WSOC Weekly Release No. 12>

With a second consecutive Conference USA regular-season championship secured, Colorado College begins its quest for its first C-USA tournament title on Wednesday in Houston. The Tigers face the University of Tulsa at 1:30 p.m. CT in the second of four quarterfinal matches at Rice University.
 
CC improved to 13-4-1 overall and 8-1-1 in league play with a 5-1 victory over Southern Miss last Thursday in the regular-season finale. The top-seeded Tigers are 4-4-1 on the road this campaign, including a 1-0-0 mark at a neutral site. Colorado College is 2-3-0 all-time at the Rice Soccer and Track Stadium, but has won its last two games at the facility.
 
Tulsa, the fifth seed from the West Division, improved 10-6-3 overall and 4-3-3 in C-USA with a 1-0 victory over UAB in the first round on Monday. The Golden Hurricane is 6-3-2 on the road this season.  
 
Colorado College qualified for the Conference USA Championship for the seventh time in eight years since joining the conference as an affiliate member in 2006. It marks the second year in a row the Tigers enter the tournament as the overall No. 1 seed. In its first appearance, CC reached the championship match before dropping a 3-2 decision to UAB.
 
Colorado College holds a 12-2-2 lead in the series that began on Sept. 7, 1990. The Tigers and Golden Hurricane are meeting for just the second time at a neutral site. Last year, the teams played to the 1-1 tie in the semifinals of the Conference USA Championship in El Paso, Texas, but Tulsa advanced 5-4 on penalty kicks. CC officially is 4-5-1 all-time at the C-USA tournament.
 
The Tigers feature a balanced offense and a stingy defense. Colorado College finished the regular season ranked third scoring an average of 2.06 goals per game and third with a 0.76 goals-against average.
 
Junior midfielder Jessie Ayers leads the team with 10 goals, 21 points and ranks first in the C-USA with five game-winning goals. Junior midfielder Kaeli Vandersluis leads the conference with nine assists and was second on the team with 19 points, both single-season highs for her.
 
Sophomore midfielder Sarah Schweiss was second with six goals, third with 16 points and tied for third with 16 points.
 
Sophomore goalkeeper Kate Scheele, who started all 18 games in goal, tied for the conference lead with 10 shutouts, was third with a 0.79 GAA and sixth with a .803 saves percentage.
 
The winner of Wednesday's quarterfinal game will play either East Carolina, the second seed from the East, or UTEP, the third seed from the West, on Friday, Nov. 8, at 4:30 p.m. CT. Sunday's championship match kicks off at 1 p.m. CT and will be televised live on the CBS Sports Network.