Top-seeded SMU earns
4-peat in WAC tourney

The Southern Methodist Mustangs lived up to their No. 1 seeding and won their fourth consecutive Western Athletic Conference soccer postseason tournament yesterday before 121 fans at the University of Hawaii field.

SMU defeated No. 2 seed Rice 2-0 to earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Mustangs will learn today who they play in the first round and where. The Owls (14-4-3) will find out if they receive an at-large bid.

The Mustangs scored two quick goals after being chastised from the sideline moments before by SMU coach John Cossaboon for playing kickball.

"We were under a lot of pressure from Rice and we weren't winning balls," Cossaboon said. "We had space and we had the speed, but we weren't using it. We needed to control and counter-attack."

The Mustangs (15-3-3) quickly heeded Cossaboon's advice with a counterattack up the right side.

Autumn Browning, dribbling in from the right, sent a ball on the ground across the middle that tournament most valuable player Olivia O'Rear, cutting in from the left, one-timed into the net inside the left post at 31:34 from 11 yards out.

Following the restart, SMU again controlled. This time Amanda Jordan worked the ball up the right side and found Erin MacCullum just inside the penalty box. Her well-placed shot at 34:58 left Rice goalkeeper Lauren Shockley with no chance.

"It was the same as when we played them in the regular season," said Rice coach Chris Huston. "We had a couple of lapses in the back. SMU has great forwards and they took advantage of the mistakes."

All-tournament team: Strikers, O'Rear, SMU; Clory Martin, Rice; Katie Ward, Tulsa. Midfielders, Cara Nordin, Texas-El Paso; Susanne Collins, SMU; Joelle Sugai, Hawaii; Carrie Schnarre, Tulsa. Defenders, Kimber Bailey, SMU; Catlin Currie, Rice; Susan Day, Tulsa. Goalkeeper, Amanda Clark, SMU.