University of Houston Athletics
Cougar Soccer Opens Spring on Positive Note
2/25/2003 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
Feb. 25, 2003
The University of Houston women's soccer team opened up their spring season by traveling to College Station to compete in two games on Saturday, Feb. 22.
The first game was an eight-a-side game against the Austin Warriors, one of the top club teams out of Austin. The Cougars were prepared and excited. Freshman All C-USA player Kelly Golden got the Cougars on the board just 30 seconds into the game on a pass from Nicole Aubuchon, then followed it up just six minutes later with two more goals, each assisted by junior Nikki Hawkins.
The Cougars finished up the first half with one more goal on a corner kick by freshman Beth Outlaw that was flicked in by Aubuchon as they entered half-time with a 4-0 lead.
Houston dominated the second half out of the midfield in keeping the majority of possession while Aubuchon added the Cougars' fifth goal to lead Houston to its first spring win by a final of 5-1 over the Warriors.
The second game of the afternoon came against the nationally-ranked Texas A&M Aggies, who made it to the Elite Eight this past year in the NCAA tournament.
"It was a great test for our team to see where we stand among the top ten teams in the nation," said Houston head coach Bill Solberg following the game. "I think we learned a lot in how to continue to compete at the highest level."
After conceding a goal two minutes into the match, the Cougars settled down, defended well and contained the Aggies' potent offense en route to entering half-time down, 1-0.
Houston came out energized and ready to continue their physical play in the second half, led by an organized defense that stifled Texas A&M. Twenty minutes into the second half, the Cougars found themselves inside the Aggies' 18-yard box with a shot from Nikki Hawkins that would've tied the game.
Then, with just four minutes left in regulation, Kelly Golden found herself one-on-one with the Aggie goalkeeper. Golden touched it past the goalkeeper on the left side and caught up to the ball aimed to send a rocket to the back of the net. Two Aggie defenders had made it back to the defensive goal line and Golden sent a shot just above the upper right side of the crossbar.
Despite falling to the Aggies by a final of 1-0, the game was an early gage of where Houston stands and what it needs to do to make it to the national scene.
"Of course we are going into every game trying to win at all cost, but we definitely got better today," said Solberg. "We were able to see where we need to make some adjustments and where we continue to be very strong. Overall, I was very pleased with the effort of our team."
