Tuesday, April 13
6:30 pm
Rice University
vs
Old Dominion
Owls Host C-USA Championship Starting Tuesday
4/12/2021 8:40:00 PM | Women's Soccer
NCAA Bid On The Line During Week-Long Event
RICE SOCCER vs. Old Dominion | April 13 at 6:30 PM | Live Stats
(Internet features activate at game time)
Rice (10-2-0) has the honor of hosting the Conference USA Soccer Championship at Holloway Field April 13-17. The Owls are co-No. 1 seed of the week-long event and meet East Division No. 4 seed Old Dominion on Tuesday at 6:30 pm. The league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament is on the line this week. The games are set for an online broadcast on ESPN+.
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
BEST IN THE WEST: Rice finished the C-USA regular season schedule with a 5-1-0 league record and in sole possession of first place in the West Division Standings with 15 points. The C-USA standings are based on earning three points for every league win and one point for finishing with a C-USA tie. Even with the final five league games scheduled for Friday (April 9), no other West Division team can catch the Owls' total of 15 points.
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. On April 12 Lee was voted by his C-USA Coaching Peers as the league's Coach of the Year. 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 307-196-58. Lee's Rice coaching staff includes Megan Kinneman, Travis Curson and new volunteer assistant Lianne Mananquil.
RICE'S CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY: Rice has made the C-USA Championship for the eleventh-straight year and looking for a second-straight opening round victory in the tournament. The team last won the C-USA postseason crown in 2014. Since joining Conference USA in 2005, the Owls' all-time record in the league's postseason tournament is an even 9-9-2. There have been eight times where the Blue & Gray failed to get out of the first round, and two occasions where the squad won its opening game but was halted after that (2007 and 2011). On the two occasions that Rice's tournament match has gone to penalty kicks (the back-to-back seasons of 2010 and 2011), the Owls were prevented from advancing both times. There have only been two seasons (2006 and 2009) when the team did not qualify for the postseason tournament.
SERIES HISTORY vs. ODU: Rice leads the series with Old Dominion 5-0-0. The series dates back to 2013. The Monarchs are making their first trip to Holloway Field since 2016.
PREVIOUS OUTING: HOW THE WEST WAS WON — The Rice soccer team scored a pair of early goals and posted its fifth-straight shutout to claim a 2-0 Conference USA victory over visiting UTEP last Thursday evening (April 8) at Holloway Field. The Owls were quick on the scoreboard with a pair of goals early in the first half. In the eighth minute Rice pressed on the right side only to have the ball carom off a UTEP player past the endline to set up the game's first corner. Senior Mijke Roelfsema launched a curving serve that true freshman Catarina Albuquerque buried to the back of the UTEP netting while in traffic near the left post. Her third goal of the season would prove all the margin the Owls would need, but the Blue & Gray wasn't quite finished. Rice was again back on the attack in the in the 14th minute. When the Miner defenders shifted to try and slow Mikala Furuto, a freshman who entered the contest having scored in three-straight games, the rookie passed ahead to veteran forward Haley Kostyshyn. The senior needed only a quick touch to settle, get some extra space, then place a tactical shot from outside the 18. Kostyshyn's third goal of the season gave the Owls a comfortable 2-0 lead.
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.
(Internet features activate at game time)
Rice (10-2-0) has the honor of hosting the Conference USA Soccer Championship at Holloway Field April 13-17. The Owls are co-No. 1 seed of the week-long event and meet East Division No. 4 seed Old Dominion on Tuesday at 6:30 pm. The league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament is on the line this week. The games are set for an online broadcast on ESPN+.
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
BEST IN THE WEST: Rice finished the C-USA regular season schedule with a 5-1-0 league record and in sole possession of first place in the West Division Standings with 15 points. The C-USA standings are based on earning three points for every league win and one point for finishing with a C-USA tie. Even with the final five league games scheduled for Friday (April 9), no other West Division team can catch the Owls' total of 15 points.
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. On April 12 Lee was voted by his C-USA Coaching Peers as the league's Coach of the Year. 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 307-196-58. Lee's Rice coaching staff includes Megan Kinneman, Travis Curson and new volunteer assistant Lianne Mananquil.
RICE'S CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY: Rice has made the C-USA Championship for the eleventh-straight year and looking for a second-straight opening round victory in the tournament. The team last won the C-USA postseason crown in 2014. Since joining Conference USA in 2005, the Owls' all-time record in the league's postseason tournament is an even 9-9-2. There have been eight times where the Blue & Gray failed to get out of the first round, and two occasions where the squad won its opening game but was halted after that (2007 and 2011). On the two occasions that Rice's tournament match has gone to penalty kicks (the back-to-back seasons of 2010 and 2011), the Owls were prevented from advancing both times. There have only been two seasons (2006 and 2009) when the team did not qualify for the postseason tournament.
SERIES HISTORY vs. ODU: Rice leads the series with Old Dominion 5-0-0. The series dates back to 2013. The Monarchs are making their first trip to Holloway Field since 2016.
PREVIOUS OUTING: HOW THE WEST WAS WON — The Rice soccer team scored a pair of early goals and posted its fifth-straight shutout to claim a 2-0 Conference USA victory over visiting UTEP last Thursday evening (April 8) at Holloway Field. The Owls were quick on the scoreboard with a pair of goals early in the first half. In the eighth minute Rice pressed on the right side only to have the ball carom off a UTEP player past the endline to set up the game's first corner. Senior Mijke Roelfsema launched a curving serve that true freshman Catarina Albuquerque buried to the back of the UTEP netting while in traffic near the left post. Her third goal of the season would prove all the margin the Owls would need, but the Blue & Gray wasn't quite finished. Rice was again back on the attack in the in the 14th minute. When the Miner defenders shifted to try and slow Mikala Furuto, a freshman who entered the contest having scored in three-straight games, the rookie passed ahead to veteran forward Haley Kostyshyn. The senior needed only a quick touch to settle, get some extra space, then place a tactical shot from outside the 18. Kostyshyn's third goal of the season gave the Owls a comfortable 2-0 lead.
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.
Players Mentioned
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