Women's Soccer

WSOC: C-USA SF 2 - (1W) Rice 0, (3W) Southern Miss 0 (Rice 5-3 PKs)

HOUSTON, Texas – No. 25 ranked and No. 1 West seed Rice advanced to the title game of the 2020 Conference USA Women’s Soccer Championship 5-3 on penalty kicks over West No. 3 seed Southern Miss after 90 minutes and two overtime periods resulted in a 0-0 tie in the second semifinal game at Rice’s Holloway Field.

Box Score (PDF)
Updated C-USA Championship Bracket - April 15 (PDF)
Championship Central
 
The victory by the Owls (11-2-1) sends Rice to Saturday’s 12 p.m. CT championship game against Charlotte. It will be the first appearance for Rice in the C-USA title game since 2014. Charlotte, No. 3 seed in the East Division, advanced to the final after a 2-0 victory over top East seed WKU. The winner of the C-USA title game will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship. The game will be broadcast by ESPN+.
 
After two scoreless 10-minute overtime periods resulted in a 0-0 tie, the contest went to penalty kicks to decide which team advanced to the C-USA championship game. Both teams scored on their first attempt, and Rice took a 2-1 lead when Delaney Schultz made her PK attempt. Southern Miss’ JoAnne Ramos’ attempt was snagged by Rice goalkeeper Bella Killgore, who dove to her right to stop the shot. Both the Owls and the Golden Eagles scored on their third and fourth attempts, and the Owls held a 4-3 advantage. Rice’s Catarin Albuquerque scored on the Owls’ fifth attempt which sent her team to the C-USA championship game.
 
Rice outshot the Golden Eagles (7-3-1) 24-16 overall, and the Owls had a 5-4 edge in shots on goal. Killgore had four saves in goal for Rice, and she also had one of the Owls’ penalty kick tallies. Southern Miss goalkeeper Kendell Mindnich stopped five Rice shots. Each goalkeeper had one save in the second overtime on the only shots on goal during the two OT periods.
 
2020 C-USA Women’s Soccer Championship
April 13-17, 2021
 
Quarterfinals – April 13
(1E) WKU 1, (4W) UAB 0
(3E) Charlotte 1, (2W) North Texas 0
(3W) Southern Miss 2, (2E) Florida Atlantic 1
(1W) Rice 3, (4E) Old Dominion 0
 
Semifinals – April 15
(3E) Charlotte 2, (1E) WKU 0
(1W) Rice 0, (3W) Southern Miss 0 – 2OT (Rice advanced 5-3 on PKs)
 
Championship – April 17
(1W) Rice (11-2-1) vs. (3E) Charlotte (6-5) – 12 p.m. CT (ESPN+)