Mustangs to meet Owls
The Southern Methodist Mustangs battled hot, muggy weather and a determined Tulsa team to advance to today's Western Athletic Conference postseason soccer tournament final at the University of Hawaii.
The No. 1-seeded Mustangs will play No. 2 seed Rice at 8 a.m. at UH. The winner gets the conference's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.
"We have to be done by 11 a.m. so we can get the result to the NCAA selection committee," said assistant WAC commissioner Lisa Vad Thorner.
SMU (14-3-3 overall) and Rice (14-3-3) have a good chance of getting an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as runner-up in the conference showdown.
Yesterday's semifinal match, a 1-0 SMU victory, was played over from the start after Friday's contest was stopped at the 9-minute mark due to a driving rainstorm at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park.
The first half was scoreless, with neither goalkeeper required to make a save. SMU did force six corner kicks, but nothing materialized from their efforts. There were only four shots taken in the half, as the majority of the action was between the 18-yard lines.
The fifth-seeded Golden Hurricane (8-10-3) had a direct free kick from just outside the penalty box in the first minute after intermission, but Jamie German's drive sailed over the crossbar.
The Mustangs reversed the pressure. All-WAC first-team member Olivia O'Rear beat a defender in the left corner and sent a cross on the ground to fellow first-teamer Adria Campbell. The sophomore from Punahou, racing in from the right, got her foot on the ball, but it popped up over the crossbar from close range.
A minute later, Campbell crossed from the right to O'Rear coming in from the left, but her shot was wide of the near post.
O'Rear then switched to the right, dribbled past two defenders, swerved in toward the goal and delivered a left-footed blast from a tough angle 10 yards away into the upper left-hand corner of the net at 54:05 for the only score of the game.
"No one gave Tulsa any respect. They are a good, hard-working team that spent a lot of emotion winning the other day. This was a tough game," said SMU coach John Cossaboon.
"We didn't play our best, but we were as ready as we could be after sitting in the hotel waiting to get a kick. But this was our turn to deal with the travel, and you can't do anything about the weather. UH has to deal with all that all the time."
The Mustangs defeated the Owls 3-2 during the regular season at Rice. It was the only match all year the Rice defense allowed more than one goal.
The Mustangs are seeking their fourth consecutive WAC postseason tournament title, but Cossaboon is aware the Owls had a day off.
"Rice is getting a good rest at the hotel today, so we'll just have to see about tomorrow," said Cossaboon.
Tulsa coach Rena Richardson did not care to comment on yesterday's match, but did say, "Our players did more than we ever imagined they would this year."
