Aug. 24, 2008

The 2008 Conference USA women's soccer season officially got underway this weekend, with 10 of 12 teams on the pitch this weekend. Southern Miss and UCF were also scheduled to open their seasons, but those matches had to be delayed due to the severe weather from Tropical Storm Fay. East Carolina and Rice are off to a 2-0-0 start, while Colorado College, Marshall, Memphis, Tulsa and UTEP also earned wins over the weekend.

East Carolina 1, Western Carolina 0
East Carolina 2, Francis Marion 0

A pair of second half tallies by two freshmen lifted East Carolina over Francis Marion Sunday, 2-0. With the shutout (the second of the weekend), senior GK Amber Campbell set a new ECU career mark as she now is in possession of 23 clean sheets. The old standard was 22.5 by Amy Horton. Additionally, the Pirates snapped Francis Marion's 14-game home winning streak, which dated back to Oct. 18, 2005.

After a scoreless first half, the Pirates eventually broke through in the 60th minute. Freshman Leah Bagonis took a pass from fellow rookie Jessica Woodward and fired a long 20-yard shot toward the goal. FMU goalkeeper Emily Brandenburg made a diving attempt, but the ball bounced over her outstretched arms and into the net. The goal is the first of Bagonis' collegiate career. Another freshman, Rachel Fuller, completed the scoring in the 88th minute with her first-career tally as she slotted a five-yard shot into an open net. The play began with a throw-in, allowing freshman Amanda Malkiewicz to pass the ball by Brandenburg, setting up Fuller for the easy finish. For more info, log onto the East Carolina website.

Rice 2, Sam Houston State 0
Rice 5, Texas-San Antonio 1

Rice also picked up a pair of wins with a 2-0 shutout of Sam Houston State and a 5-1 victory against Texas-San Antonio. Today against UTSA, redshirt junior F Anne Candee scored each of the team's first three goals in the game and junior MF Shelley Wong added two more in the second half.

Making her first start in an official game since she suffered a back injury after the 2005 season, Candee quickly made up for lost time. The Dallas native scored her first goal in three years in the game's fourth minute by taking a crossing pass from Erin Scott on left side and blasting a shot from 15 yards out. The ball found the back of the net for a 1-0 Rice lead. In the second half, Candee and Wong led a four-goal outburst in the second half. In the 56th minute Candee scored on a direct free kick after a foul just outside the 18-yard line. She came back and added her third goal of the game a little more than five minutes later, alertly taking a shot after a pass from freshman Hope Ward. The hat trick was the first of her collegiate career and tied her with four other Owls for the most goals in a single game.

Back in her freshman year during the 2005 season, Candee set the Rice record with three assists in a single game. She went on to be named the most valuable player of the C-USA Tournament (which Rice won to advance to the NCAA Tournament), but was sidelined with a back injury. Candee went on to miss a total of two years before coming off the bench to play in Friday night's season-opening win against Sam Houston State. She is now the only player in Rice history who is at the top of both lists for games with the most goals and assists.

Rice had more breathing room with the 3-0 lead and less than 30 minutes left to play, but the Owls weren't finished scoring. In the 75th minute, Wong took a pass from Elizabeth Nesbit inside of 10 yards and blasted a pass through some traffic for her first goal of the year. Wong then scored again in the 79th minute with the second assist of the game from Ward in her Division I debut. More information available on the Rice website.

Northwestern State 2, Tulsa 0
Tulsa 10, Southern 0

Tulsa defeated Southern University, 10-0, tallying five goals per half and attempting 40 shots, 21 of on goal. The 10 goals is the third-highest goal count for Tulsa in school history as TU posted 12-0 wins over St. Mary of the Plains in 1990 and Loyal in 1992.

Junior Hannah Taylor put the Golden Hurricane on the board with just 2:34 ticked off the clock off a corner kick. Classmate Shannon Locke knocked in a goal in the 14th minute off a free kick, and just eight minutes later assisted on Allie Rapp's first career goal. At the 35:29 mark, GK Kendall Harclerode sent a goal kick over everyone to set up freshman Rebekah Riner for a break-a-way goal. Rapp added her second goal of the contest off an assist from Brandi Neilson to go into the break up 5-0.

In the second half, TU came out just as strong, as Kayla Chambers earned a goal in the 52nd minute. Courtney Chadney would add two goals in just less than five minutes, while Riner posted her second goal of the contest in the 75th minute. Jasmine Mendiola recorded her first career goal off a pass from Emily McElrath with just five minute left in the contest. For more, check out the Tulsa website.

