Soccer splits hard-fought weekend contests

By Ross Michie-Derrick     9/16/10 7:00pm

In a sport where player creativity often manifests itself through injuries, it can often be hard to tell which contact is real and which is for the referee's benefit. During the Owls' home victory last Friday against the University of Texas San- Antonio, the crowd had little trouble separating the two; the crunch every time an Owl hit the ground gave it away. Perhaps the loudest crunch of all came in the games' first few minutes, when senior midfielder Kate Edwards received a vicious kick to the shin that forced her to exit the game.

Because the victim was an Owl, however, revenge was taken in a much different way: instead of spending the rest of the game taking shots at UTSA players, Rice instead took 33 shots at the Roadrunners' goal, the seventh-highest single-game total in Owls' history.

The first of those shots to evade the goalie came in the 11th minute, traveling more than 18 yards off of the foot of junior forward Hope Ward and deflecting into the net off of the left goal post.

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Though only holding a one-goal lead at that point, the Owls appeared to be in complete command of the match. The ball rarely stayed on the Rice side of the field long, allowing the Roadrunners few opportunities to tie the game.

Without the chance to strike the ball - UTSA managed only three shots in the first half - the Roadrunners compensated by striking Rice players.

The thuggish play was highlighted by Kimberly Selman, who leveled an airborne Ward on a jump ball midway through the first half.

Despite UTSA's valiant efforts at intimidation, freshman stand-out Jessica Howard stayed aggressive, scoring in the 37th minute on a line drive off of the crossbar that rivaled Ward's long-distance blast. Howard's goal was assisted by Jordan McCray, another key member of the Owls' strong freshman class.

The goal proved to be the last one the Owls would need, as they held UTSA to a single goal behind aggressive defense and quality play from senior goalkeeper Catherine Fitzsimmons, who made her first start of the season.

The 2-1 victory moved the Owls to 3-3 and gave them a chance to move above .500 for the first time this season with a road win Sunday against the University of Oklahoma Sooners.

The Owls fought hard and limited the Sooners to one goal on the night, but could not overcome the absence of Edwards, who was still recovering from her shin injury. The Owls headed south with a 1-0 loss in their pockets.

The shutout dropped the Owls to 3-4 on the season and held their goal total at eight through seven games, a pace that leaves them much closer to last season's total of 17 goals in 19 games, when they finished under .500 for the first time since 2002, than the 35.7 goals per season they averaged from 2003 to 2008.

While she acknowledges the team's offensive struggles, Head Coach Chris Huston remains optimistic.

"Even though we have a lot of youth, the team chemistry is great," Huston said. "The senior class carries an attitude that rubs off on the freshman. The work rate is awesome."

She believes it is that heart that will separate this year's squad from the one she fielded last year, which underachieved after coming into the season with high expectations.

"Last year, I think we expected to win," Huston said. "We had a group of seniors that finally got healthy; we thought we could just switch it on when it came to games."

When asked about the team's poor record, Huston cited the team's schedule, pointing out that they have already played two opponents ranked in the top 20.

"We wanted to get experience right out of the gate," she said. "We have a tough conference. Memphis is ranked 15th; Central Florida is somewhere in the top 25. We're playing as tough a non-conference schedule as our conference schedule so we'll be ready come tournament time."

If she is right, the Owls should make up some ground in the upcoming weeks. They will host Brigham Young University at 7 p.m. tomorrow, beginning a five-game home stand that the Owls hope will be a turning point in the season.

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