WSOC Weekly Release No. 9>

First-place Colorado College, which has a five-point lead over Tulsa and North Texas in Conference USA's West Division, travels to Texas this week for games at Rice University and the University of Texas at San Antonio. The Tigers visit Rice on Friday, Oct. 18, at 7 p.m. CT, then make the short drive from Houston to San Antonio for Sunday's 1 p.m. CT game against the Roadrunners.
 
CC improved to 10-3-0 overall and 5-0-0 in C-USA with a 2-0 victory over the University of Tulsa last Saturday at Stewart Field. The Tigers, who are riding an eight-game winning streak, are 2-0-0 in conference road games so far in 2013.
 
Rice, currently fourth in the West Division with nine points, improved to 5-5-2 overall and 3-2-0 in conference play with a 3-0 victory at Southern Miss last Saturday. The Owls are 2-3-0 at home this season.
 
The all-time series between Colorado College and Rice is as close as the 3-3-1 record indicates. Six of the seven games were decided by one goal, while the other ended in a 0-0 tie. The Tigers prevailed in the last two meetings, including last year's 1-0 victory which was their first in Houston. The Owls, however, are 3-1-0 against CC on their home pitch.
 
UTSA, which is sixth in the West with seven points, dropped a 4-2 decision at North Texas on Saturday. The Roadrunners take a 3-10-1 overall record and 2-2-1 league mark into Friday's home encounter with USM.  
 
Colorado College and UTSA meet for the first time.
 
The Tigers continued to move up in the national rankings following last week's home victory over Tulsa. In this week's NCAA Women's Soccer RPI, the Tigers climbed eight spots to No. 16. All three of CC's losses this year occurred on the road against teams ranked in the top 30 –  No. 14 Marquette (3-1), No. 14 Denver (2-1 OT) and No. 26 Colorado (1-0). In the NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Division I Women's Central Region rankings, the Tigers moved up one position to No. 4.
 
Colorado College won its first five Conference USA games for the first time since joining the league as an affiliate member in 2006. This season also marks the first time the Tigers prevailed in their first two league games on the road. CC's longest unbeaten streak to open its C-USA schedule was in 2011 when the Tigers began their conference slate with a 5-0-1 record.
 
Next weekend, the Tigers play one game at home and one on the road. Louisiana Tech University visits Stewart Field on Friday, Oct. 26, for the first-ever meeting between the schools. Two days later, CC travels to El Paso, Texas, for its annual showdown with UTEP.