Soccer suffers first loss in conference play
The soccer team steamrolled into last Sunday’s matchup at East Carolina University without a loss in Conference USA play. But, thanks to some timely defense, the Pirates saw to it that Rice did not leave town unscathed, taking the match 1-0. With the loss, the Owls (9-4-2, 3-1-1 Conference USA) finished their weekend road swing 1-1, having handily defeated Marshall University 3-1 the previous Friday.
The Owls will be back on the road this weekend, facing in-state rival Southern Methodist University on Saturday in Dallas, Texas, before traveling to Tulsa, Okla., to take on the University of Tulsa. Both the Mustangs (5-7-1, 1-5 C-USA) and the Golden Hurricane (3-12-1, 1-5 C-USA) are near to bottom of the conference standings, and SMU is currently riding a five-game losing streak.
Senior midfielder Samantha Conn and freshman forward Korey Taylor led Rice under the lights against Marshall (4-9-1, 1-3-1 C-USA) with a goal apiece.
The scoring began on an own-goal set up by Lindsay Jaggers. The senior defender blasted a shot from 10 yards out that was conveniently deflected into the net by an out-of-place Marshall defender. Then, with just 36 seconds remaining in the first half, Rice senior defender Beth Martin found Taylor on a long crossing pass from the left side. Taylor broke free in front of the goal and headed the ball from six yards out to beat Marshall goalie Liz Orton on the right side. Taylor’s third goal of the season gave Rice a 2-0 lead going into the half.
However, Marshall would not go down without a fight, and in the 79th minute Thundering Herd midfielder Mollie Lee converted from short-range off a cross.
But before Marshall could gain any momentum from this goal, Rice put the game out of reach. Conn shot a penalty kick in the 84th minute so hard off Orton’s outstreched hands that she was able to corral her own deflection and net an easy store. The kick was set up by senior forward captain Clory Martin, who was tackled to prevent a one-on-one breakaway.
Two days later against East Carolina (9-2-3, 3-1-1 C-USA), Rice was held scoreless for just the second time this season. The Owls’ best chance came in the 75th minute when sophomore midfielder Shelley Wong hit the left goal post with a strong shot.
Junior forward Caitlin Robbins also had a great goal-scoring opportunity when she fired a hard shot right to Pirate keeper Amber Campbell in the 88th minute. Her shot on goal came less than a minute after ECU netted the lone goal of the contest, a well-placed shot from Amanda Broz.
The Owls held the advantage in corner kicks on the game, 8-1, but once again had difficulty converting on goal opportunities, a problem that has plagued them throughout the season.
The week before, Rice faced two difficult opponents at home and came away without a loss: The Owls beat defending Conference USA champions University of Alabama-Birmingham 2-1 Oct. 12 and tied a tough Memphis team 1-1 in two overtimes two days later.
Against UAB, the midfield tandem of Wong and fellow freshman Kate Edwards scored the goals. In the game, Edwards set the Rice freshman mark for goals in a season with nine as she scored on a free kick from outside the 18. Wong’s goal came in the 57th minute when she corralled a Clory Martin corner kick from 12 yards out and beat the defender to the open net.
“The Blazers went to the NCAA Tournament last year, so we knew we had to come out focused and ready to work,” head coach Chris Huston said. “This is the best game we’ve played all year.”
At Memphis, it was the Martin sisters who added the fireworks, tying the game in the 82nd minute when Beth found Clory on the left side of the field for a dramatic equalizer.
“There was no doubt in my mind she wasn’t going to make the pass,” Clory Martin said.
However, neither team could put a shot in the net in overtime, ending the game in a tie.
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