Oct. 16, 2007
Memphis, Rice, UCF and UTEP remain undefeated after the first two weeks of conference play. There is a full slate of conference games scheduled for both Friday and Sunday as teams jockey for a spot in position in the 2007 Conference USA Women's Soccer Championship, scheduled Nov. 7-11 in El Paso, Texas.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Danielle dos Santos, UCF
Junior, F, Campinas, Brazil
Coming off the bench in both of the Knights' road matches this weekend, dos Santos picked up an assist in a 4-0 shutout of Tulsa and was involved in all five goals in a 5-0 victory at SMU. The junior transfer registered a hat trick against the conference preseason favorite Mustangs and became the 33rd player in school history to notch a hat trick. Her eight points tied for the fifth-best single-match performance in school history and ranks second in Conference USA (just one point shy of the league record).
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Jennifer Manis, UCF
Senior, Goalkeeper, Pensacola, Fla.
For the second-straight weekend, Manis shut out both C-USA opponents, with a 4-0 blanking of Tulsa and a 5-0 triumph over SMU. Manis needed to make eight saves in the win at Tulsa, then five at SMU. In the match with the Mustangs, four of those five saves came in the pivotal first half, which allowed UCF to go into halftime with a 2-0 lead. In three years with the Knights, Manis now has 149 stops, which stand at fifth place on the career charts. Meanwhile, Manis has five shutouts in 2007 and has not allowed a goal in the last 415:20. This is her first Player of the Week honor of the season and third of her career.
TEAM NOTABLES
COLORADO COLLEGE
Colorado College (6-4-2, 1-2-0 C-USA) roared out of the gate with tallies by sophomore Emily Beans and Sydney Fetter in the opening 15 minutes of play, and appeared to be in complete control until UTEP got on the scoreboard with just 16 seconds remaining in the first half. Colorado College finished with a 23-17 advantage in overall shots, including a 13-5 spread in the first half, but dropped a 3-2 decision to the visiting Miners on Saturday afternoon. GK Geneva Sills made six saves on the afternoon. The Tigers, tied for ninth in the NSCAA/adidas Central Region, is on the road this weekend for important conference matches at Southern Miss and UCF.
EAST CAROLINA
For the third time this season, East Carolina (7-2-3, 1-1-1) battled to a 0-0 tie, this time at Marshall Sunday afternoon at Sam Hood Field. Senior Anastasia Nikas led the Pirates with three shots, two on goal. ECU registered 15 total shots on the day, six on goal. In the first overtime, it was all East Carolina offensively, as they tallied three shots while not allowing a Herd shot. East Carolina puts its perfect 6-0-0 home record on the line as the Pirates host Houston on Friday and Rice on Sunday.
HOUSTON
Houston (4-7-1, 0-3-0 C-USA) was shut out by Memphis and UAB over the weekend. GK Shelby Scott still leads the conference in saves and ranks 31st nationally, making 6.75 stops per game this season. The Cougars hit the road this weekend for matches at East Carolina Friday and Marshall on Sunday.
MARSHALL
Marshall (3-8-1, 0-2-1) snapped a four-game losing with a 0-0 tie against a tough East Carolina team. Senior F Kassie Hollman led the Herd with three shots, two being placed on goal. Marshall tallied 14 shots, with eight on goal. The Herd was not allowed a shot in the first overtime period. In a momentum shift, it was Marshall who led the second overtime in shots, as they had five compared to ECU's one. Sophomore GK Liz Orton had six saves in the double overtime tie and needs just 11 more to better her total from last season. Marshall remains at home to host Rice on Friday and Houston on Sunday.
MEMPHIS
Memphis (9-2-1, 2-0-1) ended its seven-game winning streak, but remain undefeated in the last eight contests after battling to a 1-1 tie on the road at Rice. Junior MF Emiko Schwab scored Memphis' first goal of the match to give them the lead early on, but it did not hold as the match ended in a tie. Schwab received a long left cross from senior Harumi Someya about eight yards out and connected with the net, 21 minutes into the match. She scored three goals over the weekend, including two in Fridays win against Houston, 3-0. Senior GK Isabel Briones had eight saves in the match, including two saves in the overtime periods, to hold the Owls off. The Tigers lead the conference and rank 13th nationally, averaging 2.58 goals per game this season. Memphis, who now ranks eighth in the NSCAA/adidas Central Region, hosts Tulsa and preseason favorite SMU this weekend.
RICE
Senior F Clory Martin scored a goal in the 81st minute mark, to bring Saturday's match with Memphis to a 1-1 tie Sunday. Rice (8-3-2, 2-0-1) is undefeated in its last four outings as the match ended with the knotted score. Martin received a cross five feet in front of the goal from sister Beth Martin. Freshman GK Meghan Erkel tallied 13 saves during the Owls' two weekend games. Rice improved to 7-0-1 at home this season and moved into a tie or ninth place in the NSCAA/adidas Central Region rankings. Rice concluded a four-game homestand and is on the road this weekend for matches at Marshall on Friday and East Carolina on Sunday.
SMU
The Mustangs (5-5-1, 1-3-0) were unable to hit the net this weekend and lost a pair of contests to visiting Southern Miss and UCF. After battling Southern Miss to a scoreless tie at the half, SMU cranked up its attack in the second half, outshooting the Golden Eagles, 9-2 - including two shots that hit the goalpost and crossbar - but were unable to slip a shot past the Southern Miss goalkeeper. SMU GK Ashley Gunter, a preseason Hermann Trophy nominee, made five saves, while Kimber Bailey, Brittainy Vice and Kim Peabody led the Mustangs with three shots apiece. Next up, SMU faces defending C-USA champion UAB on Friday and Memphis on Sunday.
