Soccer Hosts Home Matches Thursday & Sunday

RICE SOCCER vs. HBU | March 25 at 7 PM | Watch | Live Stats
RICE SOCCER vs. Southern Miss | March 28 at 1 PM | Watch | Live Stats
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Rice (6-2-0, 2-1-0) hosts a pair home matches this week at Holloway Field. The Owls welcome crosstown foe Houston Baptist (2-8-1) at 7 pm on Thursday, March 25. Rice then meets red-hot Southern Miss (5-2-0, 3-1-0) at 1 pm on Sunday in a return to C-USA league play.

QUICK ON THE OWLS: The 2020-21 Rice soccer team returns eight of 11 starters from last season's squad that went 10-6-3 and won a game in the Conference USA Tournament. The Owls return a total of 20 letterwinners from a year ago and welcome in a talented new recruiting class.

FOR THIS SEASON: Thanks to the Rice Crisis Management Team's approval of a set of protocols for outdoor athletic venues. Seating will be limited at the matches this spring and all tickets will be General Admission. Tickets will be distributed to season ticket members, player families and students. Fans will be required to wear masks at all times and sit six feet apart from the next group. There are no concessions at Holloway Field this season, but fans are allowed to bring food and drink provided they are masked unless actively eating or drinking. Parking for soccer is free in West Lot 6 or in the lot behind Tudor Fieldhouse on dates when there are no conflicting events at Tudor nor Reckling Park. Season tickets for the 2021 campaign are currently on sale. Season ticket members can renew their seats online at Riceowls.com/myaccount and new season tickets can be purchased here. Any ticketing questions should be directed to the ticket office by calling 713-348-6957 or emailing tickets@rice.edu

20th SEASON OF RICE SOCCER: It may have taken a little extra time to get here, but the 20th anniversary season of Rice Owls Soccer in in full swing! After starting a full-scholarship soccer program for the first time in 2001, the fall of 2020 was expected to be the 20th anniversary season of the program. Soccer and a lot of sports around the college landscape, however, were delayed due to the world-wide illness. The NCAA is sanctioning spring soccer this semester with a national championship tournament scheduled for the end of the regular season.

OWL IN: The Owl In logo represents the continued commitment of Rice Athletics' student-athletes, coaches, and staff to come together for positive change throughout our department, campus, and world. With increased efforts in education, policy development, and action as it relates to diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice, members of the Rice Athletics community will become better equipped to ensure we can fulfill our department's desire to be a more inclusive and welcoming place. To learn more about being Owl In, visit RiceOwls.com/OwlIn.

COACH'S CORNER: Rice soccer is under the direction of head coach Brian Lee, who is in his second season at the helm of the program. A 2018 finalist for National Coach of the Year and with more than 25 years of experience as a Division I head coach, Lee enters this week's action with a career record of 303-196-58. Lee's Rice coaching staff includes Megan Kinneman, Travis Curson and new volunteer assistant Lianne Mananquil.

WEEKLY HONORS EVERYWHERE: The Rice duo of Delaney Schultz and Mijke Roelfsema both earned impressive soccer awards from different organizations for their respective play last week. Roelfsema was named the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week. Schultz was named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com national Team of the Week. The two awards were announced by the organizations on Tuesday, March 23. TopDrawerSoccer selected Schultz as a member of its 'Team of the Week,' where 11 different Division I players from across the nation are recognized. Schultz was a big part of the Owls stirring up the national college soccer scene with a March 15 win over No. 12 ranked Texas A&M. Her first goal of the season got Rice on the scoreboard as time was expiring in the first half. As the two teams battled into overtime, the Saint Louis, Mo., native recorded the assist on the Owls' game-winning goal in a dramatic 3-2 win. On Friday (Mar. 19). Schultz scored a goal against Conference USA rival Louisiana Tech as the Blue & Gray posted a 2-0 league win on the road. She is the first Owl to be named to TDS' Team of the Week since Holly Hargreaves in 2014. Roelfsema played a key role in the Owls' C-USA shutout road victory at LA Tech. In 87 minutes of playing time Roelfsema helped limit the Bulldogs to just six shots, of which only one was on-goal. This is the second time in her career for Roelfsema to be named the C-USA Defensive Player of the Week. She joins Owl teammates Bella Killgore and Madison Kent as C-USA weekly award winners this season.

