Lady Pirates Head Into C-USA Tournament As Sixth Seed
October 30, 2006 | Soccer
Oct. 30, 2006
Donnenwirth On C-USA Tournament
GREENVILLE, N.C. - SMU compiled an 8-1 conference mark during the regular season to clinch the top seed in the 2006 Conference USA Women's Soccer Championship, which will be hosted at SMU's Westcott Field in Dallas November 1-5.
Eight of the 12 C-USA teams advance to the league tournament, which begins this Wednesday with first-round matches at noon, 2:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. The semifinals are Friday at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., with the final set for Sunday at 3 p.m. (CST). The final will be aired on CSTV: College Sports Television. Conference USA's official website, www.ConferenceUSA.com , will provide updates, box scores, recaps and photos.
The host Mustangs (15-3-1) meet eighth-seeded Tulsa (7-10-1, 3-5-1) in the noon match to kick off the championship. Tulsa became the final team to qualify with a 1-1 tie at UCF earlier this afternoon. SMU edged the Golden Hurricane, 1-0, on the road earlier this season. The Mustangs had compiled a string of 11 straight wins, before suffering their only conference loss of the season with a 2-1 double overtime decision at UCF on Oct. 27.
No. 4 seed UTEP (15-5-0, 6-3-0) and No. 5 Colorado College (13-4-1, 6-3-0), who is playing their first season in Conference USA as an affiliate member, will square off the in the 2:30 p.m. match. The two teams have been pretty even all season and produced identical conference marks. UTEP earned the tie-breaker with a 2-0 regular season win on October 21.
The 5 p.m. match pits second-seeded UCF (11-5-2, 7-1-1) against No. 7 UAB (6-11-0, 4-5-0). The Golden Knights were the only team to knock off top-seeded SMU during the regular season, a team they shared the regular season title with in 2005. The Blazers will be looking for a different decision after suffering a 2-0 loss on the road to UCF on Oct. 8.
The nightcap should heat things up as No. 3 seed Memphis (10-6-2, 6-2-1) squares off against No. 6 seed East Carolina (10-7-2, 5-3-1). The Tigers have won three in a row, including a 4-2 road win at UAB on Friday night, while the Pirates posted two key wins this weekend over UTEP (2-0) and Colorado College (2-1) to secure the six slot. The Pirates are heading into the tournament winning four of their last give games, while posting three shutouts. These two teams played each other in Memphis, Tenn. on Sep. 29 and the game ended in a 1-1 tie.
A complete schedule of the 2006 Conference USA Women's Soccer Championship follows.
2006 CONFERENCE USA CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH SCHEDULE
Wednesday, November 1
Match 1 - (1) SMU vs. (8) Tulsa 12 p.m.
Match 2 - (4) UTEP vs. (5) Colorado College 2:30 p.m.
Match 3 - (2) UCF vs. (7) UAB 5:30 p.m.
Match 4 - (3) Memphis vs. (6) East Carolina 8:00 p.m.
Friday, November 3 (Semifinals)
Match 5 - Winner of SMU/Tulsa vs. UTEP/Colorado College 5 p.m.
Match 6 - Winner of UCF/UAB vs. Memphis/East Carolina 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, November 6 (Finals)
Match 7 - Semifinal Winners 3 p.m. (CSTV)
All times are Central.
All Matches played at Westcott Field (Dallas, Texas)
