Rice Soccer lose to SMU, No. 17 Xavier over the weekend

By Cadan Hanson     9/19/23 11:40pm

One word can describe both the start of Rice’s matches this weekend and the start of the season: slow. 

On Thursday, Sept. 14, the Owls lost their first American Athletic Conference match of the season to Southern Methodist University, 6-3. Later that week, the Owls fell to No. 17 Xavier University in a non conference match, 4-2, bringing their season record to 2-7-1. Currently on a three-game losing streak and without a home win this season, head coach Brian Lee said the team needs to improve their defensive play.

“We’ve got to build on the positives and just clean up the catastrophic mistakes in front of goal,” Lee said. “If we’re not so poor in defending in front of our goal, then we’ll be in good shape.

---

---

The Owls launched their AAC campaign by conceding five goals in the first 22 minutes of play to the Mustangs, three of which occurred in a span of four minutes.

“I thought everyone took turns making a big mistake in the first 20 minutes and now all of a sudden we’re down 5-0,” Lee said. “We’re just giving away really easy chances and struggling around our box right now. We just can’t have those kinds of mistakes in front of our goal at this point in the season.”

The Owls scored a pair of goals late in the first half, courtesy of graduate transfer forward Ellen Halseth and a penalty kick from junior midfielder Catarina Albuquerque. After going into the half down 6-2, the Owls added another goal from Halseth before the end of the game. According to Halseth, these early defensive struggles has had a profound effects on the rest of the game.

“We don’t need five goals scored on us to realize the game has started,” Halseth said. “But … the second half was so much better. I think we need to bring that feeling into the next game and take it one game at a time.”

On Sunday, the Owls did exactly that, quickly going on the attack against the Musketeers, their second ranked opponent of the season. Despite multiple scoring opportunities, the Owls found themselves down 1-0 until sophomore defender Carsyn Martz scored off a header in the 27th minute, tying the game at 1-1. To close the half, the Musketeers scored two unanswered goals to bring the final score to 3-1.

The Owls allowed an early second half goal but quickly responded a minute later with graduate midfielder Piper Biziorik scoring her first goal of the season, assisted by Martz. The Owls couldn’t find the back of the net in the final 40 minutes and fell 4-2. After the game, Biziorik said that the results were a poor portrayal of the team’s work ethic didn’t reflect the team’s work ethic.

“The result is disappointing because it didn’t reflect our level of effort and our overall performance,” Biziorik said. “I was proud of how many chances that we created in the attacking third.”

At the ten game mark last season, the Owls were in a similar position with a 4-6 record early in conference play, but then went on to make the Conference USA Championships. After graduating 13 players, the renewed team is learning to play as one.

“I think that we’re really starting to mesh together as a team,” Biziorik said. “We’ve had 12 new players come in this season and learning how to play with each other has really taken some time.”

Now in conference play, the Owls embark on a two-game road trip looking to turn the season around. Despite the slow start, Biziorik believes that if the team can play consistently for the entire game, results will come.

“We really have to focus on getting the little things right for all 90 minutes,” Biziorik said. “I think the next step is to start the ball rolling with a win in our next conference game.”

---