SERIES HISTORY vs. HBU: Rice leads the series with HBU 3-0-0. All the official meetings have been played at Rice, the most recent of which was a 2-1 Owl win in 2016. There have been a few preseason meetings and controlled scrimmages between the crosstown foes that have been held at HBU.

DID YOU KNOW?: The Owls and Huskies were originally scheduled to meet at Holloway Field on February 7. That match was postponed, and Rice ended up rescheduling its previously postponed match vs. McNeese from Feb. 4 for that same Feb. 7 date and time.

SERIES HISTORY vs. SOUTHERN MISS: Rice leads the series with Southern Miss 11-0-0 dating back to the first meeting in 2005 when the Owls joined Conference USA. The Blue & Gray is 5-0-0 vs. the Golden Eagles in games played at Rice.

DID YOU KNOW?: Due to a quirk in the C-USA scheduling, Rice and Southern Miss have not played since 2017. The Golden Eagles have not visited Holloway Field since 2016.

PREVIOUS OUTING: RUSTON, La. — Rice scored goals in each half of the match, and Owl goalkeeper Bella Killgore posted a complete game shutout, to claim a 2-0 Conference USA road victory at Louisiana Tech on March 19. Rice was quick to take a 1-0 advantage with one of its earliest goals of the season. In the ninth minute Owl senior Haley Kostyshyn served a pass wide out to the right to true freshman Mikala Furuto. As the LA Tech defense adjusted to thwart the Rice rookie, Furuto took only a quick touch before crossing in back to Delaney Schultz. Schultz quickly headed it to the back of the Bulldog net for a 1-0 advantage. Rice stretched the margin to 2-0 with another score early in the second half. In the 51st minute, Kostyshyn turned her defender out wide and sent a low cross into traffic in the keeper's box. Forward Caleigh Boeckx quickly finished the play with a touch to stretch the margin to 2-0. "Tonight was a clinical & mentally tough three points, at a difficult place to play," said Rice head coach Brian Lee. "We were solid in defense and our attacking movement was excellent. I was very impressed by our team's ability to come off the big win Monday (vs. No. 12 ranked Texas A&M) and continue to make strides forward tonight."
Notes & Stats From Previous Match
• Schultz' goal was her second of the season and second in as many games after finding the back of the Texas A&M net on March 15.
• Boeckx notched her third goal of the season on only two shots.
• As a team the Owls took only ten shot attempts in the 90 minutes, but five were on-goal and two found the inside netting.
• Rice held a 10-6 advantage in shots and a 4-2 margin in corner kicks.
• The complete game shutout was the third of the season for Bella Killgore, who has played all 730 minutes in-goal for Rice this year.
• Rice is tied for second in the C-USA West Division standings with three other teams. North Texas, UAB and UTEP all have six points.

C-USA PRESEASON ACCOLADES: IRVING, Texas – Led by the duo of Mijke Roelfsema and Delaney Schultz as preseason Conference USA honorees, the Rice soccer team was picked to finish second in the C-USA West Division in the league's head coaches' poll announced on January 26. The preseason all-conference honors and ranking were determined on a vote of the 14 C-USA head soccer coaches. It is the eighth-straight year for Rice to be picked to finish among the league's Top 3 teams in the annual head coaches' poll. Defending regular season co-champions North Texas and Florida Atlantic were picked to finish first in the league's West and East Divisions, respectively.

SEC STANDOUT JOINS OWLS: Coach Lee announced the addition of SEC junior transfer Serena Pham to the Owls' roster, to be eligible for competition starting the Fall of 2021. Pham, a midfielder originally from Chantilly, Virginia, played the previous two seasons at Alabama (2019-2020). She appeared in a total of 28 matches for the Crimson Tide with 15 starting assignments. In 2019 Pham recorded the most assists by a freshman in Alabama soccer history (6). Two of her assists in 2019 were on both Tide goals in the 2-1 win at Rice on August 29. It is also worth noting the program has enjoyed great success when ACC transfer Mijke Roelfsema (originally at Boston College and now an Owl senior) joined Rice in Lee's first year at the helm of the program.

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