the duo of preseason C-USA Offensive Player of the Year Juan Guerra and Steven Jair Cabas went to work as they hooked up to give FIU a 1-0 lead in the 63rd minute. After FIU took control of the ball near midfield, Guerra sent a through ball to Cabas who made a run down the middle of the field and beat the FAU keeper, scoring into the bottom left corner. SMU fell to second-seeded Kentucky its last time out. Freshman MF Arthur Ivo scored the Mustang’s lone goal against Kentucky, giving the Ponies a 1-0 lead just two minutes into the game. The goal was his third of the season. Fellow freshman D Adam Still has settled into a starting role since the Mustangs’ defense has lost players to injury and position changes, and was solid Sunday against Kentucky. Not only did he not allow a goal or an assist by the players he covered, he repeatedly stepped forward to intercept passes. Still locked down his side of the field all day against a very potent UK offense.
MEMPHIS at KENTUCKY Reid Baker, Bingy Lara, Michael Strong and Masumi Turnbull will all play in their final regular season home game for Kentucky, as the Wildcats take on Memphis as part of senior night, at 7 p.m. ET on Friday at the UK Soccer Complex. Kentucky (10-4-3, 6-1 Conference USA) has secured second place in the conference, with a school-best six league wins, with one loss at conference champion, No. 7 Tulsa. UK, ranked No. 23 and No. 24 nationally, has suffered only four losses on the year, with three coming on the road at top-25 foes (No. 7 UC Santa Barbara, No. 24 Cal Poly and No. 14 Tulsa). The Wildcats are riding a six-game unbeaten streak, the second-longest streak in program history and one win shy of equaling the record set in 1997, 98 and 2004. Last week, UK capitalized on its biggest week of the season, traveling to NCAA RPI-leading No. 14 Indiana and coming behind for a draw, after allowing an NCAA-record goal in just six seconds. On Sunday, UK went to No. 22 SMU and notched its second win over the Mustangs in program history and its first in Dallas, coming from behind for a 2-1 win. The Wildcats last loss came on Oct. 8 at Tulsa, with wins over No. 18 South Carolina, UAB, FIU, UCF and SMU spanning the seven-game stretch. In addition, UK has posted a resume-building win over No. 8 Michigan, a dominating 2-0 Wildcat win. Strong has led the way offensively with seven goals, with Tim Crone (5 goals, 2 assists), Marco dos Santos (4 goals, 4 assists), Jason Griffiths (4 goals, 1 assist), Sam Vernalls (2 goals, 4 assists) and Chad Hagerty (1 goal, 5 assists) assisting with the scoring punch. In goal, Dan Williams has posted a 0.85 goals-against average while starting all 17 games with 1595 total minutes played. Williams, a three-year starter and native of Fairfax Station, Va., has saved 51 shots and toiled five shutouts. Memphis (6-10-1, 3-4 C-USA) sits in a fourth-way tie for third place with Marshall, UCF and South Carolina. The Tigers are coming off of a loss to the Marshall Thundering Herd. In goal, Michael Goodlett, a junior from Bolton, Miss., has totaled a 1.42 goals against average, with 67 saves, third in the C-USA. MARSHALL at UAB The game will signify the last home match for UAB's seven seniors. Logan Alexander, Frank Brown, Shane Elsner, Trey Gregory, Derek Rios, Carlo Schiavoni and Mark Stachelski will each be honored prior to the start of the contest. Marshall enters the contest sporting a 3-11-1 overall record, but is 3-4 in league play. After beginning the season with an 0-10-1 mark, the Thundering Herd have captured wins in three of their last four contests coming into Friday night's showdown. Leading the way for Marshall is Dustin Dawes, who has team-highs of four goals and nine points on the season. Michael Bolt, Kolby Lacrone and Sterling Flounder have also each scored twice for the Herd. Goalkeeper Greg Walter comes into the contest with a 2.27 GAA, allowing 29 goals while making 51 saves. However, Walter has only allowed three goals in the Herd's last four contests. Meanwhile, UAB will be looking to bounce back from a 2-1 defeat at FIU last weekend. The loss dropped the Blazers to 1-5-1 in league play and 5-9-3 overall. Junior midfielder Two-Boys Gumede leads UAB's offensive attack with team-highs in goals (4) and points (10). Sophomore midfielder Kevin Sawchak enters Friday's game on a two-game goal-scoring streak and is tied with Gumede with four goals on the campaign. Senior forward Derek Rios, who has missed five games with a variety of injuries this season, is second on the team with eight points (3g, 2a), while sophomore Michal Mravec has six points on a pair of goals and assists. Junior goalkeeper Wes Johnson has started 12 games in the net for UAB. He comes into the match with a 1.15 goals allowed average, which ranks fifth in C-USA, making 44 saves while allowing just 14 goals on the campaign. UCF at MARSHALL While Tulsa has already wrapped up the regular season championship and the top seed in next week’s C-USA Tournament, the game between UCF and USC has important seeding implications. With a victory, the Knights will clinch the third seed in the tournament, while a loss could drop UCF to as low as seventh. UCF enters Friday also looking to end a five-game slide. The Knights last victory came Oct. 11, 2008, when UCF defeated UAB 1-0 at home. During the streak, the squad has played well defensively and has lost three games by just one goal. Freshman Kevan George leads the squad with four goals while Yaron Bacher tops the Knights with three assists and 42 shots. Sophomore keeper Sean Johnson has continued his strong play in net and is currently first in C-USA in saves (90) and saves per game (5.63). His saves per game also rank him 12th nationally. USC’s Sam Arthur leads the conference in goals (11) and points (25) while goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer is first in save percentage and second in goals against average (0.77). The Gamecocks lead the all-time series with the Knights 4-1-2. Last year in Orlando, the two teams played to a 0-0 double-overtime tie. FINAL WEEKEND TO DECIDE TOURNAMENT FIELD 1. Two-way tie. Head to head competition between the tied teams. Schedule of Matches for C-USA Championship Friday, November 14 Sunday, November 16 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
