PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Outside of the American Athletic Conference’s two ranked women’s soccer teams, the league continues to be a surprising field. ECU and Tulsa earned upset victories on Thursday night while No. 18/24 Memphis and RV/25 USF picked up wins of their own. Eight of 10 teams in the conference now own at least two league wins and there is currently a five-way tie for fourth place in the standings.
Thursday, October 4
18/24 Memphis 4, Houston 0
Memphis continued its winning ways with a 4-0 victory at Houston on Thursday afternoon at Carl Lewis Complex. The tigers scored twice in the first half and twice in the second half to extend its winning streak to nine contests. The Tigers' offensive attack, which entered the day fourth nationally in scoring offense, tallied a season-high 34 shots.
Defensively, the Tigers limited Houston to eight shots, while sophomore goalkeeper Elizabeth Moberg registered her nation-leading 10th shutout of the season. Memphis' first goal came in the 23rd minute of action off the foot of freshman Tanya Boychuk. After sophomore Clarissa Larisey chased down a loose ball and drew the goalkeeper out of position, Larisey dropped a pass to Boychuk, who drove it in to the back of the net for her second score of the year.
The Tigers continue their league road trip with a visit to SMU on Sunday at 2 p.m., in a battle of teams atop the league standings. Houston welcomes Tulsa on Sunday, also at 2 p.m.
RV/25 USF 2, Cincinnati 1
USF Juniors Brianna Blethen and Evelyne Viens each scored to power the Bulls to victory over Cincinnati, 2-1, in a game aired live on the American Digital Network.
USF continued its hot offense with 24 shots on the night and two goals. The Bulls, with the top scoring offense in the nation, had 13 shots on goal with two goals. In the 69th minute, midfielder Andrea Hauksdottir set up for a corner that she sent into the center of the box. Blethen scored her second goal of the season with a header to give USF a 1-0 advantage and a momentum boost.
Just five minutes later, the nation's leader in goals per game, Viens took a pass from freshman and fellow Canadian Mia Palango. She took a long shot from the top center of the box and sent the ball to the top left corner past the reach of the Cincinnati keeper for what would be the game-winner. Viens had 10 of USF's 24 shots, five on goal.
The Bearcats scored on a penalty kick in the 77th minute to keep the Bulls from its fourth shutout of the season. Cincinnati goalkeeper Madison Less made 10 saves in the match.
USF will take on ECU on Sunday at 1 p.m. Cincinnati heads cross-state to take on UCF, also at 1 p.m.
Tulsa 3, SMU 2
Tulsa won its first road game of the season in impressive fashion as the Golden Hurricane went over an SMU team, 3-2, that entered the night at the top of The American standings.
The Hurricane trailed 2-1 at the half but rallied with two second-stanza scores to earn their second league win of the year. Averee Dubach evened the score at 2-2 as she drilled in a rebound attempt that was taken by Anna Williams at the 53:23 mark. Dubach's goal, the first for the sophomore defender, was scored from 10 yards out and shot into the upper right-hand corner.
Emily Brandenburg tallied her second goal on the year as she recorded the game-winner from eight yards out in the 57th minute. She picked up a free kick from Alyssa Kaiser that was passed on the ground to the penalty kick line and Brandenburg one-timed it into the back of the net.
Tulsa will return to action on Sunday, October 7 at 1 p.m., at Houston. SMU and Memphis square off at 2 p.m., on Sunday.
ECU 2, UCF 1 (OT)
Trailing with less than 15 minutes remaining, the ECU women's soccer team scored a pair of goals to stun UCF 2-1 on Thursday night in the UCF Soccer Complex.
With the momentum shifting late in the second, ECU earned a free kick deep in the UCF end. Morgan Dewey swung in a free kick from the right side and Madie Knaggs used a diving effort to direct her header past Vera Varis and into the UCF goal. It was the second-straight game Knaggs had gotten onto the scoresheet after going scoreless in her first 18 games.
For the third time in four games, ECU required overtime to decide the game. Less than a minute into overtime, Dewey used her left foot to swing a cross towards the back post. Tori Riggs trapped the ball down to Jenna Dages who quickly took a one-time shot that found the back of the net for the game-winning goal.
With the win, ECU now has seven wins, the most since going 8-10-2 in 2015. It is also the first time ECU has beaten UCF on the road, having been 0-6-1 in Orlando prior to Thursday.
The Pirates play one final road game of the regular season, traveling to USF for a Sunday afternoon match. UCF takes on Cincinnati.
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