Saturday, October 23, 1999

Setback at SMU
leaves UH on
playoff bubble

Wahine Playbook

Star-Bulletin staff

Tara Comfort and Laura Snyder each scored their eighth goal this year to lead Southern Methodist past visiting Hawaii, 2-0, in a Western Athletic Conference women's soccer game last night.

UH needs a win or tie against Texas Christian tomorrow to advance to the WAC playoffs.

The 23rd-ranked Lady Mustangs dominated play. They outshot the Wahine, 10-2, in the first half and 12-3 in the second half.

SMU took a 1-0 lead at 10 minutes, 44 seconds when Comfort, a sophomore striker, pounced on a rebound off a UH defender. Unmarked, she beat a diving Demarre Sanchez with a low shot.

The Wahine mounted offensive pressure early in the second half but managed only one shot on SMU goalkeeper Becca Lief, who had to make just two saves while recording her eighth shutout of the season.

Comfort started the sequence that gave SMU complete control at 77:32. She took the ball into the left corner and passed to Misty Noland, who found Snyder 12 yards out for an uncontested shot.

Late in the match, Lief crashed into UH striker Veronica Flores while making a save. Flores had to leave and her status for tomorrow's match is questionable.

Hawaii			0	0	- 0
Southern Methodist	1	1	- 2

SMU: Tara Comfort (unassisted), 10:44.
SMU: Laura Snyder (Misty Noland, Tara Comfort), 72:33.
Shots-UH 5 SMU 22. Saves-UH 14, SMU 2. Corner kicks-UH 6, SMU 5. Fouls- UH, 20, SMU 19. Offsides-UH 0, SMU 6. A-276.

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WAC

		Conference		Overall
Team		W	L	T	W	L	T
Fresno State.	3	0	2	12	3	2
So. Methodist	4	2	0	12	5	0
Hawaii		3	2	0	9	6	1
Texas Christian	2	3	0	9	8	0
San Jose State	2	2	1	11	6	1
Texas-El Paso	1	3	1	7	7	2
Tulsa		1	4	0	7	8	0

Yesterday's results

Southern Methodist 2, Hawaii 0
San Jose State 4, Tulsa 1
Fresno State 1, Texas-El Paso 1

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Wahine Playbook

Vs. Texas Christian Horned Frogs

Coaches: Texas Christian, David Robinson, 14th season (107-126-14, .462). Hawaii, Pinsoom Tenzing, 6th season (39-59-6, .408).

Season: TCU (9-8-0 overall, 2-3-0 Western Athletic Conference). UH, (9-6-1, 3-2-0)

Series record: Hawaii leads the series, 1-0, beating TCU, 5-0, at Ala Wai Field in 1997.

Top players: TCU, freshman striker Jenn Coulson (4 goals, 5 assists), senior midfielder Allison Calleri (4 goals, 4 assists), junior midfielder Jennifer Maunder (4 goals, 4 assists) and sophomore goalkeeper Keith-Ann Wagner (1.43 goals allowed per game). UH sophomore striker Veronica Flores (8 goals, 3 assists) and sophomore striker Jennifer Starsiak (5 goals).

Interesting facts: TCU and UH both lost to Fresno State on the road by the same score, 3-1. The Horned Frogs posted four shutouts in their first seven matches. TCU is 5-2 at home with both losses to WAC foes, 1-0 to UTEP and SMU. Hawaii is 4-4 on the mainland this season, an improvement over the record (13-34-3) compiled during the program's first five years

Match keys: The Wahine win or tie and they qualify for the WAC playoffs. The Horned Frogs must win and hope San Jose State either loses or ties its match at Texas-El Paso. A tie eliminates TCU from the playoffs. Hawaii has not played well in its first match on each road trip this season, but has bounced back to execute effectively in subsequent matches. This obviously is a match in which the Wahine should follow that same path. Also, SMU scored early yesterday and that always seems to bother the Wahine and makes it more difficult for them to stay focused on their game plan..

Kickoff: Tomorrow, 8 a.m., TCU Soccer Complex.

On the air: None