Oct. 5, 2008

Two double overtime contests and four one-goal decisions highlighted the second weekend of C-USA play. East Carolina, playing its opening four matches on the road, gave up its first conference goal in today's 1-1 tie with UCF. The Pirates do stay atop the league standings with a 3-0-1 record. Colorado College and Rice both picked up a pair of wins over the weekend and are now tied for second place. Rice head coach Chris Huston and UTEP head coach Kevin Cross both earned their 100th career win during the weekend action. SMU had strong performances from its freshman, both on attack and in goal for a win this afternoon, while Marshall had a balanced team attack to put four goals in the net.

Making her first appearance of the season after recovering from an injury, UCF sophomore Lauren Halbert scored the game-tying goal with 1:01 remaining in the match in the Knights 1-1 draw vs. East Carolina Sunday at the UCF Soccer Complex. UCF held a commanding 28-11 lead in shots vs. the Pirates, marking the most shots they racked up in a match since Oct. 21, 2007.

Junior Alexis Foltz scored her third goal in conference play for the Pirates.

Junior Yvonne George continued to be the sparkplug for UCF's goals Sunday. The forward earned her career-high sixth assist by setting up Halbert's game-tying tally. A key contributor off the bench as a freshman in 2007, Halbert finally earned some playing time Sunday and it could not have come at a better time. With George finding a lane into the box on the left-hand side of the pitch, she got past a pair of Pirates and had a great look at the net. With a host of purple jerseys now entering the 18, George decided not to be greedy, looked up and saw Halbert waiting on the opposite wing. A low pass found Halbert perfectly and she hit the mesh from 11 yards out.

A pair of offside calls negated two UCF goals in the match, while the Knights also had a penalty kick attempt sail wide with the score knotted at 0-0 in the second half.

The first six shots of the match all came from UCF, with the sixth attempt a header by junior Courtney Whidden in the 21st minute that Campbell had to lunge to her right to make the save. The Knights then appeared to have scored when sophomore Amanda Martorana hooked up with senior Danielle dos Santos who put it in the back of the net with about 10:30 remaining in the half. However, the celebration was short lived as the offside flag was in the air.

When the second half opened, the Black and Gold once again thought it had the lead on a goal from junior Becca Thomas just a couple minutes in. This time it took even longer from everyone on the field to realize the goal would be called back due to the play being offside. The Knights had another prime opportunity to get the go-ahead marker with 32:59 remaining when dos Santos was fouled in the box to set up a penalty kick. Thomas lined up and had her eye on the left corner only to see her shot sail just wide of the target.

Although UCF secured momentum for the first 66 minutes, an ECU rush in the 67th minute paid off as Alexis Foltz took a pass on the left side and placed her shot just under the cross bar for a 1-0 Pirate advantage. The Knights continued to pressure Campbell in the ECU net the rest of the way and it looked like all of the work the UCF offense put into the match would not bring any C-USA points.

Since UCF possessed the ball most of the afternoon, goalkeeper Aline Reis did not see much action but was still able to collect two saves in the tie. ECU keeper Amber Campbell finished with seven saves. Junior Brianna Schooley had a game-high five shots for the Knights.

More info available on the East Carolina website and the UCF website.

Sophomore forward Tiffany Brown scored a pair of unassisted goals, one in each half, to lead Colorado College to a 2-1 victory over Memphis in Conference USA action at Stewart Field on Sunday. Brown's second tally in the 66th minute snapped a 1-1 deadlock.

Senior GK Geneva Sills backstopped the triumph with nine saves, allowing only a fluke goal that deflected off the head of one of her own defenders after a free kick by UM's Emiko Schwab.

Brown opened the scoring in the 19th minute, stealing the ball in the middle of the final third before dribbling in and rocketing a quick shot from just outside the box.

Memphis senior D Emiko Schwab scored her first goal of 2008 on a free kick in the 37th minute of the first half. Despite Memphis' 13 shot second half effort with seven coming on goal, the Tigers could not connect for a score in the final period. Freshman GK Jordan Boyle made her second start of the weekend and third on the 2008 season, but suffered her first collegiate loss this afternoon.