SOUTHERN MISS
Southern Miss (6-7, 2-2) finished the weekend 1-1 in C-USA play. The Eagles defeated SMU 1-0 when junior F Sarah Mc Fadden found the back of the net in the 35th minute on a crossing pass from Bianca Ontiveros. The goal was McFadden's fifth goal of the season and she ranks eighth in all-time points (40), seventh in goals (17), third in game-winning goals (5), fifth in shots attempted (121), second in shots per game (2.88), eighth in shots on goal (52) and third in SOG per game (1.24). It was the first time since the 2000 season that Southern Miss has won consecutive league affairs. Southern Miss returns home to welcome Colorado College and UTEP for weekend matches.
TULSA
Tulsa (3-10-1, 1-3-0) posted a 1-0 shutout victory over Southern Miss on Sunday afternoon at the Hurricane Soccer and Track Stadium. Sophomore MF Emily McElrath headed in a goal off a corner kick taken by Kelley German with only 1:17 ticked off the clock. McElrath's goal was her first goal of the season and of her career. Junior Rachel Robinson made her goalkeeper debut for Tulsa. She played all 90 minutes, and tallied five saves in the contest for her first shutout. The Golden Hurricane is on the road for games at Memphis on Friday and at UAB on Sunday.
UAB
UAB (5-6-1, 1-2-0) picked up its first Conference USA victory of the season Sunday evening, blanking Houston, 5-0, at Robertson Stadium. Senior F Sally Palmer led the Blazers' attack with two goals and one assist against the Cougars. Palmer got things started for the Blazers in the ninth minute of the contest by scoring off of a throw in to put UAB up early, 1-0. In the second half, sophomore Danya Barsalona increased UAB's lead by tallying her fifth goal of the season in the 61st minute, with the assist going to senior Jenny Meyer. UAB went up 3-0 on the Cougars just over a minute later when senior Jill Porto found the back of the net in the 62nd minute, assisted by sophomores Allison Auchter and Caitlin Marple. The Blazers continued their offensive attack and scored their fourth goal of the match in the 83rd minute when freshman Justine Hartigan, assisted by Palmer and freshman Morgan Haney, put one in off of a throw in and through the midfield. Palmer, who scored UAB's opening goal of the game, also scored its final goal in the 88th minute when she headed the ball in the net, with sophomore Toni Gockel assisting, to make the final score 5-0. Redshirt freshman GK Kate Blankenship earned the win in goal for UAB by earning her fifth shutout of the season and recording two saves. UAB returns home to host SMU on Friday and Tulsa on Sunday.
UCF
UCF (9-2-2, 4-0-0) extended its win streak to five straight (and seven undefeated matches), outscoring Tulsa and SMU, 4-0 and 5-0, respectively. UCF has not surrendered a goal in its first four conference matches in 2007, a feat not accomplished since 1999 when it shutout all nine Atlantic Sun foes during that year. Sunday's victory at SMU also marked the ninth-straight season that they posted a winning streak of at least five games. A lot of the offensive production against SMU came from junior transfer Danielle Dos Santos, who earned C-USA Offensive Player of the Week honors for her performance. Dos Santos got into the game with less than 17 minutes remaining in the first half, and went on to become the 33rd player in UCF history to notch a hat trick and first in more than five years. She added two assists for an eight-point affair, which tied for fifth all-time. She fell two points shy of matching Kelly Kochevar's UCF record for points in a match, as the former Knight scored five goals for 10 points vs. Stetson in 1993. Sophomore Brianna Schooley was a threat as well, registering her second two-goal performance of 2007. On defense, senior GK Jennifer Manis made five saves, four in the first half, to record her fifth shutout and picked up C-USA Defensive Player of the Week honors. She moved her season total in saves to 67, which ranks 10th in UCF single-season history. In three years with the Knights, Manis now has 149 stops, which stand at fifth place on the career charts. Schooley opened the scoring by converting on a centering pass from dos Santos, then dos Santos tallied her first of the afternoon on an eight-yard shot in the 40th minute off an assist from freshman Amanda Martorana. In the second half, Schooley teamed up with dos Santos again in the 68th minute when she dribbled through three Mustangs and fired a shot into the left part of the net. Less than two minutes later, dos Santos added goal No. 2 on a loose ball in the box with junior Jessica Jackson picking up the helper. She completed the hat trick in the 74th minute by placing a shot into the upper left corner after evading two defenders. Sophomore Sarah de Leon received credit for the assist on UCF's fifth and final goal. The Knights rank eighth in the NSCAA Southeast regional rankings. UCF returns home and puts its unbemished record on the line ith conference matches against UTEP and Colorado College.
UTEP
Senior F Jami Tulius and Cara Nordin combined for a pair of goals just 61 seconds apart midway through the second half Saturday, lifting the visiting Miners (9-4-1, 3-0-0) to a 3-2 victory over Colorado College in a heated Conference USA battle at CC's Stewart Field. The Tigers roared out of the gate with two tallies in the opening 15 minutes of play, and appeared to be in complete control until sophomore Anoop Josan put UTEP on the scoreboard with just 16 seconds remaining in the first half. Senior GK Jessica Salvi made 11 saves in the match. UTEP is back on the road this weekend for a pair of games. The Miners travel two time zones to play at UCF Friday in a battle for the top spot in the C-USA standings, then Sunday at Southern Miss.
