CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
DALLAS – No. 4 Cincinnati will take on No. 2 USF in Sunday’s title game matchup at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT at Westcott Field on the SMU campus in Dallas. The game will air live on ESPN 3/WatchESPN, with a tape delay at 6 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
After 102 scoreless minutes, No. 2 USF claimed a 1-0 double overtime victory against No. 3 UCF in Thursday’s semifinal match. Junior forward Leticia Skeete netted the Bulls’ game-winner off a corner kick from senior Cristina Ferral. With the win, USF has now tied Cincinnati for a league-best 12 shutouts on the season.
Senior Olivia Chance leads the Bulls’ offense with 26 points (eight goals, 10 assists), followed by Skeete with 17 points, including seven goals and three assists. Ocean Parr and Trudi Carter have five goals on the season, while 2015 Defensive Player of the Year Jackie Simpson has recorded four goals - including two in Tuesday’s quarterfinal game. Sophomore goalkeeper Kat Elliott has a conference-high 10 shutouts on the year with a total of 70 saves and a .58 goals against average.
USF has outscored opponents 37-12 and posted 12 shutouts this season, the most in program history. For just the second time in school history, the Bulls have recorded 13 wins in the regular season, marking just the fourth 13-win season in program history (1998, 2010, 2014). USF has not lost consecutive games at any point during the 2015 campaign and put together an eight-game winning streak to begin the season.
In Thursday’s first semifinal match the Bearcats defeated No. 1 UConn, making a 3-2 comeback win in overtime after being down 2-0 in the first half. Cincinnati’s two late second-half goals by senior Danielle Rotheream and sophomore Julie Gavorski evened the score at 2-2 and forced overtime. Sophomore defender Vanessa Gilles headed in the game-winner off Kelly Latimer’s free kick in the 98th minute.
The Bearcats have earned consecutive 10-win seasons for the first time since three-straight such campaigns from 2000-02. Additionally, the team’s fourth-place finish in the conference is the program’s best since the 2002 season. Rotheram earned second team all-conference recognition and leads the teams with 25 points this year (10 goals, five assists). Jaycie Brown, a sophomore, follows with 14 points (six goals, two assists). Gavorski has 11 points this season, with four goals and three assists.
Senior Sam Pavlika and junior Natalie Smith have split time in net for the Bearcats this season. Pavlika has a slight edge in goals against average, 0.58 to Smith's 0.93. This year the team is 8-1-3 in Pavlika’s starts.
Five of Cincinnati’s players; 2014 All-American Athletic Conference selection Katy Couperus, Emma Dwenger, Kellee O'Shaughnessy, Natalie Coury and Taylor Jackson have all been sidelined for the season due to injuries.
When the Bulls and the Bearcats met in the regular season, Brown led Cincinnati to a 1-0 upset of then-No. 18 USF. Smith recorded 10 saves in net for the Bearcats in the win. At the time, the victory extended Cincinnati’s unbeaten streak to eight consecutive matches and gave the Bulls their first conference loss in 2015.
The Bulls are competing for the conference championship for the second consecutive year. Last year USF was runner-up after falling to UConn 3-2 in penalty kicks. Cincinnati has advanced to The American final for the first time, after being eliminated in the quarterfinals the past two years.
2015 American Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Championship
Tuesday, November 3 - Quarterfinals
Live on The American Digital Network
Q1 - No. 4 Cincinnati 2, No. 5 Tulsa 0
Q2 - No. 1 UConn 3, No. 8 East Carolina 1
Q3 - No. 2 USF 3, No. 7 Memphis 0
Q4 - No. 3 UCF 2, No. 6 Temple 1
Thursday, November 5 - Semifinals
Live on The American Digital Network
S1 - No. 4 Cincinnati 3, No. 1 UConn 2 (OT)
S2 - No. 2 USF 1, No. 3 UCF 0 (2OT)
Sunday, November 8 - Championship
ESPN3/Watch ESPN - Live; ESPNU - Tape Delay at 6 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT
No. 4 Cincinnati vs. No. 2 USF....................2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT