Sept. 25, 2007
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Colorado College, East Carolina, Memphis and UTEP are all riding undefeated streaks of three or more matches into the non-conference finales for each. The Pirates have put together a string of six straight shutouts, while improving their season record to 5-1-2. Memphis has won its last four outings, outscoring its opponents 12-1. UTEP is 3-0-1 following the last two weekends, while Colorado College is 2-0-1 with the tie against No. 16 Oklahoma State (0-0).
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Courtney Whidden, UCF
Sophomore, Forward, Palm Harbor, Fla.
Whidden scored two clutch goals in two matches this week, including the game-tying goal with just 2.8 seconds on the clock to tie intrastate rival Miami on Thursday. The sophomore also scored on Saturday as the Knights battled No. 11 Florida State to a 3-3 draw on Saturday. Whidden tallied her seventh goal of the season to pull UCF to within one (3-2) against FSU. She ranks among the top three in Conference USA for points (17) and goals (7). This is Whidden's first weekly award but the third for UCF as teammates Yvonne George and Kelsey Kravec have also been recognized this season.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Geneva Sills, Colorado College
Junior, Goalkeeper, Evanston, Ill.
Sills tallied 11 saves as Colorado College battled host No. 16 Oklahoma State to a scoreless draw on Friday. It was her third shutout of the season and 16th of her career. Sills then had six more stops, including five in the second half, in Sunday's come-from-behind 2-1 victory at Ole Miss. This is the first weekly honor for Sills.
TEAM NOTABLES
COLORADO COLLEGE
Down a goal less than a minute into the match, Colorado College struck twice in a span of 2:05 late in the first half Sunday and held on to defeat host Mississippi, 2-1. Freshman Sydney Fetter was credited with the game-winning goal when her crossing attempt on a set piece deflected off the keeper's hands and into the Rebels net at the 39:13 mark to snap the deadlock. The win, combined with Friday's 0-0 tie at No. 16 Oklahoma State, lifted the Tigers to 4-2-2 for the season and a No. 7 ranking in the NSCAA Central Region and a No. 9 ranking by Soccer Buzz. Junior GK Geneva Sills made 11 saves against OSU to pick up her third shutout of the season. She added six saves, including five in the scoreless second half, to get the win over Old Miss. For her efforts, she was named the C-USA Defensive Player of the Week and earned a spot on the Soccer Buzz Elite Team of the Week. Colorado College wraps up its non-conference season with a 7 p.m. match at TCU on Friday.
EAST CAROLINA
Jessica Swanson and Anastasia Nikas each tallied their first goals of the season to lead East Carolina (5-1-2) to a 2-0 win over in-state rival UNC Wilmington Sunday. The first half was all defense on both sides, as each team tallied just three shots a piece in the first 45 minutes. ECU got on the board in the 54th minute, as Blair Heffner headed a pass from a throw in to Nikas, passing the ball to Swanson to give ECU the 1-0 lead. Momentum remained on the Pirates side, as Amy Szilard was able to draw a foul inside the box, allowing Nikas to shoot a penalty shot with under 10 minutes to play in the game to seal the victory. Szilard also scored a goal Friday. ECU has now won two straight, and is a perfect 5-0 at Bunting Field. Pirate GK Amber Campbell and the Pirate defense have not allowed a goal in 626 minutes, dating back to the team's lone loss of the season (at Charlotte, Sept. 2). The Pirates, who received votes in this week's NSCAA Southeast Regional rankings, close out their non-conference regular season as host to Francis Marion on Saturday afternoon.
HOUSTON
Houston (3-2-1) had its four-game undefeated streak snapped with a 4-0 loss to No. 4 Texas and 4-0 defeat by Texas State over the weekend. Junior GK Shelby Scott set a school record with 15 saves against the Longhorns. The Cougars host Houston Baptist tonight at 7 p.m., then welcome intrastate rivals Texas-San Antonio for a 7 p.m. match on Friday and TCU at 1 p.m. on Sunday. The match with TCU will be Conference USA's first women's soccer game on CSTV this season. The match will be shown on tape delay on Tuesday, Oct. 2 at 10 p.m. Eastern/9 p.m. Central.
