Women's Soccer Preps For Last Two Home Matches
10/20/2005 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
Oct. 20, 2005
HOUSTON, Texas - The University of Houston women's soccer team closes out the home portion of the schedule this weekend with a pair of Conference USA matches at Robertson Stadium. League-leading UTEP comes to town Friday for a 7 p.m. CDT kickoff while Tulane visits Robertson on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Cougars (7-4-2, 2-2-1 C-USA) have tallied five points in conference place thus far and hold the seventh slot in the standings with four matches left. The top eight squads make the C-USA Championship. A split of its final four matches will likely earn UH a slot in the tournament, held this year at Rice University from Nov. 2-6. UH last qualified for the C-USA tournament in 2002.
Seniors Kristin Bay (Flint, Texas/Robert E. Lee HS) and Stephanie Pucek (Alvin, Texas/Alvin HS) will be honored prior to their final home match on Sunday. Bay is second on the team in scoring with seven goals and leads the team with four assists. Pucek has come on strong of late and has allowed just one goal in the last 235 minutes of action.
"Both of the seniors have brought leadership to this team," head coach Bill Solberg said. "Stephanie (Pucek) is one of our captains and her blue-collar work ethic has rubbed off on the rest of the team. Kristin Bay leads this team by example with her 100-percent effort all of the time. They both have a passion for the game that carries through the team."
UH tied rival Rice last Friday, 1-1 in double overtime, in its lone match of the weekend. Junior Sarah Fisher (Katy, Texas/Cypress Springs HS) tapped in her fourth goal of the season at 3:03 after the ball deflected off of freshman Courtney Gaines (Sugar Land, Texas/Clements HS) inside the box following a UH corner. Rice knotted it at one goal apiece at the 29:13 mark when forward Caitlin Robbins received the ball from Vanessa Serrano, weaved through the UH defense and scored from 18 yards out. The teams both had chances to hit the go-ahead goal, but the game ended in the 1-1 tie after 110 minutes of action.
UTEP (15-1-1, 4-1-1 C-USA) will enter Friday's match with the league's most potent offense. The Miners lead C-USA in shots (348), goals (49) and points (135). UTEP had its 17-match home winning streak ended last weekend with a 2-1 defeat to SMU.
"We have to try to match their work rate," Solberg said. "They try to work harder and out-battle their opponents. They are well-coached, scrappy and they find ways to win games. We are going to have to match that, win all the second balls, gain possession and work hard to get a result."
The matchup will test the young UH back line, which has been solid in its last two outings, yielding just one goal in the past two matches, both double-overtime affairs. The unit has been led by sophomore Ashleigh Williams (Houston, Texas/Jersey Village HS) who has kept the defensive newcomers focused and on the same page.
"Ashleigh has been the glue back there,"' Solberg said. "They have stayed disciplined and we expect more of the same. If they continue to play as they have been with the urgency that have played with, they will be fine."
Tulane (1-8-0, 1-4-0 C-USA) have struggled this season. The Green Wave, who have been based in College Station, Texas in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, come in on a two-match losing skid.
"Tulane has a ton to play for," Solberg said. "Soccer is their relief from everything they have been through. They are just as dangerous as any team as we play in conference because they play with so much heart and passion."
