Soccer makes strong statement in conference play

By Ross Michie-Derrick     9/30/10 7:00pm

When people make the common claim that optimism is contagious, they are often thinking of a certain kind of optimism, one that is prevalent among teams hovering around .500 or facing a slew of easy games in the near future. For teams that are 3-5 coming into conference play, coming off one of the worst seasons in club history, missing their star player with no timetable for her return and undergoing an unprecedented midseason change at the coaching position, optimism tends to be buried where it was born, never having learned to walk far enough to spread its beliefs.

Both former Head Coach Chris Huston and Interim Head Coach Nicky Adams have steadfastly insisted that the Owls are better than their record, that a tough early-season schedule including perennial powers the University of California-Berkeley, Texas Tech University and Brigham Young University had forced them to accept a lesser record, but they also stressed that the enhanced competition they faced early would be good for the team in the long run.

"Our ultimate goal is to win championships," Adams said. "To win conference championships you have to prepare non-conference. We can go out to every conference game like we have been playing the best teams in the nation."

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In the week since then, Adams' optimism is not only alive, but thriving. The Owls opened the week and conference play last Friday with a 2-0 victory over the University of Tulsa (5-5, 0-2 C-USA), sending a message to Conference USA that their 3-5 start to the season was an aberration by scoring in the game's 21st second. Junior forward Hope Ward blasted the first shot of the game off the right goal post, immediately leading to the second shot of the game, a goal by senior defender/forward Korey Taylor that put the Owls up for good.

Rice recorded the match's final goal in the 43rd minute, when sophomore defender Lauren LaGro converted a penalty kick, scoring her first career goal.

LaGro did not not wait quite as long to celebrate her second career goal, which came in overtime of the Owls' thrilling 2-1 victory against conference rival Southern Methodist University (5-4-2, 0-2 C-USA) on Sunday. Her free kick from close to 40 yards away in the 93rd minute emphatically capped the emotional match, which had seen Ward give the Owls the lead in the seventh minute on a free kick, only to watch as SMU tied the game 61 minutes later with a goal of their own.

The Owls' victory over SMU did more than even their record at 5-5. It moved them to 2-0 in conference play, giving them a share of first place. It also showcased Adams' new, more aggressive offense, a secret she declined to share earlier in the week.

Rice's well-documented offensive struggles cannot be totally dismissed after a good two-game stretch, but whatever formational change Adams has made looks to be working, as evidenced by LaGro's first two career goals, both coming as a defender.

The Owls will look to continue their turnaround this weekend, when they host the University of Texas-El Paso (9-1, 2-0 C-USA) today in a Conference USA match and will continue conference play as Colorado College (4-2-4, 0-1-1 C-USA) comes to town on Sunday.

The Owls have always been optimistic, but if they can pull off a couple of wins over the weekend, their optimism might become an epidemic.

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