Sunday, September 2
Tuscaloosa, AL
7:00 pm CT
Rice University
at
Alabama
Owls To Play Weekend Road Matches
8/29/2018 2:18:00 PM | Women's Soccer
Soccer Team Meets Samford Friday, Alabama Sunday
LIVE STATS vs. Samford: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=221263
WATCH ONLINE: http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/d0abce35-255a-470c-a15f-c0c2921f19c7/rice-vs-samford
LIVE STATS vs Alabama: http://www.sidearmstats.com/alabama/wsoc/
WATCH ONLINE: http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/3429331/rice-vs-alabama-w-soccer
(Internet features activate only at game time.)
THIS WEEK: The Rice soccer team continues its current road swing on both Aug. 31 and Sept. 2. The Owls face defending Southern Conference regular season champion Samford at 7 pm in Birmingham, Ala., on Friday. The Blue & Gray then face SEC foe Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Sunday at 7 pm. Rice and the Crimson Tide are taking advantage of Monday's Labor Day holiday to beat the afternoon heat with an evening start time on Sunday. The Owls are scheduled to return to Houston on Monday.
QUICK ON THE OWLS (1-2-0): The 2018 Rice soccer team returns eight of 11 starters from last season's squad that went 12-4-2 and won the Conference USA regular season championship with a 9-0-1 league record. The Owls return a total of 19 letterwinners from a year ago and welcome in a talented new recruiting class.
COACH'S CORNER: Rice soccer is under the direction of head coach Nicky Adams, who is now in her eighth full year at the helm of the program. Adams enters the weekend with a career record of 71-48-22. A former pro player and All-America honoree while playing at Texas A&M, Adams was inducted into her alma mater's Athletics Hall of Fame in the fall of 2015. Adams' coaching staff includes Brenton Saylor in his third year with the program, Kelly Madsen her first year, and volunteer coach Javier Jerez in his first season.
WATCHING WALKER: Senior forward Annie Walker is one of just 45 Division I women's soccer players named to the inaugural 2018 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List, presented by World Wide Technology, the Missouri Athletic Club and United Soccer Coaches announced on Aug. 9. The MAC Hermann Trophy, presented by World Wide Technology, is the most prestigious individual award in college soccer and is presented annually to the most outstanding women's and men's players of the year. The award's respective watch lists are compiled by members of the United Soccer Coaches Men's and Women's NCAA Division I All-America Committees. Fifteen semifinalists will be named for both the men's and women's MAC Hermann Trophy near the end of the college season based on voting by NCAA Division I coaches and from those candidates. Three finalists will ultimately be placed on the ballot for the coveted award. This year's winners will be announced Friday, Jan. 4, 2019 at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis. Seventeen of the 45 players on the women's watch list were United Soccer Coaches All-America selections last season.
C-USA PRESEASON FAVORITE & INDIVIDUAL HONORS: IRVING, Texas – Led by the duo of preseason honorees Maya Hoyer and Annie Walker the defending Conference USA regular season champion Rice soccer team was picked first in the 2018 C-USA head coaches' poll announced on Aug. 6. The preseason all-conference honors and ranking were determined on a vote of the 14 C-USA head soccer coaches. This is the second time since 2014 for Rice to be tabbed as the league's preseason favorite. A year ago Walker led the conference, and was tied for ninth in the nation, in assists per game. The senior forward from Grand Blanc, Michigan, passed out nine assists on Rice goals last season while also scoring four of her own as the Owls went on to post a 9-0-1 record in C-USA matches. Walker also finished among the C-USA leaders in shots and is serving as a Rice team captain for a second-consecutive year. As a sophomore last season the league coaches voted Hoyer as the C-USA Goalkeeper of the Year. The Los Gatos, Calif., native tied for 39th in the nation with eight complete game shutouts in first season as a starter. Hoyer also tied for the C-USA lead in shutouts despite playing three fewer matches than the league's other co-leader.
THE RICE-SAMFORD SERIES: Rice and Samford have met only one other time in school history. The teams finished in a 3-3 double-overtime tie at Holloway Field in 2016. Although the Owls may be visiting the Samford campus for the first time Friday, the team has already played in the city of Birmingham, Ala., five times. Rice is 2-3 when playing C-USA rival UAB in Birmingham.
THE RICE-ALABAMA SERIES: Rice and Alabama are 1-1 in soccer. The teams have not played since the Owls claimed a 1-0 victory in Houston in 2003. Rice and Alabama met for the first time in 2002 where the Crimson Tide won a 2-0 decision in Tuscaloosa. With Dicky Maegle's run in the 1954 Cotton Bowl as a teaching moment, the Owls have long stayed clear of the Crimson Tide sideline!
PREVIOUS OUTING: CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Rice soccer team scored a pair of first half goals and true freshman goalkeeper Bella Killgore recorded a career-high seven saves in a 2-0 shutout road victory at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on August 26 (Sunday)… Owl freshman Caleigh Boeckx quickly put Rice on the scoreboard with a goal in just the second minute of the contest. Forward Rebecca Keane brought the ball down the left wing and served to Annie Walker in traffic in front of the goal. Walker hit the post with a shot, but Boeckx collected the rebound and laced a rocket shot to the back of the Islanders' net for a 1-0 margin with her first collegiate goal. Rice continued to apply the offensive pressure and added another score in the 32nd minute. Owl junior Lianne Mananquil's shot was block by a defender, and this time Keane won a scramble for the loose ball. The sophomore launched a shot at the back post for her first goal of the season and 2-0 advantage… The Islanders, however, would not go away so easily at home. Killgore played well in her first collegiate start and made seven saves for the shutout. Rice owned an 18-10 advantage in shots for the game with a 2-1 margin in corner kicks.
