PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The American Athletic Conference had all three of its nationally-ranked women's soccer teams in action on Thursday night. While No. 20/17 USF and RV/22 Memphis were victorious, it was SMU that made the biggest mark of The American squads with a victory at No. 24/- UCF, 1-0. All four teams are now still in contention to host the 2018 championship with just two matches left on each squads' schedules.
Thursday, October 18
20/17 USF 3, Houston 2
USF extended its home win-streak to 12 straight games when it defeated Houston, 3-2, on Thursday night as a complete team effort powered USF to victory over Houston with goals from sophomore Sabrina Wagner, freshman Sydny Nasello and junior Aubrey Megrath.
In the 37th minute, forward Nasello sent a high pass to defender Wagner at the top right corner of the 6-yard box. Wagner was in the perfect position to head in USF's first goal of the match.
Houston responded with the equalizer in the 50th minute, but Nasello countered, scoring an unassisted goal just a minute later.
The Cougars pressured, more than doubling their shot count in the second half. Houston's Desiree Bowen picked up a pass and took it into the box where she shot hard left. USF's Goalkeeper got hands on it, but bobbled and the ball trickled into the left side of the goal.
In the 69th minute, the ball was kicked toward the end line by a defender, but Wagner raced to it and was able to send a cross inside the 6-yard box to set Megrath up for a short, quick shot past the Houston keeper for the game-winner.
The Bulls welcome SMU on Sunday at 1 p.m. Houston heads to UCF on the same date and time.
RV/22 Memphis 2, UConn 1
No. 22 Memphis women's soccer returned to its winning ways after defeating UConn 2-1 on Thursday night.
The Tigers struck first in the opening frame, and despite momentum swings throughout the second half, found timely offense to defeat the Huskies. In goal, sophomore Elizabeth Moberg collected four saves to register her 13th win of the season.
Memphis began to find rhythm after controlling possession in the offensive zone and finally broke through in the 35th minute. Junior Jessica Lisi sent a ball deep into the Memphis zone, and a deflection landed the ball at the feet of Tanya Boychuk. The freshman moved right to beat the defense and pushed a shot past the UConn goalie to give Memphis a 1-0 advantage.
UConn added pressure to begin the second half and evened the score in the 53rd minute of action. The Tigers answered and nearly regained the lead in the 63rd minute, but an offside call kept the score tied.
Just three minutes later, the Tigers broke the tie off the foot of Marie Levasseur. The senior collected the ball near midfield and drove to the top of the box, where Levasseur fired a shot past the keeper high to give Memphis the lead and set the final.
The Tigers will be back in action on Sunday at Temple for their regular-season road finale at 1 p.m. ET. UConn faces Tulsa also at Sunday at 1 p.m.
SMU 1, 24/- UCF 0
Allie Thornton scored the game-winner in the final 10 minutes as SMU knocked off No. 24 UCF on the road Thursday night.
The Mustangs were looking to break a three-game losing skid after a trio of tough one-goal losses. The reigning regular-season conference champs and co-conference leaders came into the contest off a pair of wins including topping No. 18 Memphis' last weekend.
After an even first, the second half continued the same with Catie Brown coming up with clutch saves to keep the game scoreless heading into the final minutes.
In the 81st minute, senior Vanessa Valadez pushed a ball up to Katina Tsapos in the attacking third. Tsapos whipped one into Thornton just outside the goal area. The junior striker spun on a dime and fired a quick bullet beating the keeper and sending the Mustangs ahead. It was Thornton's team-leading ninth goal of the season with assists credited to Valadez and Tsapos.
The SMU defense held tight in the final minutes for their fourth shutout of the season, knocking away a few UCF chances and a pair of corners. The win gives SMU 12 points in AAC play and its first ranked win since knocking off Cincinnati in 2017.
Next up, the Mustangs wrap up their Florida road trip with another ranked matchup against No. 20/17 USF on Sunday at noon. UCF welcomes Houston at the same time.
Temple 1, Tulsa 0
Temple defeated Tulsa 1-0 on Thursday afternoon as Natalie Druehl's goal early in the first half propelled the Owls to victory.
Druehl netted the only goal of the contest in the 10th minute. Sarah McGlinn brought the ball up the left flank and found Gabriela Johnson in the box. Johnson found Druehl well-positioned at the top of the box, who struck the ball and rocketed it into the goal. This marked Druehl's first career goal for the Cherry and White and was the game-winner.
The Owls' defense had a significant impact on the match's outcome. The backline, along with goalkeeper Morgan Basileo and midfielders Julia Dolan and Druehl were pivotal in keeping the Golden Hurricane off the scoresheet. Tulsa registered 14 shots and 12 corners, but Temple executed their game plan and limited the Golden Hurricane's viable chances.
Temple will host No. 22 Memphis for Senior Day on Sunday, Oct. 21, at 1 p.m. Tulsa heads to UConn at the same time.
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