More details can be found on the Memphis website and the Colorado College website.

Junior MF Shelley Wong scored both Rice goals, including the game-winner with 57 seconds remaining in regulation, to lift the Owls to a 2-1 Conference USA win over visiting Tulsa Sunday afternoon. Wong's performance closed out Rice's six-game homestand, the longest in school history, on a winning note and helped the Owls keep pace in the C-USA standings. The Owls won their third game in a row and moved into a tie for second place in the conference.

Rice opened the scoring in the 21st minute. Freshman forward Amy Beger served a centering pass from the left endline in front of the goalkeeper's box where Wong was patrolling in Tulsa traffic. Wong and the Golden Hurricane defenders collided and fell to the ground while going for the ball. She was still on the ground, but alertly made a stab at the loose ball and punched it in-goal to the right side from close range.

Tulsa battled its way back and tied the game in the second half. In the 78th minute Golden Hurricane forward Jennifer Kacergis intercepted a pass at midfield and made long run with the ball toward the left wing. After a zig-zagging move to elude the Rice defenders, Kacergis hit a shot to the right-side netting for her team-leading fifth goal on the season and a new game, 1-1.

The teams traded offensive chances for the remainder of the period but the contest remained deadlocked. The Owls held a 27-11 advantage in shots at the end of regulation, but Tulsa out-shot Rice 4-3 in the first overtime period and twice came close to goals on a pair of corner kicks. Rice turned the offensive pressure back up in the second overtime and came close to the game-winner on two occasions. Tulsa made a play for save on a shot by Erin Scott in the 102nd minute. In the 104th, a header by Kate Edwards' header went wide just wide.

As the game ticked into the 110th minute, Rice made a final try. Scott took the ball toward the right endline and as the Golden Hurricane defenders surrounded the threat, Scott played the ball back up top toward the front left side of the goal. Wong stepped-in and blasted her sixth shot attempt of the day from 10-yards away to the back of the Tulsa net. The native of Virginia Beach, Va., notched the game-winner with 57 seconds left in the second OT for her team-leading seventh goal of the season.

It was the third time this season for Wong to score two goals in a game. She's no stranger to the feat, and the Owls are no stranger to hard-fought matches with Tulsa. Win or lose, the difference in every Rice-Tulsa game since the Owls started its soccer program in 2001 has been by narrow one-goal margins. What is new is that Rice had claimed wins over both longtime rivals SMU and Tulsa in the same season for the first time in school history.

On Friday, head coach Chris Huston earned her 100th career victory when the Owls defeated SMU, 2-1.

More info available on the Rice website and the Tulsa website.

Marshall concluded its eight-match road trip victorious against Southern Miss Sunday afternoon at the Marshall Bell Track and Soccer Complex. The Thundering Herd shut out the Golden Eagles, 4-0.

It was the second shutout of the season for the Herd, with the first being against Mount St. Mary's in August, at Emmitsburg, Md., 4-0. Sunday afternoon's match also marked the first-time since 2003 the Herd has won two league matches. Marshall finished its 2003 season 2-1-0 in the Mid-American Conference. Last season, Marshall earned its first C-USA victory over Houston, 2-0, at Sam Hood Field.

Junior transfer Rebecca Voss scored her first goal of the season in the 10th minute as she rebounded off an Angela DeSumma corner kick.

Marshall quickly took a 2-0 lead after Missy Gordon drilled her third goal of the season from 20-yards out at the 21:14 mark. The sophomore placed it close to the post in the upper part of the net from a Kristen Berquist pass.

The Herd's freshman transfer Erin Blakely recorded her third goal of the season in the 29th minute, with assists from DeSumma and senior Ali Lizotte.

Marshall closed the first half with 14 shots, six on goal, while Southern Miss only had two shots.

Lizotte opened second half play with her second goal of the season in the 53rd minute. The midfielder placed the ball in the upper far corner off a Gordon corner kick.

DeSumma, the nation's 30th-ranked assists leader, also added two shots on goal in the winning effort. The freshman now has eight assists so far this season.