WATCH ONLINE: http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/d0abce35-255a-470c-a15f-c0c2921f19c7/rice-vs-samford
LIVE STATS vs Alabama: http://www.sidearmstats.com/alabama/wsoc/
WATCH ONLINE: http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/3429331/rice-vs-alabama-w-soccer
(Internet features activate only at game time.)
THIS WEEK: The Rice soccer team continues its current road swing on both Aug. 31 and Sept. 2. The Owls face defending Southern Conference regular season champion Samford at 7 pm in Birmingham, Ala., on Friday. The Blue & Gray then face SEC foe Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Sunday at 7 pm. Rice and the Crimson Tide are taking advantage of Monday's Labor Day holiday to beat the afternoon heat with an evening start time on Sunday. The Owls are scheduled to return to Houston on Monday.
QUICK ON THE OWLS (1-2-0): The 2018 Rice soccer team returns eight of 11 starters from last season's squad that went 12-4-2 and won the Conference USA regular season championship with a 9-0-1 league record. The Owls return a total of 19 letterwinners from a year ago and welcome in a talented new recruiting class.
COACH'S CORNER: Rice soccer is under the direction of head coach Nicky Adams, who is now in her eighth full year at the helm of the program. Adams enters the weekend with a career record of 71-48-22. A former pro player and All-America honoree while playing at Texas A&M, Adams was inducted into her alma mater's Athletics Hall of Fame in the fall of 2015. Adams' coaching staff includes Brenton Saylor in his third year with the program, Kelly Madsen her first year, and volunteer coach Javier Jerez in his first season.
WATCHING WALKER: Senior forward Annie Walker is one of just 45 Division I women's soccer players named to the inaugural 2018 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List, presented by World Wide Technology, the Missouri Athletic Club and United Soccer Coaches announced on Aug. 9. The MAC Hermann Trophy, presented by World Wide Technology, is the most prestigious individual award in college soccer and is presented annually to the most outstanding women's and men's players of the year. The award's respective watch lists are compiled by members of the United Soccer Coaches Men's and Women's NCAA Division I All-America Committees. Fifteen semifinalists will be named for both the men's and women's MAC Hermann Trophy near the end of the college season based on voting by NCAA Division I coaches and from those candidates. Three finalists will ultimately be placed on the ballot for the coveted award. This year's winners will be announced Friday, Jan. 4, 2019 at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis. Seventeen of the 45 players on the women's watch list were United Soccer Coaches All-America selections last season.
C-USA PRESEASON FAVORITE & INDIVIDUAL HONORS: IRVING, Texas – Led by the duo of preseason honorees Maya Hoyer and Annie Walker the defending Conference USA regular season champion Rice soccer team was picked first in the 2018 C-USA head coaches' poll announced on Aug. 6. The preseason all-conference honors and ranking were determined on a vote of the 14 C-USA head soccer coaches. This is the second time since 2014 for Rice to be tabbed as the league's preseason favorite. A year ago Walker led the conference, and was tied for ninth in the nation, in assists per game. The senior forward from Grand Blanc, Michigan, passed out nine assists on Rice goals last season while also scoring four of her own as the Owls went on to post a 9-0-1 record in C-USA matches. Walker also finished among the C-USA leaders in shots and is serving as a Rice team captain for a second-consecutive year. As a sophomore last season the league coaches voted Hoyer as the C-USA Goalkeeper of the Year. The Los Gatos, Calif., native tied for 39th in the nation with eight complete game shutouts in first season as a starter. Hoyer also tied for the C-USA lead in shutouts despite playing three fewer matches than the league's other co-leader.
THE RICE-SAMFORD SERIES: Rice and Samford have met only one other time in school history. The teams finished in a 3-3 double-overtime tie at Holloway Field in 2016. Although the Owls may be visiting the Samford campus for the first time Friday, the team has already played in the city of Birmingham, Ala., five times. Rice is 2-3 when playing C-USA rival UAB in Birmingham.
THE RICE-ALABAMA SERIES: Rice and Alabama are 1-1 in soccer. The teams have not played since the Owls claimed a 1-0 victory in Houston in 2003. Rice and Alabama met for the first time in 2002 where the Crimson Tide won a 2-0 decision in Tuscaloosa. With Dicky Maegle's run in the 1954 Cotton Bowl as a teaching moment, the Owls have long stayed clear of the Crimson Tide sideline!
PREVIOUS OUTING: CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Rice soccer team scored a pair of first half goals and true freshman goalkeeper Bella Killgore recorded a career-high seven saves in a 2-0 shutout road victory at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on August 26 (Sunday)… Owl freshman Caleigh Boeckx quickly put Rice on the scoreboard with a goal in just the second minute of the contest. Forward Rebecca Keane brought the ball down the left wing and served to Annie Walker in traffic in front of the goal. Walker hit the post with a shot, but Boeckx collected the rebound and laced a rocket shot to the back of the Islanders' net for a 1-0 margin with her first collegiate goal. Rice continued to apply the offensive pressure and added another score in the 32nd minute. Owl junior Lianne Mananquil's shot was block by a defender, and this time Keane won a scramble for the loose ball. The sophomore launched a shot at the back post for her first goal of the season and 2-0 advantage… The Islanders, however, would not go away so easily at home. Killgore played well in her first collegiate start and made seven saves for the shutout. Rice owned an 18-10 advantage in shots for the game with a 2-1 margin in corner kicks.
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Soccer
GK
/ Women's Soccer
MF
/ Women's Soccer
GK
/ Women's Soccer
F
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