WSOC Weekly Release - C-USA Quarterfinal
Five days after clinching a share of its first-ever Conference USA regular-season championship, Colorado College begins its quest for its first C-USA tournament title on Wednesday at UTEP's University Field. The Tigers face the University of Houston at 11 a.m. MT in the first of four quarterfinal matches.
The No. 1-seeded Tigers improved to 13-3-4 overall and 8-2-1 in league play with a 2-0 victory at UTEP last Friday in the regular-season finale. CC has won its last two games at University Field after dropping four in a row against the Miners on their home field. Wednesday's match against Houston will be the first neutral-site game for the Tigers at the venue.
Colorado College is 6-2-2 away from home in 2012, including a 1-0 record on a neutral field. Houston slipped to 7-8-3 overall and 3-4-3 in the conference after falling to Rice, 1-0, on Friday. The Cougars claimed the eighth and final spot in the tournament by virtue of a 3-0 victory over UTEP on Oct. 21.
CC qualified for the C-USA Tournament for the sixth time in seven years since joining the conference as an affiliate member in 2006. In its first season, Colorado College reached the championship match before dropping a 3-2 decision to UAB. The only other time the Tigers advanced to the semifinals was in 2008 when they defeated UTEP by a 1-0 score at Rice. After earning a first-round bye as the No. 2 seed in 2009, they dropped a 1-0 semifinal decision to Memphis. In 2011, they lost by a 2-1 score to UTEP in the quarterfinals.
Colorado College and Houston meet for the first in postseason play on Wednesday. The Tigers hold a 6-1-0 advantage in the all-time series against the Cougars, including a 3-1 victory in Houston on Oct. 19. CC has won all four encounters in Colorado Springs and leads 2-1 in contests played in the Lone Star state.
The Tigers feature a balanced offense and a stingy defense. Senior forward
Brittney Lyman leads the offense with a career-high eight assists and 18 points, and is second with five goals. She enters the tournament riding a career-best six-game point streak (3g/3a), which includes a pair of game-winning goals. Sophomore forward
Jessie Ayers has a team-high seven goals and is second with three assists and 17 points. Junior midfielder
Madison Whitehead is second with six goals and third with 13 points. She and senior midfielder
Hannah Peterson share the team lead with three game-winning goals apiece.
Junior defender
Kecia Morway, who leads the Tigers with 1,832 minutes played, and junior
Sierra Keeler, anchor the defense that has posted 10 shutouts and allowed more than one goal just five times. Berglund owns a 9-1-0 record, leads the conference with a 0.42 GAA and is second with a .871 saves ratio.
The Tigers struck for 23 of their 36 tallies after halftime this season. CC scored deciding goals against Tulsa in the 61st minute, Denver in the 62nd, Rice in the 66th, Houston in the 70th, Colgate in the 74th, Marshall in the 80th, UAB in the 81st and UCF in the 109th. Ayers leads the Tigers with five second-half goals, including one game winner and a pair that tied matches inside the final 20 minutes. Lyman has four second-half tallies, including two that made the difference in Colorado College victories.
The winner of Wednesday's showdown with Houston will face either No. 4 East Carolina or No. 5 Tulsa at 4:30 p.m. CT Friday. Sunday's championship match is scheduled for a noon CT start and will be televised live on the CBS Sports Network.
