Rice Routs Temple for First Conference Win

Thursday, September 24

Houston, Texas

6 p.m.

Rice University

3-4-3, 1-1-0

Temple

7-3-0, 1-1-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Temple	1	0	1
Rice	2	3	5

Photo by: Maria Lysaker | Rice Athletics

Rice Routs Temple for First Conference Win

9/24/2026 10:34:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: Anthony Roberts (ar186@rice.edu)

HOUSTON – The Rice soccer team used an offensive outburst to capture the team's first conference win of the season, 5-1 over Temple, Thursday night at Holloway Field. Rice improved to 3-4-3 (1-1 American), while Temple fell to 7-3 (1-1 American).

How It Happened
The offense was rolling early for Rice, with Lauren Pickup finding the back of the net off a pass from Neerali Kapadia just 10 minutes into the match. Just shy of the 25-minute mark, Valentina Labuschagne doubled the lead off a pass from Kapadia. Temple found an immediate response to cut the deficit to one, with Rice holding a 2-1 lead at the half.

After fending off several Rice attacks in the second half, Kapadia once again set up the Owls with a goal, this time scored by Sloane Popov with 19 minutes to go. The Rice offense was in full swing there on, with Dayo Tennyson and Sophie Zhang tacking on goals in the final 10 minutes en route to the victory.

Scoring Summary
10:21 – RICE – Goal by Lauren Pickup, assisted by Neerali Kapadia
24:49 – RICE – Goal by Valentina Labuschagne, assisted by Neerali Kapadia
25:18 – TEMP – Goal by Katelyn Revelle, assisted by Victoria Pimenta
71:23 – RICE – Goal by Sloane Popov, assisted by Neerali Kapadia and Dayo Tennyson
83:57 – RICE – Goal by Dayo Tennyson, assisted by Valentina Labuschagne
86:46 – RICE – Goal by Sophie Zhang, Penalty Kick Goal

Quick Hits
Rice outshot Temple 20-7 and 7-3 in shots on goal.
The home Owls had a 6-4 corner kick advantage.
Pickup scored her fourth goal of the season and sixth of her career.
Labuschagne recorded her third goal and third assist of the season.
Popov scored her team-leading fifth goal of the season.
Tennyson netted her first goal of the season and second of her career.
Zhang also scored her first goal of the season and fifth of her career.
Kapadia added her team-leading fifth, sixth and seventh assists of the season.
She becomes the fifth Owl to record three or more assists in a game.
Rice is now 4-0 all-time against Temple.

Up Next
The Owls conclude their short two-game homestand Sunday morning against Temple.