Oct. 28, 2007

Colorado College picked up a pair of wins this weekend, as the Tigers, Rice and UTEP joined Memphis and UCF to clinch a berth to the 2007 C-USA Women's Soccer Championship Nov 7-11 in El Paso,Texas. UCF, coming off it first conference loss of the season, handed Memphis a 2-1 double overtime defeat to move back into the top of the C-USA standings. SMU also earned its second win of the weekend with a 2-0 shutout of Houston this afternoon.

UCF 2, Memphis 1 (2ot)

Memphis and UCF battled into double overtime before the Knights handed UofM its first conference loss and first home loss.

Twenty seconds into the second overtime period, UCF's Courtney Whidden connected with the ball from about 25 yards out, to give the Knights the win. UCF got on the board first with a header from Sarah DeLeon, five minutes into the match. With an assist from Hanna Wilde, DeLeon netted the ball in from five yards out.

Defender Caroline Barrett got the Tigers on the scoreboard with a kick from 25 yards out, after connecting on an assist from Krista Turner, to bring the game to, 1-1.

At the end of regulation, the match was tied 1-1. It was a tough game as both teams combined for 26 fouls. Memphis led on shots with 18, while they held the Knights to six.

The Tigers have wrapped up their 2007 home season play. They went 9-1, posting their best record ever at home, and snapped a 13-game unbeaten streak at home.

Rice 1, Tulsa 0

Rice used an early score from Korey Taylor, and goalkeeper Meghan Erkel with the Owl defenders made the margin stand up on the way to a 1-0 Conference USA road win over host Tulsa. With the victory, Rice (10-5-2, 4-2-1 C-USA) clinched a spot in the league's postseason tournament that begins Nov. 7 in El Paso.

Fighting a streak of more than 200 consecutive minutes since their last goal, the Owls came out and grabbed the lead early against Tulsa. In the sixth minute of the game, senior Beth Martin served a direct free kick from the left wing toward crowd in front of the Tulsa goal. The Golden Hurricane keeper came out to make a grab at the incoming ball but it deflected away near the mouth of the goal.

Taylor opportunistically charged in on the bounding ball and needed just one touch touch to blast a shot to the back of the net. The goal was Taylor's fourth of the year and would be all the margin the Blue & Gray would need. Rice out-shot Tulsa 17-5 for the game, including 8-3 for shots on-goal with a 7-2 advantage in corner kicks.

The Rice defense continued its steady play to preserve the team's sixth shutout of the season. The defenders, led by starters Martin, Lindsay Jaggers, Kellen Schugart and Katelyn Ostendorf have not allowed more than five shots in any of the team's last three games. Meghan Erkel, the Owls' freshman keeper, made three saves in notching the complete game shutout.

Southern Miss 1, UAB 0

Southern Miss snapped UAB's four-game win streak with a 1-0 victory over the Blazers in UAB's (8-7-1, 4-3-0 C-USA) final home game of the season for the Blazers. It marked the first win for Southern Miss (8-9-0, 4-4-0 C-USA) over the Blazers since the 2000 season.

The Blazers and the Golden Eagles battled to a 0-0 tie at halftime, with UAB gaining an 11-3 advantage in shots during the first half.

The lone score of the game came during the 65th minute when Southern Miss' Bianca Ontiveros netted an unassisted goal to break the tie and give the Golden Eagles the 1-0 win over UAB.

The Blazers held a whopping 21-4 advantage in shots, including 7-1 in shots on goal. Freshman Justine Hartigan paced UAB with six shots on the day, while senior Jill Porto put up three and seniors Sally Palmer and Katie Henricks, along with sophomore Danya Barsalona, added two each.

Renee Hrapmann tallied two of the Golden Eagles' four shots, while Ontiveros and Amy Skeet accounted for one apiece.

Anna Fiser grabbed seven saves while earning the win in goal for Southern Miss. Redshirt freshman Kate Blankenship received the loss in goal for the Blazers.

SMU 2, Houston 0

Junior goalkeeper Ashley Gunter notched her second straight shutout - thanks in large part to her save of a second-half penalty kick - to lead SMU to a 2-0 win over Houston at Westcott Field.

The Mustangs were dominant from start to finish, outshooting the Cougars, 22-4. SMU improves to 7-7-1 on the season and 3-5-0 in Conference USA games, while UH slips to 4-10-2 overall and 0-6-1 in C-USA games.

Junior Marisa Schieda scored the game-winning goal for the Ponies when she charged forward and knocked in a corner kick by Brittainy Vice in the 32nd minute to give SMU a 1-0 lead that held up into the second half.

