Soccer Readies For ECU In Conference Championship
10/29/2014 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
The American Championship Bracket
HOUSTON -The Houston Cougar soccer team begins American Athletic Conference Championship play against East Carolina on Friday, Oct. 31 at 1 p.m., in Memphis, Tenn.
Houston, the No. 10-seed in the tournament, takes on the No. 7-seeded Pirates with a chance to advance to the quarterfinals against the No. 2-seed Memphis. The top six seeds in the Championship each earned a first round bye while 7-10 will play for a shot in the quarterfinal round.
The Cougars met the Pirates earlier this month and dropped a hard-fought 1-0 decision in Greenville, N.C. on Oct 16. Houston outshot the Pirates 9-4 in the match, including four shots on goal, but could not find the back of the net. Kendall Frey scored a goal from 20 yards out in the 16th minute to give East Carolina the game winner.
ABOUT THE COUGARS
Junior forward Lexa Green paced the Cougar offense throughout the 2014 regular season. Green finished with four goals and one assist for nine points. Senior Kayla Walker added two goals and four points of her own for Houston.
Junior goalkeeper Jordan Brown saw all but six minutes of action during the regular season. The League City, Texas native finished with 83 saves on 101 chances. Brown turned in one of the top seasons in Houston soccer history, finishing in the top-10 in ties, goalie games played and started, saves, saves per game, and goalie minutes played. Brown's five ties are a new Houston soccer program record.
ABOUT THE PIRATES
ECU finished American Athletic Conference play with a 4-5-0 (10-5-1 overall) and in a tie for sixth with Cincinnati. However, Cincinnati owned the tiebreaker with the Pirates after a 3-0 victory on Oct. 3, which gave the No. 6-seed, and first round bye to the Bearcats.
Sophomore forward Lana Spitler leads the way for the ECU offense, tallying seven goals and 15 points in 2014. In its previous matchup Houston held the Montoursville, Pa. native off the stat sheet after not allowing her to take a shot in 83 minutes.
East Carolina has split time between its two goalkeepers senior Erika Lenns and redshirt junior Saundra Baron. Lenns collected the decision earlier in the season against the Cougars stopping four shots in 90 minutes of action. The Raleigh, N.C. native is 5-5-0 with a 1.07 goals against average this season. Baron owns a 5-2-1 record and has allowed five goals in 32 chances (0.62 gaa). Each keeper has collected five shutouts a piece this season.
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Game 1: Friday, October 31, 4:30 p.m., ET
#9 SMU at #8 Temple, Orlando, Fla.
Game 2: Friday, October 31, 1:00 p.m., CT
#10 Houston at #7 East Carolina, Memphis Tenn.
Game 3: Sunday, November 2, 1:00 p.m., ET
(Winner Game 1) at #1 UCF, Orlando, Fla.
Game 4: Sunday, November 2, Noon ET
#5 Tulsa at #4 UConn, Storrs, Conn.
Game 5: Sunday, November 2, 2:00 p.m. CT
(Winner Game 2) at #2 Memphis, Memphis, Tenn.
Game 6: Sunday, November 2, 1:00 p.m. ET
#6 Cincinnati at #3 USF, Orlando, Fla.
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