Forward Erika Duncan improved to 35 shots so far this season with four against Southern Miss. Co-captain keeper Liz Orton had 71 minutes with no saves between the pipes. The Black and Gold's Holly Cox had four saves and Hannah Vanderboegh notched five saves. Freshman keeper Lauren Roberts recorded the Herd's only save and her second save in her Marshall career.

For more information visit theMarshall website and the Southern Miss website.

SMU freshmen Logan May and Devon Herrman scored for the Mustangs, and freshman GK Courtney Webb picked up her second career victory in a 2-1 road victory over Conference USA foe Houston.

The Mustangs fell behind just before halftime when UH got a goal from Islara Rodriguez. But the Mustangs got the equalizer in the 49th minute when May collected a pass from freshman MF Kaitlyn Eidson and beat UH netminder Shelby Scott for her second goal of the season.

Herrman then put the Ponies ahead to stay in the 69th minute with an unassisted goal, her second of the season. She had a shot saved by Scott but buried the rebound, giving the Ponies the lead they never would relinquish.

More information can be found on the SMU website and the Houston website.

Behind goals from Jo Radcliffe and Chelsea Winbush, UTEP knocked off UAB, 2-1, in a wind and rain-soaked match at University Field Sunday afternoon. The effort afforded head coach Kevin Cross his 100th career win, with his record now standing at a staggering 100-47-6. The accomplishment is the latest of many for Cross, who has guided the Miners to a program-best six straight seasons of 10 or more victories.

Cara Nordin played a large role in the triumph, controlling the middle of the pitch for UTEP. She also secured her team-leading fourth and fifth assists on the campaign, setting up both Radcliffe and Winbush with breath-taking passes.

The Miners' stop troops had the ultimate bend but don't mentality, coming up with the big plays when they needed them most. Freshmen GKs Sara Kaltwasser and Chandra Morden registered six saves, including five in the first half, to help lead the way.

Pace of play was slow at the onset of the match, with the teams adjusting to the challenging conditions. The majority of the action was contested at or around midfield for a good portion of the opening stanza. The teams were more than satisfied to trade possessions, not wanting to commit any unnecessary turnovers to spark an odd-person rush.

UAB managed to generate some chances in spite of the climate, but Kaltwasser was on top of her game. She denied five different Blazers in the opening 45 minutes, including three saves in an eight-minute span.

As the half wore on, the Miners started to figure out how to play amidst the challenging conditions. UTEP's first good chance of the match was courtesy of Melissa Desilets. The sophomore stole a ball from a Blazer defender and fired in on net. UAB netminder Kate Blankenship was perfectly positioned to make the stop, keeping the match scoreless.

Undeterred, the Miners started to possess the ball and dominate possession. The relentless pressure would finally pay off with nine minutes remaining, courtesy of brilliant soccer. Off a set piece, Nordin lobbed a ball into the box.

Radcliffe elevated above the pack, hammering a header that blistered into the upper 90's portion of the net, affording the Miners a 1-0 advantage in the process.

UAB mounted an offensive opportunity of its own in the waning seconds, but a blast by Laura McCalla sailed high.

The first few minutes of the second half mirrored the opening period, as Mother Nature forced both teams to be quite passive in their approach.

UAB would find a way to tie the match, though, at the 57-minute mark on a strange play. A foul on the Miners afforded the Blazers a free kick from just past midfield. Carolyn Polcari lobbed a ball toward the box, hoping to set up a teammate for a header. The wind carried the ball, and it took a wicked hop just over the out-stretched fingers of Kaltwasser into the back of the net.

The Miners remained composed and committed to the game plan in spite of the unlucky tally. The smart, patient approach would prove to be the proper one, as the Orange and Blue vaulted back ahead for good a mere seven minutes later.

Nordin dazzled the Blazers defenders and left them in their tracks with some nifty dribbling. She then deftly touched a pass to a cutting Winbush, who drilled it into the back of the net in a one-timer fashion.

More information is available on the UTEP website and theUAB website.