MARSHALL
Marshall (3-5) began its five-game road trip with a shutout against non-conference opponent Georgia Southern, 2-0, on Friday. Freshman F Missy Gordon recorded her first goal of the season by putting the Herd on the board first in the 15th minute with a through ball in the left corner from a Julia Axelsson pass. Gordon also tallied two shots on goal. Freshman MF Marisa Leconte also registered her first goal of the season in the 24th minute as she drilled a 20-yard free kick. Sophomore GK Liz Orton tallied seven saves in the shutout against the Eagles. Orton also registered seven saves in Sunday's 4-0 loss to No. 10 South Carolina. Marshall is back on the road for its regular season non-conference finale at Radford on Friday night.
MEMPHIS
Memphis (6-2) is riding a four-game winning streak after posting a pair of shoutout victories over the weekend. Junior Kylie Hayes hit the game winning goal Friday with less than 20 seconds remaining to give the Tigers a 1-0 victory against Ole Miss. Hayes had just come into the match with just 1:20 on the clock for injured teammate freshman Melissa Smith. The game winning goal by Hayes was her second goal of the season, her fifth career game-winner and the 28th goal of her career. Memphis also defeated visiting Mississippi State, 5-0, Sunday. Senior Harumi Someya had two goals in the match to lead all Tigers. Memphis is undefeated (4-0) at home this season. Senior GK Isabel Briones earned her 17th and 18th career shutouts. Memphis, who currently ranks ninth in the NSCAA Central Region, puts its win streak to the test as the Tigers host Missouri State on Sunday at 1 p.m.
RICE
Freshman Kate Edwards assisted on the first goal of the game and scored the game-winner in the 89th minute as Rice (5-3-1) claimed a 2-1 victory over visiting Texas State Friday. Senior Clory Martin drove the corner kick into traffic near the goalkeeper's box and found Edwards breaking clear from seven yards out. Not only did Edwards extend her team-leading goal total to six, she has scored in six of the Owls' last seven games and has two identical streaks of scoring in three-straight games. Edwards also set up the Owls' first goal of the night to help the Blue & Gray take an early lead when she served a long right-to-left crossing pass to Erin Scott sprinting inside the 18-yard line. Scott only needed a quick touch to settle the ball and blast away on a shot from 10-yards out. She went to the right-side netting for her first goal of the season and an early 1-0 lead. Rice begins a four-game homestand Friday, hosting Lamar at 7 p.m. for its final non-conference match of the regular season.
SMU
Junior MF Caitlin Carter blasted the game-winning goal in the second overtime to lift SMU (3-2-1) to a 4-3 victory over visiting TCU. With the win, the Mustangs continued their undefeated streak against the Horned Frogs. In the 27 meetings, SMU has won 25 times and the teams have tied twice. TCU did get on the board first, but the Ponies evened the score in the 36th minute when freshman Kristin Medeiros threaded a long lead pass up the left side of the field to senior F Brittany Vice, who crossed the ball into the middle, where freshman Lauren Shepherd beat the TCU defense to the ball and banked the tying goal in off the left goalpost. Vice was credited with the go-ahead goal when her cross in the 56th minute was redirected into the goal by a TCU defender. SMU extended its lead in the 72nd minute on an unassisted goal by senior MF Allison Brill. TCU didn't go away quietly, scoring off corner kicks in the 75th and 90th minutes off corner kicks, sending the game to overtime. After battling through one scoreless first overtime period, Carter, a converted defender, ended the game in the 105th minute with her first goal of the year, and the second of her career. Junior GK Ashley Gunter collected seven saves, her second-highest total this season, in a 2-0 loss to No. 16 Oklahoma State. OSU scored a pair of first-half goals before Gunter, a member of this year's Hermann Trophy watch list, shut out the high-powered Cowgirls for the final 70 minutes. SMU hosts Sam Houston Sate on Friday night at 7 p.m. CT.