Colorado College 3, Oklahoma 1

Colorado College junior F Emily Beans scored just 27 seconds into the game, igniting a 3-1 Tigers victory over Oklahoma in their 2008 opener at CC's Stewart Field. It was the Tigers' fourth straight season-opening win.

Although OU would tie the contest at 11:52, the unassisted goal by Beans in the opening half minute set the tone on this hot, clear and occasionally breezy afternoon.

Sophomore F Sydney Fetter struck for the game winner just 13 minutes after Oklahoma tied the score, sneaking in behind the defense on a nifty passing play by Kelsey Wise and Alexa Bannerman. Colorado College added an insurance tally early in the second half when the Sooners inadvertently headed Tiffany Brown¹s corner kick past the OU keeper. For more information, go to the Colorado College website.

Marshall 3, St. Bonaventure 1

Marshall interim head coach Kevin Long earned his first regular season victory with the Thundering Herd Saturday afternoon. Marshall took a 3-1 decision over non-conference foe St. Bonaventure.

Freshman Erin Blakely tallied her first career and season goal in the 15th minute off of an Erika Duncan corner kick. Early in the 53rd minute, Duncan registered her sixth career and first season goal 18 yards out from an Angela DeSumma pass. Senior Ali Lizotte scored her second career and first season goal in the 61st minute off a 25 yard free kick in the upper left corner. DeSumma added an assist in the Herd's final goal and finished with two shots, one being on goal.

Junior GK Liz Orton took the victory with eight saves while St. Bonaventure's Nicole Markert finished with five saves. Orton now has 198 all-time career saves. More info available on the Marshall website.

Memphis 2, Arkansas-Little Rock 0

Defending C-USA champion Memphis opened the 2008 season with a 2-0 victory over Arkansas-Little Rock. The two Memphis goal scorers were Kylie Hayes whose goal came off of a header 12 minutes and 44 seconds into the first period and Lizzy Simonin who connected with the Tiger's second goal with 6:01 left in the game. The goal marks the first of her collegiate career. More details can be found on the Memphis website.

UTEP 1, Baylor 0

The UTEP soccer team kicked off its 2008 season in fine fashion by defeating Big 12 member Baylor, 1-0, in front a raucous and program-best 1,426 fans at University Field Friday evening. Brandi Aston put the Miners ahead with a goal at the 18th minute, and UTEP's suffocating defense did the rest. It marked the first goal for Aston since the 2006 season and she showed no rust in her return to the pitch after redshirting last year. The Miners limited the Bears to only two shots, both of which came in the latter stages of the game as they frantically sent players ahead. More information can be found on the UTEP website.

Texas-San Antonio 1, Houston 0 (2OT)

Houston dropped a 1-0 decision in double-overtime to UTSA, as the Cougars opened their 2008 season on Friday at Robertson Stadium. The Cougars out shot the Roadrunners, 17-12, but could not find the back of the net. Sophomore Islara Rodriguez led the team with four shots, while sophomore Lauri Byrne and senior Maegan Kiphart each ripped three. For more information, log onto the Houston website.

No. 23 Oklahoma State 3, SMU 0

SMU nationally-ranked Oklahoma State in the second half, 5-4, but fell short in the season opener for each team, 3-0 at Westcott Field on Saturday night. The Mustangs played six freshmen in the game and have 17 freshman and six sophomores on this year's roster.

Senior GK Ashley Gunter made seven saves, including one early on when she foiled a point-blank shot by OSU's All-America candidate, Yolanda Odenyo. Senior D Carley Phillips and freshman F Logan May had two shots each for SMU. For more details, check out the SMU website.

Clemson 1, UAB 0
Auburn 1, UAB 0

UAB women's soccer team fell just short to in-state foe Auburn, 1-0, Sunday evening at the Auburn Soccer Complex. The Blazers move to 0-2 on the year after opening their regular season schedule with a 1-0 loss at Clemson Friday.

For the second consecutive game, freshman Carolyn Polcari led UAB in shots with seven, including four shots on goal. Senior Nadine Liverpool and freshman Tiffini Turpin had two shots each, while juniors Danya Barsalona and Ayana Russell took one shot a piece. Despite the loss, sophomore GK Kate Blankenship recorded 11 saves on the night. More information is available on the UAB website.