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October 27, 2006 > Sports > Soccer plays must-win season finale tonight at Houston

Soccer plays must-win season finale tonight at Houston

By Matt McCabe | Thresher staff

The conference road woes continued for the injury-plagued soccer team over the weekend, which fell to the University of Memphis and the University of Alabama-Birmingham. With those losses, Rice finds itself in a precarious position entering tonight’s 7 p.m. season finale against the University of Houston. To even have a chance of qualifying for the eight-team Conference USA Tournament Nov. 1-5 in Dallas, the Owls must win against the Cougars tonight at Robertson Stadium.

“[The team] understands where they are at right now,” head coach Chris Huston said. “Not only do they understand that this is a must-win to get into the conference tournament, but we also have to go out and have some pride when we play the University of Houston.”

After going undefeated in its first nine matches, Rice (10-6-1, 2-6 C-USA) has won just two of its last eight, all conference contests. Six C-USA teams have already secured a spot in the postseason tournament — SMU, UCF, Memphis, Colorado College, UTEP and UAB. There are four teams mathematically alive in race for the final two spots — Rice, East Carolina (8-7-2, 3-3-1 C-USA), Houston (9-9, 3-5) and Tulsa (6-10, 2-5 C-USA).

Both East Carolina and Tulsa have two conference matches left. East Carolina hosts UTEP and Colorado College, which both have 5-2 conference records, and the Pirates are assured of a conference tournament berth with either one win or two ties.

For Tulsa to secure a birth, the Golden Hurricane must gain at least one win and one tie from their games against Southern Miss and UCF. If Tulsa loses a match and the Owls defeat UH, Rice will qualify for the C-USA tournament and will have an opportunity to defend its 2005 crown. If Houston wins and Tulsa loses, the Cougars will get the nod.

“It’s tough because both teams, [UH and Rice], are in a similar position,” Huston said. “A win will most likely get one of the teams into the tournament.”

Last season, the two opponents battled to a 1-1 tie at the Rice Track/Soccer Stadium. The history of the rivalry is deadlocked at 2-2-1.

Senior defender Laura Barber, who was feared to be lost for the season with an ACL tear, will probably return to the lineup after playing limited minutes against UAB and felt capable of playing after the team’s Tuesday’s practice.

Huston, who was the first women’s soccer coach at UH before coming to Rice in 2000, said Rice’s chances of winning depend on the team’s attitude.

“I think we should beat Houston,” she said. “We just can’t go out flat or overconfident. We have to have desire to make it to the conference tournament.”

The Owls were forced into this must-win position as result of two tough road losses last weekend. After being down 1-0 at halftime against Memphis, the Rice forwards were rejuvenated, finding the back of the net with three of their six shots. Senior midfielder Maria Fadool, who has been playing through a nagging groin injury, netted two goals early in the second half, giving Rice a 2-1 lead. However, the Tigers answered with back-to-back goals of their own in the 74th and 83rd minutes to retake the lead. With less than seven minutes remaining in the match, freshman forward Erin Scott rattled home a loose ball in the box for her seventh goal of the season to tie the match at three and send it into overtime. Unfortunately for the Owls, the defense faltered in the second overtime, and Maiko Higashiyama’s goal in the 102nd minute gave Memphis the 4-3 win.

Due to injuries, the team only had 13 players to choose from to play the 10 positions on the field, minus the goalkeeper.

“They had only 13 players, and when you have just 13 players playing 90 minutes, that’s a lot of wear,” Huston said.

Following the loss to Memphis, Rice traveled to Birmingham, Ala., where they struggled from the outset — UAB (6-10, 4-4) posted three goals in the first half, including one just four minutes into the match. The Owls were further hampered when junior defender Lindsey Jaggers received a red card for tackling a UAB player from behind on a breakaway.

The Blazers converted the corresponding penalty to make the score 2-0, and Rice played a man down for the remaining 66 minutes of the match. In the 28th minute, Rice answered with a goal from Christine Petric, but that was all the scoring the Owls could muster. UAB added another goal before the half.

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