SOUTHERN MISS
Southern Miss (3-5) dropped a 3-0 decision to Alabama Friday, but rebounded with a 5-2 victory against Alabama A&M Sunday. The Golden Eagles struck first in the 22nd minute when junior F Sarah McFadden took a cross from Megan Kolts' corner kick and headed the ball toward the goal. However the ball hit off the leg of an A&M player and was scored as an own goal score. A&M knotted the match in the 36th minute, 1-1. Not to be outdone, McFadden got loose and scored 22 seconds later on a break-away, to get the lead back. McFadden found the back of the net again, when she scored her second goal off a penalty kick in the 37th minute. Freshman Bianca Ontiveros scored her first goals of the season to put the Eagles up, 5-2, off assists from Leigh-Ann Levens and Jana Mason, respectively. Southern Miss will host Southeast Louisiana this Sunday at 2 p.m. CT.
TULSA
Sophomore F Stephanie Johnson registered her first career goal to give Tulsa (2-5-1) a 1-0 shutout victory over Missouri State on Sunday. Johnson's goal came at the 10:21 mark off a pass from sophomore midfielder Courtney Chadney from 12 yards out. The Bears out-shot Tulsa, 13-6, including a 7-4 ratio in shots on goal. Junior goalkeeper Kendall Harclerode recorded seven saves on the day for 47 this season (ranks second in C-USA) and picked up her second shutout of the season. Tulsa will play crosstown rival Oral Roberts tonight at 7 p.m. CT.
UAB
UAB dropped a 2-1 overtime decision to host Samford Sunday. Samford held a 1-0 advantage at the break. UAB came out in the second half and tied the game at one-all in the 55th minute when sophomore Danya Barsalona kicked in the Blazers' first goal of the game, with an assist from sophomore Danielle Blair. The score marked Barsalona's third goal of the season. The two squads battled the remainder of the second half and ended regulation in a 1-1 tie, sending the match into overtime. Senior Sally Palmer led the Blazers with five shots, including three shots on goal, followed by senior Jill Porto with four shots, Barsalona with two and Blair with one. Redshirt freshman GK Kate Blankenship recorded four saves for the Blazers. UAB outshot Kennesaw State, 18-11, but fell to its hosts 1-0, Friday. UAB, in the midst of a six-game road trip, plays at Evansville on Friday night.
UCF
UCF (4-2-2) erased a 3-1 second-half deficit and junior Hanna Wilde notched the game-tying goal with only 3:10 remaining as the Knights battled No. 11 Florida State to a 3-3 tie in Saturday. The double overtime thriller was played in front of 956 fans (the largest home crowd since Nov. 21, 1982, when 1,134 fans saw UCF battle North Carolina in the NCAA Championship). UCF's three goals against the nationally-ranked Seminoles were the most they had given up all season. The Knights hit the net three times on 16 shots for the match, including two in the second overtime. Senior GK Jennifer Manis had a solid second half, making four of her seven saves in the crucial stanza. The Knights wrap up their non-conference regular season as host to Loyola College on Friday night.
UTEP
UTEP (6-2-1) erupted for two goals in a span of less than one minute to break open a 1-1 game at the half and cruise past Idaho, 4-1, to open the eighth-annual Border Shootout Friday. Cortney Casey scored twice, and added an assist, to lead the offensive onslaught. Jo Radcliffe and Jami Tullius also registered goals, while Tameka Sumter and Anoop Josan picked up an assist apiece. Senior GK Jessica Salvi made seven saves, including two spectacular stops in the first half, to key the defensive efforts. UTEP battled New Mexico to a 2-2 tie in the final day of the Border Shootout. The Miners go on the road to close out their non-conference regular season, playing at Fresno State at 6 p.m. PT on Sunday and at Sacramento State Sunday at 11 a.m. PT.
