Sept. 21, 2008

UTEP improved to 7-0-0 at home, winning a pair of matches against Air Force (2-1) and Northern Colorado (3-1) to earn the Border Shootout title. Houston, Memphis, Rice and SMU also picked up victories over the weekend - the final weekend before conference play opens next Friday, September 26. Marshall played two double overtime matches that ended in the Thundering Herd's third and fourth ties of the season to close out the non-conference portion of the regular season with a 2-2-4 record.

UTEP 2, Air Force 1
UTEP 3, Northern Colorado 1

A balanced offensive attack and a strong defensive effort across the board proved to be a winning combination for UTEP against Northern Colorado in the championship match of the Border Shootout, as the Miners toppled the Bears 3-1 at University Field Sunday afternoon. UTEP moves to 7-2 on the year by virtue of its second successive victory while UNC falls to 5-5-0. Furthermore, the Miners have now claimed the crown at the Border Shootout six times in nine tries.

Brandi Aston, Cortney Casey and Chelsea Winbush each scored for the Orange and Blue. It was an unselfish offensive onslaught from the Miners, with Aston, Casey, Melissa Desilets, Brittany Vacca and Winbush all picking up assists. Freshman goalkeeper Chandra Morden registered six saves to lead the stop troops.

The first tally was the result of picture-perfect execution by the Orange and Blue's offense. Vacca sent a well-placed ball toward a streaking Aston along the wing on the right side. The senior corralled it and then laced a pass that landed on the right foot of Winbush. She took one dribble and then rifled the shot past a helpless UNC netminder Kirsten Salminen to afford the Miners a 1-0 lead at the 33rd minute.

Before UNC could even react to Winbush's second goal in as many games, the Miners were knocking at the door. This time it the junior was occupying the role of playmaker. After drawing in the defense, she deftly touched a thru ball to Casey, who rocketed a shot past a diving Salminen.

The Bears would slice the Miners' lead in half on a quirky play with three minutes remaining in the period, but the onset of the second half was mirrored the opening minutes of the first half. UNC created a few chances early on (three corner kicks within the first five minutes), but the Miners' defense won each of the balls in the air to preserve their 2-1 edge. Inspired by the solid play of the defense, UTEP picked up its level of play on the other end of the pitch. The Miners started to control possession, thanks to solid play in the midfield by the likes of Cara Nordin and Jordan Freiberg.

More information can be found on the UTEP website.

Memphis 2, Mississippi State 1

On a rain drenched field in Starkville, Miss., Memphis defeated Mississippi State in a 2-1 contest Friday night. GK Jordan Boyle collected her first victory tonight in her first start of her collegiate career. Boyle amassed nine saves and only allowed one goal in the contest.

The Lady Tigers struck first with 39:24 left in the first half, Laura Laufenberg took a corner kick from the right side and launched it across the box. Senior defender Emiko Schwab was there to head the ball home for her first goal of the season and the Lady Tigers' first goal of the game.

Less than five minutes later with 35:19 showing on the game clock, freshman forward Lizzy Simonin took a rebound off to the left of the goal from a Laura Laufenberg shot and deposited her third goal of the season in the back of the net. The Lady Tigers would carry the 2-0 lead into halftime.

Shortly after he half, lightning strikes delayed the game from 8:00 p.m. to 8:34 p.m. The storm would soak the Mississippi State Soccer Field for the remainder of the game.

With only 12:30 left in the game, the Bulldogs pulled within one goal of the Lady Tigers, but with the score 2-1 there was not enough time for the Bulldogs to capitalize on another scoring opportunity. More details can be found on the Memphis website.

Houston 1, Texas State 0

After battling through more than 80 minutes of scoreless action, sophomore Jessica Rathweg found the back of the net to lift Houston to a 1-0 win over Texas State on Friday. Houston posted its fourth straight win, and after battling injuries to several key players early in the season, seems to have found a rhythm on the field.

The Cougars tallied the game's lone score in the 84th minute off a corner kick. Freshman free kick specialist Stephanie Derieg took the corner finding Rathweg, who headed the ball past the goalkeeper for the game-winner and her first collegiate goal.

