Season ends for soccer

By Yan Digilov     11/6/08 6:00pm

The 2008 season was a winding rollercoaster for the soccer team, marked with improbable upsets followed by devastating defeats. On Wednesday, the ride came to an abrupt end in the first round of the Conference USA Championship tournament at the hands of the University of Central Florida. After only 1:37 the Knights caught the tournament hosts off guard with a cross into the box that senior Danielle dos Santos connected on for her sixth goal of the year. Still reeling from the initial strike, the Owls were stunned again in the ninth minute when UCF junior Becca Thomas fired a beamer from 30 yards away that bounced off the top post and landed inside the goal.

"We dug ourselves a real hole in the first eight minutes of the game by letting two in," head coach Chris Huston said. "When you give a team that's that good two goals that early on, then you know that it's going be a tough fight."

But the Owls had been in tough fights with UCF before. Only three weeks ago on Oct. 17, the Owls battled for victory in Orlando, stunning the Knights with crushing final-second shot against the home team.

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Thus, it was no surprise that the Owls came out firing once they had collected themselves. After applying consistent pressure, junior Shelley Wong cut the lead in half by sending a sailing long ball from outside the goalie box into the net.

"It is a problem we have been having all season," Wong said. "We come out kind of asleep for the first 15-20 minutes. Obviously that's when a lot happens. They put in two goals, [but] we couldn't be prouder the way we played the rest of the game."

As soon as the whistle blew to begin the second half, the home team began an onslaught with several close chances inside the box. However, UCF stepped up their effort, moving back to a defensive position on the field.

Ultimately, the one-goal gap proved to be too wide, and UCF moved on in the tournament with their sights set on the NCAA tournament, leaving the Owls wondering what had happened between their stunning victory in Florida and their heartbreaking loss at the Rice Track/ Soccer Stadium.

The biggest upset for the Owls between the two games came last week, when they traveled across the city to play crosstown rival University of Houston.

"The girls, in their own words, said, 'We didn't show up to play,'" Huston, who formerly coached UH, said. "We talked about what we were going to be up against, what kind of game it was. They said they understood it, and I don't know why they came into the game not mentally prepared."

The loss was the second in a row to a lower-ranked opponent. The losses did more than expose the mental weaknesses of the team; they moved the Owls from the third seed to the sixth in the closely contested C-USA standings.

Though Huston was impressed with team's preparations all week in practice, they simply could not overcome the inconsistency and mental lapses that cost them games all year. Taking Texas A&M, ranked ninth in the nation, into the final minutes of the game and in the same year falling to three-win Houston is a mark of a young team.

"It was a big learning experience for us," Wong said. "I think our team has a lot of maturing to do. We need to come out and play every game. That is what separates us from being a top 25 team."

For senior captain Christine Petric, this was her final chance to represent Rice soccer on the field. She is one of only two seniors that will graduate next year, leaving the team with very familiar faces in 2009.

"We played so well in so many games," Petric said. "I am going to take away the memories and the victories and the relationships that I have made with these girls. They are like sisters to me. We are a team that has shown that we can go five injuries deep, five starters out, and we can still compete and win. If they can stay healthy, they are going to blow everybody away."

After this year Huston has come to understand the nature of her players much better.

"They have learned this year how good they can be," she said. "This is a very resilient team. I am proud of the girls. They worked hard. They never quit right until the end.

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