Nov. 4, 2007

Jami Tullius notched her Conference USA leading 12th goal of the season, and Brittany Popoff made five saves for her school-record-tying 18th shutout of her career to lead the UTEP soccer team to a crucial 1-0 win at Rice Sunday afternoon.

With the triumph, the Miners wrapped up the third seed in the upcoming C-USA tournament which starts Wednesday in El Paso. The championship will run from Wednesday thru Sunday, with all of the matches being held at UTEP's University Field.

UTEP, which is unbeaten in its past four contests, concludes the regular season at 12-6-2, 6-2-1 C-USA play, while the Owls fall 11-6-2, 5-3-1, respectively.

UTEP started solid, controlling possession and playing deep in the Owls' portion of the pitch. Tullius had a blast that was blocked out of bounds, setting up a corner kick for the Miners. Jo Radcliffe lobbed the ball into the box, but Rice cleared it out of danger.

At the 12-minute mark, Cara Nordin made a nifty move to create some space before unleashing a shot that forced the Owls netminder Meghan Erkel to make a fine save.

Rice responded with pressure of its own, but Popoff was up to the task on a chance by Beth Martin. Six minutes later, Popoff was at it again. This time, she turned away a shot by Clory Martin. Only 50 seconds later, Katie Edwards laced a shot toward the net, but it was off target.

The Miners had an answer to the plethora of chances by the Owls, as they methodically worked the ball down the field with crisp passing. A crossing attempt was blocked, affording the Orange and Blue their second corner kick of the tilt. Lauren Hamson whistled a pass to Cortney Casey, whose shot was deflected wide of the net for their third corner kick.

Given another chance, the Miners capitalized. Casey played a ball into the box, which was followed by a desperate scrum. Hamson one-touched a ball to Tameka Sumter, whose shot was deflected. Tullius hammered home the bouncing ball with a header to vault UTEP into a 1-0 lead at the 20-minute mark.

Following the goal, the Miners kept the pedal to the medal. Casey's shot was blocked at the 21-minute mark and Erkel made a save on a laser beam from Hamson minutes later.

The Owls were not going to quit, though, especially on senior day. They vied for the equalizer on a shot by Samantha Conn, but Popoff had other ideas by registering the save.

UTEP then raced down the pitch, looking to add to its lead. Hamson was denied, though, by Erkel with nine minutes left in the half.

In the waning minutes of the period, Rice had one final rush up field and Korey Taylor sent a header screaming toward the net but Popoff was perfectly positioned to record the stop.

At the onset of the second half, the Owls earned a corner kick. The Miners displayed their prowess in the air by heading it out of harms' way.

The next several minutes belonged to UTEP. Casey tested Erkel at the 48-minute mark. That play was followed by a pair of shots from Anoop Josan. The first chance blistered high, and the second was blocked.

Armed with the lead, the Miners were content to slow things down a bit the next several minutes. Play became a bit more physical, with UTEP being whistled for four fouls in an eight-minute stretch. Rice then strung together some passes to set up shop offensively. Katie Edwards rifled a shot on net, but once again Popoff was there to make the save.

A brilliant strategy deployed by the Miners paid dividends the next several minutes, with UTEP erasing three different Rice scoring chances with an offside trap.

With seven minutes to play in the match, the Orange and Blue increased their intensity in an effort to put away the Owls with an insurance goal. Senior co-captain Kristin Wernimont drilled a shot toward the net that was saved by Erkel. The rebound came right back to Nordin, who blistered a shot destined toward the back of the net. A Rice defender was there, though, to keep the ball out of the net with a lunge.

The Owls had one final rush up field in the match, and this time it was UTEP which was the beneficiary of good luck. Caitlin Robbins drilled a shot that beat Popoff but clanked off the post. .