Senior captain Shelby Scott notched her third straight shutout. So far this season, Scott has allowed just two goals in more than 460 minutes of action for a Conference USA best 0.39 goals against average. The Cougars outshot Texas State 14-7. But, with the game on the line in the second half, the Houston defense tightened up, holding the Bobcats to only a pair of shots in the final 45 minutes.

More information can be found on the Houston website.

Rice 4, McNeese State 1
Texas A&M 2, Rice 1

Rice sophomore Kate Edwards scored the lone goal for the Owls in a close 2-1 decision against No. 8 Texas A&M. The midfielder from Westlake Village, Calif., converted a sensational header on a corner kick in the 50th minute from freshman Hope Ward to the back of the Aggie net from just over 10 yards in front of the goal. The goal knotted-up the game.

Edwards was the team leader in goals (10) a year ago. It took seven games and 20 shots to get her first goal of 2008, but it was a big one. There was still some 40 minutes left in regulation and A&M continued to apply the offensive pressure. The Aggies out-shot Rice 10-3 in the second half (17-5 for the full game), but Owl goalkeeper Meghan Erkel posted six saves on the day to keep the score deadlocked. She deflected four hard shots over the top of the crossbar and knocked away at least that many more on A&M's eight corner kicks.

Rice was scheduled to play a road game at Lamar on Tuesday night, but the match was cancelled due to damage of the field due to Hurricane Ike. More info available on the Rice website.

SMU 1, Cal State Fullerton 0
USC 4, SMU 0

Freshman forward Logan May scored her first collegiate goal Friday night, and she made it count, as the goal lifted SMU to a 1-0 win at Cal State-Fullerton, which had been ranked in the top 25 earlier this season, and received votes for this week's National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll. The teams battled to a scoreless halftime intermission, thanks in part to senior goalkeeper Ashley Gunter, who made five saves in the first half.

May then put the Ponies ahead to stay in the 57th minute, when she punched in a crossing pass from fellow freshman Kaitlyn Eidson.

On Sunday, SMU dropped a 4-0 decision to defending champion USC. For more details, check out the SMU website.

Marshall 2, Murray State 2 (2OT)
Marshall 1, Ohio 1 (2OT)

Marshall took a 1-1 double overtime tie with host Ohio University Sunday as the Thundering Herd recorded its fourth double overtime draw and advanced to 2-2-4 so far for the season.

The Herd scored first in the 20th minute from junior Molly Snead as she chipped it in from the top right of the box. The forward has tallied two goals so far this season. She also registered six shots on goal in the match. Sophomores Missy Gordon and Kristen Berquist assisted on Marshall's goal. Gordon also had one shot.

Sophomore Erika Duncan tallied five shots, with one on goal. Senior Ali Lizotte had four shots, with one being on goal. The Herd dominated play with 18 shots, nine on goal despite the draw. The Bobcats had nine shots, with six being on goal. Co-captain keeper Liz Orton had five saves.

More info available on the Marshall website.

Coastal Carolina 2, East Carolina 1

East Carolina lost at home for the first time this season, dropping a 2-1 result to Coastal Carolina on Sunday afternoon at Bunting Field. The Pirates fall to 5-3-0 on the season to mark the end of non-conference play for ECU.

Coastal Carolina jumped on top in the 13th minute when, after winning a corner kick. It was the first goal scored by an opposing team at Bunting Field this season. East Carolina responded less than five minutes later. Nicole Moore took a corner from the right side and found senior Madison Keller, who headed the ball just past Chanticleer net minded Amy Haggard and into the right side netting to tie the contest.

Freshman Kimmy Cummings nearly gave the Pirates the lead going into halftime when she found herself one-on-one with Haggard. Her initial shot found its way past Haggard but the keeper recovered, smothering the ball for a goal kick.

