Oct. 14, 2007

The second weekend of conference play may have been more exciting than the first, with two ties and seven shutouts. UCF solidified its spot at the top of the standings by outscoring opponents, 9-0, over the weekend and UTEP kept its conference mark unblemished with an important victory on the road. Memphis had its seven-game win streak snapped, but played host Rice to a 1-1 tie on Sunday.

UCF extended its win streak to five straight, outscoring opponents Tulsa and SMU, 4-0 and 5-0, respectively. UCF (9-2-2, 4-0-0) has not surrendered a goal in its first four conference matches in 2007, a feat not accomplished since 1999 when it shutout all nine Atlantic Sun foes during that year. Sunday's victory at SMU was also the Knights fifth in a row, marking the ninth-straight season that they posted a winning streak of at least five games.

A lot of the day's offensive production against SMU (5-5-1, 1-3-1) came from junior Danielle Dos Santos, who entered the match with just two assists this year. The transfer got into the game with less than 17 minutes remaining in the first half, and went on to become the 33rd player in UCF history to notch a hat trick. Dos Santos became the first Knight to score at least three goals in a game in more than five years. Dos Santos also added two assists for an eight-point affair, which tied for fifth all-time. She fell two points shy of matching Kelly Kochevar's UCF record for points in a match, as the former Knight scored five goals for 10 points vs. Stetson in 1993.

Sophomore Brianna Schooley was a threat as well, registering her second two-goal performance of 2007. On defense, senior GK Jennifer Manis made five saves, four in the first half, to record her fifth shutout. She moved her season total in saves to 67, which ranks 10th in UCF single-season history. In three years with the Knights, Manis now has 149 stops, which stand at fifth place on the career charts. Schooley opened the scoring by converting on a centering pass from dos Santos in the 32nd minute vs. SMU keeper Ashley Gunter. Dos Santos then tallied her first of the afternoon on an eight-yard shot in the 40th minute off an assist from freshman Amanda Martorana. In the second half, Schooley teamed up with dos Santos again in the 68th minute when she dribbled through three Mustangs and fired a shot into the left part of the net. Less than two minutes later, dos Santos added goal No. 2 on a loose ball in the box with junior Jessica Jackson picking up the helper. She completed the hat trick in the 74th minute by placing a shot into the upper left corner after evading two defenders. Sophomore Sarah de Leon received credit for the assist on UCF's fifth and final goal.

UTEP's Jami Tullius and Cara Nordin combined for a pair of goals just 61 seconds apart midway through the second half Saturday, lifting the visiting Miners to a 3-2 victory over Colorado College in a heated Conference USA women¹s soccer battle at CC's Stewart Field. The Tigers roared out of the gate with tallies by Emily Beans and Sydney Fetter in the opening 15 minutes of play, and appeared to be in complete control until Anoop Josan put UTEP on the scoreboard with just 16 seconds remaining in the first half. Colorado College finished with a 23-17 advantage in overall shots, including a 13-5 spread in the first half, but was held off the scoreboard by Miners keeper Jessica Salvi after Fetter converted on a free kick at the 14:32 mark. Salvi made 11 saves in the match while CC¹s Geneva Sills made six.

For the third time this season, East Carolina battled to a 0-0 tie, this time against Marshall Sunday afternoon at Sam Hood Field. Senior Anastasia Nikas led the Pirates with three shots, two on goal. ECU registered 15 total shots on the day, six on goal. Marshall's Kassie Hollman led the Herd with three shots, two being placed on goal. Marshall tallied 14 shots, with eight on goal. The Pirates and Herd each recorded four shots in the opening half, but ECU put together seven in the second half compared to Marshall's five. In the first overtime, it was all East Carolina offensively, as they tallied three shots while not allowing a Herd shot. In a momentum shift, it was Marshall who led the second overtime in shots, as they had five compared to ECU's one.

Memphis (9-2-1) ended its seven-game winning streak, but remain undefeated in the last eight contests after battling to a 1-1 tie on the road at Rice. Junior Emiko Schwab scored Memphis' first goal of the match to give them the lead early on, but it did not hold as the match ended in a tie. Schwab received a long left cross from senior Harumi Someya about eight yards out and connected with the net, 21 minutes into the match. She scored three goals over the weekend, including two in Fridays win against Houston, 3-0. Memphis was ranked 16th on the NCAA women's soccer RPI, coming into today's match up. Senior goal keeper Isabel Briones had seven saves in the match, including two saves in the overtime periods, to hold the Owls off.

Rice's Clory Martin scored a goal in the 81st minute mark, to bring the match to a 1-1 tie. She received a cross five feet in front of the goal from Beth Martin.

UAB picked up its first Conference USA victory of the season Sunday evening, blanking the Houston Cougars, 5-0, at Robertson Stadium. Senior forward Sally Palmer led the Blazers' attack with two goals and one assist against the Cougars. Palmer got things started for the Blazers in the ninth minute of the contest by scoring off of a throw in to put UAB up early, 1-0.

After going into halftime with the score still 1-0 in favor of the Blazers, sophomore Danya Barsalona increased UAB's lead by tallying her fifth goal of the season in the 61st minute, with the assist going to senior Jenny Meyer. UAB went up 3-0 on the Cougars just over a minute later when senior Jill Porto found the back of the net in the 62nd minute, assist by sophomores Allison Auchter and Caitlin Marple. The Blazers continued their offensive attack and scored their fourth goal of the match in the 83rd minute when freshman Justine Hartigan, assisted by Palmer and freshman Morgan Haney, put one in off of a throw in and through the midfield. Palmer, who scored UAB's opening goal of the game, also scored its final goal in the 88th minute when she headed the ball in the net, with sophomore Toni Gockel assisting, to make the final score 5-0.

Redshirt freshman Kate Blankenship earned the win in goal for UAB by earning her fifth shutout of the season and recording two saves. Shelby Scott received the loss in goal for Houston, allowing five goals and grabbing five saves.

Tulsa posted a 1-0 shutout victory over Southern Miss on Sunday afternoon at the Hurricane Soccer and Track Stadium. The Golden Hurricane moved to 3-10-1 on the season and 1-2 in Conference USA, while the Golden Eagles fell to 6-7 overall and 2-2 in the league. Sophomore Emily McElrath headed in a goal off a corner kick taken by Kelley German with only 1:17 ticked off the clock. McElrath's goal was her first goal of the season and of her career. Rachel Robinson made her goalkeeper debut for Tulsa. She played all 90 minutes, and tallied five saves in the contest for her first shutout.

Junior Sarah McFadden collected the match's lone goal in the 35th minute to lead Southern Miss to a 1-0 women's soccer victory over SMU, Friday night, at Westcott Field. The Eagles (6-7-0 overall, 2-2 C-USA) won for the second-straight time and captured its fourth victory over the last five matches. It was the first time since the 2000 season that Southern Miss has won consecutive league affairs. McFadden, who tallied her team-leading fifth goal, hit an eight-foot shot off a cross from Bianca Ontiveros into the lower right corner of the net. Ontiveros tallied her first assist of the season.