The Mustangs maintained that lead while peppering the UH goal with shots until an SMU hand ball gave Houston a penalty kick. Gunter dove to her right, turning away Christine Nieva's shot toward the corner to preserve the shutout.

SMU then got an insurance goal when senior forward Jena Lind threaded a long lead pass through the UH defense to freshman forward Lauren Shepherd, who beat Houston goalkeeper Shelby Scott inside the left post to ice the win for the Mustangs.

Colorado College 7, Marshall 0

Nine different Colorado College players collected at least one point as the Tigers clinched a Conference USA championship berth with a 7-0 victory over Marshall.

Freshman forward Tiffany Brown fueled the triumph with a pair of goals and an assist. Brown scored her team-leading fourth game winner of the season just 28 seconds into the match, then converted on a penalty kick at 24:18 to bump the lead to 2-0.

CC, which held a 4-0 advantage by halftime, also got solo tallies from Emily , Lisa Balsama, Amara Wilson, Megan Currey and Meredith Smith to improve to 9-4-3 overall and 4-2-1 in league play with two matches remaining in the regular season. The Thundering Herd dropped to 4-11-1 overall and 1-5-1 in C-USA.

The seven goals marked Colorado College's biggest offensive explosion in 12 seasons, since a 7-0 shutout of Wisconsin-Green Bay on Oct. 6, 1995.

East Carolina 1, UTEP 1 (2ot)

In a hard-fought match, UTEP rallied from a 1-0 halftime deficit to earn a 1-1 tie against visiting East Carolina (9-3-4, 3-2-2). Sophomore Anoop Josan scored on a laser beam blast off a free kick at the 67-minute mark to force overtime. The Miners go to 10-6-2, 4-2-1 C-USA, on the year and assures UTEP a spot in the Conference USA Championship, which will be held in El Paso from Nov. 7-11.

UTEP dominated possession of play and registered eight shots on goal compared to just three for the Pirates. Senior goaltender Brittany Popoff, who replaced Jessica Salvi at halftime, finished with two saves. ECU's Amber Campbell made seven stops.

As expected, there was a defensive tone at the beginning of the match. UTEP managed the first offensive chance of the match eight minutes in, with Cortney Casey testing Campbell. The ECU keeper was up to the task, making the relatively easy save.

At the other end of the pitch, Salvi came off her line twice to intercept crosses before the Pirates were able to get to the ball.

With a little more than 13 minutes to play in the half, the Pirates were the beneficiaries of a strange play that afforded them a 1-0 lead. Alexis Foltz lofted a shot toward the net that knuckled in on Salvi. The ball hung in the air, and Salvi mistimed her jump. The senior momentarily got her hands on the ball, but it trickled out and into the back of the net.

At the 58-minute mark, the Miners nearly found the equalizer. Off a set piece, Casey lobbed a ball into the box. The ball bounced off Campbell, but she recovered to grab it before Jami Tullius could bury the rebound.

UTEP continued to pressure, with Casey lifting a cross to the far post intended for Hamson. The freshman was unable to get her head on the ball, however, and the ball sailed out of bounds.

The persistent attack paid off in the form of the match-tying-goal with a little more than 23 minutes to play in the half. A hand ball on ECU afforded the Miners a free kick just outside the box. Josan stood over the ball and unleashed an absolute rocket that sailed over the wall and into upper 90's territory past a helpless Campbell.

The tally energized an already fired-up UTEP squad, which continued to control possession and play in the Pirates' portion of the pitch.

Nordin vied to vault the Miners ahead with 15 minutes to play, but Campbell made the stop. Two minutes later, UTEP earned three consecutive corner kicks, but ECU cleared the ball out of danger each time.

The Pirates then mounted their own offensive opportunity, but Amanda Broz's blast went just wide. With three minutes to play, Casey lasered a pass toward Tameka Sumter, who had snuck in on the back post. The sophomore stretched, but was unable to get her foot on the ball.

In the final minute, Josan sent a ball to Tullius, who one-touched it to Hamson. The freshman streaked in on Campbell, who made a brilliant save. The rebound came back to Hamson, who rushed to get a shot before the ECU netminder was able to get back in position. In her haste, Hamson's attempt sailed high.

With the match headed to overtime, both teams tightened things defensively. Most of the period was played in the middle of the pitch. The Pirates had the only chance of the stanza, with a header by Foltz knocked away by Popoff and out of bounds. UTEP won the battle in the air on the ensuing corner kick to send the match into double overtime.

In double OT, ECU earned a corner kick less than 30 seconds into the period. The Miners once again showed their prowess in the air, heading the ball out of danger. After a couple of minutes in which neither squad was able to muster much of anything, UTEP picked up its intensity and played the final five minutes of the tilt in Pirate territory.