Coastal Carolina finally broke through in the 79th minute, although the Pirates had two great chances to tie the contest in the final 10 minutes as freshman Amanda Malkiewicz blistered a shot that forced Haggard to leap and push the ball over the bar. Then, with 30 seconds left, senior Savanna Russo lifted a beautiful ball into the box that found Keller's head, but the ensuing shot fell harmlessly into Haggard's gloves.

More info available on the East Carolina website.

Kansas 3, UCF 2

Concluding its 2008 non-conference schedule, the No. 18 UCF women's soccer team suffered a 3-2 loss to No. 21 Kansas Friday at the UCF Soccer Complex. The Knights will now bring a 5-2-1 overall record into Conference USA play next weekend.

The loss to the Jayhawks was UCF's first at home since the 2006 season, snapping a string of 16-straight (12-0-4) home victories, while it also ended the Knights' overall unbeaten streak at six matches (5-0-1). The Knights completed the evening with a season-high 22 shots, 10 of which were on goal. They busted out for 16 attempts in the second half alone. Conversely, Kansas had 16 shots for the game, nine in the final half.

With a large crowd on hand, they quickly had reason to cheer as the Knights got on the board in the ninth minute. Controlling the action on the left side, junior Yvonne George found a lane and snuck past the Kansas defense. Although still far from the net and keeper Julie Hanley, George ripped a 31-yard shot just over Hanley's outstretched paws and into the top right corner. It was her second goal of the season.

However, the lead would not hold up. Off a corner in the 26th minute, Katie Williams headed a perfect ball past freshman Aline Reis and into the back of the net to even things at 1-1. The Jayhawks then grabbed the lead in the 39th minute on a 10-yard shot from Kelsey Clifton.

Although it trailed going into the break, UCF's offense still secured chances in the second half with junior Becca Thomas and senior Danielle dos Santos each putting shots on net. But each time Hanley was there to help KU keep the one-goal advantage. Dos Santos was again pressuring in the 60th minute and as she crept into the box, drew a foul to help UCF earn a penalty kick.

As Thomas set up for the potential tying goal, Hanley stayed in position to turn aside the initial attempt. But Thomas rushed in for the rebound and easily snuck it home to make it 2-2. It was her team-leading fourth of the year.

For more, check out the UCF website.

Illinois 2, Colorado College 0
Purdue 2, Colorado College 1

Colorado College dropped its first two matches of the season, but both losses were on the road to nationally-ranked opponents. The Tigers, who debuted at No. 23 in the Soccer America poll this week, were shutout by Illinois, 2-0, on Friday. CC got on the board Sunday, but lost to host Purdue, 2-1.

For more information, go to the Colorado College website.

Vanderbilt 4, UAB 1

UAB fell to Vanderbilt, 4-1, Sunday afternoon at the Vanderbilt Soccer Complex. The match served as the Blazers' final non-conference game of the season. UAB moves to 2-6 on the year and Vanderbilt improves to 6-1-1.

Vanderbilt got on the board first in the 17th minute and struck again in the 26th minute, but UAB tightened the score to 2-1 in the 29th minute when junior forward Danya Barsalona capitalized on a penalty kick. More information is available on the UAB website.

Mississippi State 2, Southern Miss 1

Southern Miss fell in what turned out to be an offensive loaded game, 2-1, to Mississippi State at the Southern Miss Soccer Complex Sunday.

Southern Miss (4-3-1) came out shooting from the opening kick and did not let up firing 21 total shots, including seven on goal. Senior Sarah McFadden led the attack with 11 shots, six on goal and scored her third goal of the season. The Bulldogs managed 12 total shots on the afternoon, five on goal. The Golden Eagles have tallied 58 shots over the last three games.

McFadden took the feed from Bianca Ontiveros who served the ball in from the right wing perfectly to McFadden allowing her to one-touched it past the State keeper for an early 1-0 lead in the 13th minute.

However Mississippi State answered with a pair of goals before the intermission.

For more details, check out the Southern Miss website.

Tulsa played crosstown rival Oral Roberts to a 2-2 tie during a midweek contest in TU's final non-conference match of the season. The Golden Hurricane was idle over the weekend closed out its season with a 5-3-1 record.

For more, check out the Tulsa website.