Sept. 12, 2003

Houston Participates in College Cup; Hosts South Carolina
Friday night (Sept. 12) the Cougars travel to Meyer Park in Spring, Texas, to participate in the College Cup sponsored by the Challenge Soccer Club in Houston, and face Georgia (2-2-0) . . . The match against the Bulldogs, who are 4-1-0 lifetime against C-USA schools, marks the first between the two schools on the soccer field . . . The Bulldogs are coming off a split at home last weekend, losing to Illinois, 2-1, and defeating Georgia State, 2-1.

Houston returns home to Robertson Stadium on Sunday afternoon and hosts the South Carolina Gamecocks (2-2-0) at 1:00pm, also marking the first time both teams have squared off on the soccer field . . . Entering the 2003 campaign, the Gamecocks were tied for tenth in the Southeast Region accoring to Soccer Buzz Magazine . . . Following two consecutive wins at home last weekend, South Carolina travels to Texas this weekend and plays No. 5 Texas A&M Friday night before coming to Houston.

On Home Turf
The Cougars have posted a 9-4-2 run over their last 15 home games . . . They have dropped their first two home contests, to Baylor (Sept. 5) and to nationally-ranked SMU (Sept. 7) . . . The Cougars' 1-0 shutout loss to UAB on Oct. 11, 2002, at Robertson Stadium halted the Cougars' home win streak at eight games dating back to the 2001 season . . . That loss to UAB was Houston's first loss on home turf since a 1-0 defeat by UL Lafayette on Oct. 9, 2001 . . . Houston won its final four home contests of 2001, including victories over Memphis, Southwest Texas, Southern Miss and Tulane . . . The Cougars posted 11 straight home wins from 1998-99, beginning with the final six of 1998 and the first five of 1999 . . . The streak was halted by the Saint Louis Billikens on Oct. 29, 1999, when they defeated Houston, 2-1, in double-overtime.

Last Time Out: Houston Shuts Out Texas State
Beth Outlaw's break-away unassisted goal with less than one minute left in the second extra period prevented a tie as the Houston outlasted the Texas State University Bobcats, 1-0, on Wednesday (Sept. 10) night in San Marcos, Texas . . . Despite being outshot in the game, 20-11,the Cougars played another stellar defensive performance to shut-out the Bobcat offense . . . After a one-hour and 15 minute lightening/rain delay, the two teams trudged on a soaked Bobcat Soccer Complex field for nearly 110 minutes scoreless, when Outlaw scored on a break-away just 58 seconds away from the end of the second overtime period to upend the Bobcats' (0-3-2) home opener . . . Just after a free kick on a Houston foul, Bobcat freshman Natalie Holder nailed a shot that was saved by a diving Houston goalie, Sarah Webster. Following back-to-back misses by Texas State's Kiki Van Etten and Jaynee Sherman, Houston senior Nicole Aubuchon just missed on a break-away shot.

Struggling Cougar Offense
The Cougars have struggled on both the offensive and defense ends early on . . In its first five games of 2003, Houston has been outscored 7-2, with both wins being shutouts against Eastern Washington, 1-0, and Texas State University, 1-0.

Hawkins Leads the Offense
This season junior midfielder Nikki Hawkins, who was named to the Second Team All-Conference USA last season, has become Houston's leader on offense and finds herself moving up Houston's all-time top ten in points (21, 5th), goals (10, 6th) and game-winning goals (4, T4th)... overall, she appears in the top 10 in all eight offensive categories for Houston . . . She recorded the Cougars' lone score on a penalty kick in their 1-0 shutout victory over Eastern Washington on Aug. 31 in the Baylor Classic . . . She led the 2002 Cougar squad in total points (13) and goals (6) and tied with teammate Kelly Golden with two game-winning goals in all games, while in C-USA games alone she led the team with six points and three goals . . . Her 13 points on the 2002 campaign are the most by a Cougar player since the 2000 season.

Tough Schedule in 2003
Highlighting Houston's demanding 2003 schedule is match-ups against Big 12 rival Baylor, SMU, Marquette, Georgia and South Carolina - all of which have been recently ranked among the top programs in the nation -- before conference play opens Sept. 19 at DePaul . . . The SMU Mustangs, ranked 20th by the NSCAA/adidas pre-season rankings and the Cougars' lone NCAA post-season opponent in 2003, visit Robertson Stadium on Sept. 7 . . . Houston has four of its first six league games at home.

The Incoming Class
Among the list of new Cougars are three midfielders, two defenders, two forwards and one goalkeeper, including two from Texas and three from nearby Oklahoma . . . Headlining the Cougars' newcomers are midfielders Heather Williams (Durant High School/Valrico, Fla.), Kelly McCartney (Jersey Village/Houston, Texas) and Julie Dickman (Midlothian/Midlothian, Va.) . . . Hometown player McCartney will miss the season after tearing both her ACL and PCL and suffering a broken right wrist as fall camp opened . . . Dickman will strengthen the Cougars' outside midfield and was the leading scorer for her high school team . . . The new defensive additions include Jennifer Dry (Norman High School/Norman, Okla.), Nicole Butler (Mustang High/Yukon, Okla.), Kourtney Ray (Norman North/Norman, Okla.) and Sarah Fisher (Cypress Springs HS/Katy, Texas) . . . A native of Katy, Fisher earned all-conference, all-district and all-state honors at Cypress Springs High School, scoring 18 goals and notching 15 assists in 22 games . . . The forward added is Nicole Zygmontowicz from Bremerton, Wa., an outstanding athlete in both soccer and basketball player in Seattle who a multi-faceted player an will provide depth at many positions . . . The lone goalie is Katie Cook, an incoming junior goalie from Prior Lake, Minn., who transfered to Houston from fellow C-USA school and nationally-ranked Marquette . . . Cook has been enrolled at Houston since last year and is eligible this fall.

2002 in Review: Soccer Makes Fifth Consecutive Trip to Annual C-USA Tournament
Even with the departure of 10 seniors, the 2002 team boasted one of the best recruiting classes since its inception -- ranked among the Top 50 in the nation by Soccer Buzz magazine -- that blended well with the remaining core of talented player and proved important in laying the foundation for the program's future . . . Led by upperclassmen Ashley Fortenberry, Allwardt and Aubuchon, the 2002 team wrapped up the season with an 8-8-3 record, including 4-3-3 in C-USA play, and earned its fifth straight bid to the C-USA Tournament . . . Despite the youthfulness of the team, many players stood out for the Cougars in 2002 . . . Freshman forward Kelly Golden led the squad in total shots, while Hawkins led the team in goals scored, total points and emerged as the team leader . . . Meanwhile, freshman goalie Erin Ferguson emerged as one of the brightest and most talented goalies in Conference USA . . . She stepped into the starting role and etched her name among Houston's all-timers in minutes played, saves, fewest goals against and shutouts . . . The Cougars had four players receive conference honors in 2002, including Hawkins, Alison Sinclair and Fortenberry all being named to the Second Team All-Conference and Golden earning All-Freshman accolades.

On the Airwaves
Local soccer fans can follow the Cougars and collegiate soccer every week . . . The Houston Chronicle's Glenn Davis hosts "Soccer Hour with Glenn Davis" every Sunday from 5-6pm on 90.1 FM (KPFT) radio in Houston, and his weekly soccer column appears in the "Sports 2" section of the Chronicle every Sunday.