Soccer team clinches C-USA tourney berth despite dropping in seeding

By Yan Digilov     10/30/08 7:00pm

On Friday, the soccer team reached their first milestone on the way to attaining their preseason goal of making the NCAA tournament. With a home win over Colorado College, which only competes in Conference USA in women's soccer, Rice clinched a spot in the C-USA Championship tournament. But after a Sunday loss at the University of Texas-El Paso, the Owls remain in fifth place, a point behind Colorado in the standings. Heading into Friday's match up, Colorado was favored to walk away with the victory, but Rice was ready to defend its home turf. The Owls began the game firing on all cylinders with early opportunities from juniors Erin Scott and Shelley Wong.

But even as Rice's strong offense produced numerous chances, Colorado proved to be the more efficient team early in the match. In the ninth minute, Alexa Bannerman made good use of Colorado's first scoring opportunity with a header into the back of the net.

"One shot, one goal," associate head coach Nicky Adams said. "We had a little mental lapse. We didn't really panic, because we knew we were doing so well offensively that we could come back."

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Brushing off the early goal, the Owls continued their attack and ended up out-shooting Colorado 9-6 in the first half. Opportunity finally produced results when senior Christine Petric registered her final regular season assist in her final regular season game at Rice Track / Soccer Stadium. The lucky recipient was junior defender Alexa Coralli, who has developed a penchant for scoring goals, registering one in each of the last two games.

The Owls picked up the pressure on both sides of the field in the second half. While the offense took seven more shots, the backline worked into its form, giving up only four chances at goal to Colorado.

In the 59th minute, Scott completed the comeback after sending a cross from Wong to the back of the net. For the next 30 minutes the Owls fought to hold on to the one-goal lead, a task they have repeatedly failed to complete throughout the season. This time, however, they were able to close the deal, completing the upset 2-1.

The final whistle blow meant a great deal to Petric, who was honored in front of friends and family after the game as part of the senior night festivities. Aside from Chandra Ewing, who joined the team in her fifth year of school, Petric is the only senior on the team and the only player to have competed in four full seasons.

"It's very emotional, because this is our field," Petric said. "This is the field I have played on for four years. I left blood, sweat and tears on this field. Going down as early as we did, a lot of teams could have hung their heads. I think our team showed a lot of character and a lot of heart on Friday night. I couldn't have asked for a better senior night."

Adams also praised Petric for her contribution to the team.

"Every year, Petric has gotten better and better for us," Adams said. "This year has been her best year by far. We are going to miss her tremendously when she is gone."

With a spot in the tournament in their pockets, the squad went on the road for their Sunday afternoon game against UTEP. After losing on Friday, it was do or die for the currently seventh-seeded Miners. And though the standings had them as a weaker team, UTEP gave Rice a taste of its own medicine with a 1-0 upset, thanks to a 79th minute goal from conference star Brandi Aston.

Though the Owls registered one more shot-on-goal than they did against Colorado and took seven corner kicks in the first half alone, they were not able to send the ball into the net for the entire game.

"I don't think we lost because we were settled on the fact that we clinched the berth," Petric said. "We are still fighting for positioning. It was a matter of focus. They came out more focused than us."

The loss marks the third time in as many years that UTEP dropped the Owls in a 1-0 game.

"To get to that next level, to be a top twenty-five program, we have to be consistent for two games a week," Adams said. "We can't just be consistent at home either. That is what we have been harping on, and we are lucky enough to be hosting the conference championship."

Before the Owls host the conference tournament, they are scheduled to play one more opponent, but the lack of postseason implication at stake in Friday's game against the University of Houston will be atypical for the final contest of the year.

This cross-town rivalry carries with it extra spunk and dates back to a time before Rice University even had a women's soccer program. Before coming to Rice for its inaugural 2001 season, head coach Chris Huston spent two years as a Cougar, helping to form their first women's soccer team as well.

"It is like a national championship game every single year," Adams said. "We are going to need our midfielders and our defenders to calm us down so we can play our style."

UH has had a tough time late in the season and is officially out of contention for the conference tournament. However, they are returning several key starters from injuries who could be a big difference in their final effort of the year. A win for Rice may lead to a third place seeding if Colorado loses, but the real battle on the field will be over the rights to say which team is the best in town. The battle for Houston's best women's soccer team will begin tonight at 7 p.m. at Robertson Stadium.

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