Soccer Closes Out Regular Season Friday Against Rice
10/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
Oct. 26, 2006
HOUSTON - The University of Houston soccer team closes out the regular season against Bayou City rival Rice at 7 p.m., Friday on John O'Quinn Field at Robertson Stadium.
For the Cougars (9-9, 3-5 C-USA), a win against their biggest rival secures a berth in the C-USA Championship, set to run Nov. 1-5 in Dallas. A loss would eliminate Houston from a spot in the championship, while a tie against Rice would cloud the picture up.
If UH ties Rice and finishes the season with 10 points, it would need only to finish with more points then Tulsa, who has six points heading into the final weekend of the regular season. However, Tulsa plays twice this weekend, against Southern Miss and UCF, and could finish with as many as 12 points. Houston holds the tiebreaker over the Golden Hurricane by virtue of its 3-2 double overtime win on Oct. 15.
The two squads have faced off five times, with the all-time series at 2-2-1. UH won the first two meetings in 2001 and 2002 while the Owls have won the past two of the past three affairs. Last season's 1-1 tie was the first deadlock in series history. All five matches have been decided by one goal, and neither team has scored more than two goals in a match.
Houston will honor its senior class in a pre-match ceremony. The five members of the class include Kristen Cooper (Katy, Texas/Langham Creek HS/San Angelo St.), Jennifer Dry (Norman, Okla./Norman HS), Sarah Fisher (Katy, Texas/Cypress Springs HS), Sophia Mundy (Katy, Texas/St. Pius X/Portland State) and Heather Williams (Valrico, Fla./Durant HS).
Rice enters the game at 10-6-1 overall and 2-6-0 in league play. The Owls have lost three-straight matches and five of the last six.
