HOUSTON, Texas – No. 25 ranked and No. 1 West seed Rice, behind first-half goals from Rebecca Keane and Callie Ericksen and a shutout effort from goalkeeper Bella Killgore, captured the 2020 Conference USA Women’s Soccer Championship with a 2-0 victory over East No. 3 seed Charlotte at Rice’s Holloway Field.
 
The victory by the Owls (12-2-1) earns Rice the C-USA automatic bid to the 2020 NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship. It is the first Conference USA tournament title for Rice since 2014, and the third C-USA tournament title for the Owls overall (2005, 2014, 2021). Rice is unbeaten in its last nine games (8-0-1) overall.

Box Score (PDF)
Championship Central
C-USA Final Bracket (PDF)

Rice’s Delaney Schultz, who had a pair of assists in the Owls’ three victories, was selected as the tournament’s Offensive MVP, while Mijke Roelfsema, who anchored the Owls’ back line that authored three shutouts over 290 minutes in the tournament, was selected as the Defensive MVP.
 
Schultz and Roelfsema were joined on the C-USA All-Tournament Team by Rice teammates Caleigh Boeckx, and Keane. Other members of the All-Tournament team were Charlotte’s Meredith Hamby, Alyssa Moler and Abby Stapleton, Southern Miss’ Madisyn Flammia and Nolubabalo Sishuba along with Avery Jacobsen and Katie Erwin of WKU.
 
In the first half, Keane scored her first goal of the season on a close range shot after a short corner kick off assists by Madison Kent and Schultz in the 31st minute as Rice took a 1-0 lead.
 
The Owls doubled their advantage to 2-0 in the 33rd minute when Ericksen scored when she got her foot on a loose ball after a centering pass from Kent. The goal was Ericksen’s first of the season.
 
Rice outshot the 49ers 11-6 overall, and 6-2 in shots on goal. Charlotte had a slight edge in corner kicks at 5-4.
 
Stapleton had four saves for the 49ers. Killgore made a pair of saves for Rice, as she extended her consecutive scoreless minutes streak to 815:59 with eight consecutive shutouts overall.
 
Charlotte (6-6) upset West No. 2 seed and three-time defending C-USA tournament champion North Texas 1-0 in the quarterfinals, and the 49ers also upset East No. 1 seed WKU 2-0 in the semifinals to reach the championship final.
 
To get to the C-USA championship final, Rice beat East No. 4 seed Old Dominion 3-0 in the quarterfinals and outlasted West No. 3 seed Southern Miss in penalty kicks, 5-3, after a 0-0 two-overtime tie in the semifinal round.
 
The Owls – and C-USA teams on the hunt for an at-large bid – now await the 2020 NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship Selection Show on Monday, April 19 at 1 p.m. ET/12 p.m. CT on NCAA.com, where they will learn who they will face in the first round as part of the 48-team field.
 
2020 C-USA Women’s Soccer Championship All-Tournament Team
Delaney Schultz, Rice – Offensive MVP
Mijke Roelfsema, Rice – Defensive MVP
Caleigh Boeckx, Rice
Rebecca Keane, Rice
Meredith Hamby, Charlotte
Alyssa Moler, Charlotte
Abby Stapleton, Charlotte
Madisyn Flammia, Southern Miss
Nolubabalo Sishuba, Southern Miss
Avery Jacobsen, WKU
Katie Erwin, WKU
 
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 2, (3E) Charlotte 0