Rice Welcomes Houston Thursday for Home Opener
8/30/2023 2:38:00 PM | Women's Soccer
Rice Owls (2-2, 0-0 AAC) vs. Houston (3-0-1, 0-0 Big XII)
Match 5 • Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023 • 7:00 p.m. CT
Houston, TX • Holloway Field
Video Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Twitter Updates: @RiceSoccer
Home Opener
After opening the season with four-straight road games, the Rice Owls return to Holloway Field for their home opener Thursday against Houston. Rice will have a Light Blue Out with rally towels for fans and discounted youth team tickets.
Last Time Out
Rice even its record after earning back-to-back wins last week at Texas Southern (5-2) and most recently at Northwestern State (2-1). Sarah Piper scored the game-winning goal with her first career goal against the Demons. Ellen Halseth netted a goal while also assisting on the game-winning goal.
Weekly Honors
Halseth was named to the AAC Weekly Honor Roll after a six-point performance last week recording a goal and assist against both Texas Southern and Northwestern State. Halseth scored the game-winning goal against the Tigers while assisting on the game-winning goal against the Demons.
A Tough Road Ahead
Rice will face several opponents in 2023 that are either ranked or receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll. The Owls will face No. 15 Texas, No. 20 Memphis, RV Xavier, RV Texas A&M and RV SMU.
Rice vs. Houston
The Owls are 9-5-3 all-time against Houston, winning four of the last six meetings. Rice has only lost one home match against Houston, with that lone loss being the first-ever meeting between the two on Sept. 4, 2001 (1-2), since then Rice is 6-0-2 at home against the Cougars. Houston won last year's matchup at UH 3-1.
New Season, New Conference
The 2023 season marks Rice's inaugural season in the American Athletic Conference (AAC). Rice was one of six schools (Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, UAB and UTSA) to join the conference for this season. Rice is coming off a regular season title in C-USA after posting a 9-0-1 conference record last year.
Three Owls Tabbed for Preseason Honors, Owls Picked Fourth in AAC West
Catarina Albuquerque, Mikala Furuto and Sarah Piper all earned preseason accolades by being named to the AAC Preseason Watch List. Furuto was also selected to the 2022 Second Team All-Conference USA last season. Rice was selected to finish fourth in the AAC West division behind AAC favorite Memphis, SMU and North Texas. UTSA and Tulsa rounded out the last two spots in the poll.
Match 5 • Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023 • 7:00 p.m. CT
Houston, TX • Holloway Field
Video Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Twitter Updates: @RiceSoccer
Home Opener
After opening the season with four-straight road games, the Rice Owls return to Holloway Field for their home opener Thursday against Houston. Rice will have a Light Blue Out with rally towels for fans and discounted youth team tickets.
Last Time Out
Rice even its record after earning back-to-back wins last week at Texas Southern (5-2) and most recently at Northwestern State (2-1). Sarah Piper scored the game-winning goal with her first career goal against the Demons. Ellen Halseth netted a goal while also assisting on the game-winning goal.
Weekly Honors
Halseth was named to the AAC Weekly Honor Roll after a six-point performance last week recording a goal and assist against both Texas Southern and Northwestern State. Halseth scored the game-winning goal against the Tigers while assisting on the game-winning goal against the Demons.
A Tough Road Ahead
Rice will face several opponents in 2023 that are either ranked or receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll. The Owls will face No. 15 Texas, No. 20 Memphis, RV Xavier, RV Texas A&M and RV SMU.
Rice vs. Houston
The Owls are 9-5-3 all-time against Houston, winning four of the last six meetings. Rice has only lost one home match against Houston, with that lone loss being the first-ever meeting between the two on Sept. 4, 2001 (1-2), since then Rice is 6-0-2 at home against the Cougars. Houston won last year's matchup at UH 3-1.
New Season, New Conference
The 2023 season marks Rice's inaugural season in the American Athletic Conference (AAC). Rice was one of six schools (Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, UAB and UTSA) to join the conference for this season. Rice is coming off a regular season title in C-USA after posting a 9-0-1 conference record last year.
Three Owls Tabbed for Preseason Honors, Owls Picked Fourth in AAC West
Catarina Albuquerque, Mikala Furuto and Sarah Piper all earned preseason accolades by being named to the AAC Preseason Watch List. Furuto was also selected to the 2022 Second Team All-Conference USA last season. Rice was selected to finish fourth in the AAC West division behind AAC favorite Memphis, SMU and North Texas. UTSA and Tulsa rounded out the last two spots in the poll.
Players Mentioned
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