THE QUINNEY AND GABI SHOW: Owls 5, Cardinals 3 (Blog date September 14, 2013)

Rice Owls 5, Lamar Cardinals 3
W-D-L: 2-2-2            3-0-3
September 13, 2013
7:00 pm @ Rice University, Houston

Visiting teams beware, the Rice Owls' fans are heavily into the game. They will blatantly make every effort to get under your skin. They won't be vulgar or profane, but they will be as obnoxious towards you as they can be. The way they do it is to gather information from all of your various online profiles, like the official team website and your Facebook page's "About" section, and use it against you. So, if you choose to listen, you may hear your goalkeeper's boyfriend's name being chanted from the stands and the date of your center-back's anniversary. You may hear some questions about your left-midfielder's choice of major, or comments like, "Hey number twenty-four! Why do you love children, huh?" I would refer to this sector of the crowd as Rice's "12th Woman," in keeping with this blog's standard practice of using gender-correct terminology, but most of them are dudes, including the one with the megaphone. It continues through halftime, as you emerge from the locker room underneath the stands for the second half, a couple of them hurling your online facts at you from the ramp. As a spectator, I was a little discomforted and annoyed, and wondered if the Rice players were also distracted by the constant heckling at their opponents.   

Whether these antics were successful Friday night is a question for the Lamar players. If they were listening at all to the Rice cheering section and were disturbed or distracted by them, they didn't let on. But I would imagine that the Cardinals were less concerned with what was happening off the field than on it. What the Cardinals defensive line was faced with was a colossal mismatch against a faster and quicker midfield that repeatedly beat them into space and to the ball.

I have often heard that Rice University is the "Ivy League of the South." Indeed, the private institution established in 1912 now ranks as #18 in the newly released U.S. News and World Report's annual Best Colleges rankings, based upon up to 18 or so academic excellence indicators, accepted as the standard in national educational ratings. Rice excels and leads in numerous fields, its music, international relations, engineering and business schools particularly touted as among the best in the world. There is one field, however, where Rice has underachieved - the soccer field. Finishing last season as Conference USA co-champions for the first time in school history, Rice provided the best hope for the city of Houston to be represented at the national dance. But a first-round elimination in the C-USA tournament by Southern Methodist, whom the Owls defeated during the regular season, dashed those hopes and the year ended abruptly in October. (See my blog dated November 10, 2012.) With 17 returning letter-earners including eight starters, among them last year's striking tandem of Holly Hargreaves and Lauren Hughes who came in third and fourth respectively in the conference in goals scored, Argentine national U-20 left midfielder Gabi Iribarne, defender Jasmine Isokpunwu and the most effective center-midfielder in the southwest Quinny Truong, Rice has to be expected to achieve a double and make their national stage debut, especially since the C-USA tournament will be played on their home pitch. (The Rice heckling section will be quite busy. Opposing C-USA players may want to temporarily deactivate your Facebook pages until the third week of November.) 
 
Even faster, stronger, smarter, and quicker than she was last year, Rice's tireless center-midfield captain Quinny Truong dominated the middle, bolstering her case for another all-conference selection. Among Quinny's many strengths, perhaps the most effective in this game was her creative visionary passing, taking charge to set up drive after drive into the box, playing the position very much like a scrambling quarterback making plays on the run, delivering the ball to the right and to the left flank where Gabi repeatedly outsprinted Lamar backs to cut back and launch some devastating crosses to, you guessed it, the aforementioned Holly Hargreaves and Lauren Hughes who netted two each, now accounting for a combined seven of the Owls' 11 goals thus far. It takes the playmaking of a Quinny and Gabi to neutralize Kristin Bos and Kimmy Albeno, Lamar's prolific offensive pair. The most effective Cardinal forward of the night, therefore, was Jannet Hernandez, who had the speed and quickness to create some significant possessions inside the Rice box. Able to get behind the defense a few times, Jannet was rewarded with a hard-fought goal that tied it up as the first half ended. Her penalty in the final few minutes though was little consolation in a match in which Rice dominated every third of the pitch.

Argentina U-20 international Gabriela Iribarne (6) wreaked havoc in the midfield for Rice, launching some devastating crosses from the left side.

Taylor Mitchell (17) stretches to pressure Gabi (6) to keep her from getting the ball to Quinny (21) in the middle.

Sophomore striker Holly Hargreaves (12) continues her form from last year when she led the Owls in scoring as a freshwoman.

Marked tightly by Alejandra Amador (15), Holly (12) receives the ball with her back to the goal. Holly was able to turn the ball often on her way to a two-goal night.

The most dominant center-midfielder in Texas, Quinny Truong (21) controlled the flow of the game, and distributed the ball with precision and pace.

In the battle for the center midfield, Quinny (21) had the upper hand over Kristin Bos (10).

The task of marking Quinny Truong (21) in the middle often fell to defender Jennifer Moore (2).

The Lamar defensive line and keeper Bailey Fontenot (1) had their work cut out for them, outsprinted by the C-USA's defending co-champion offense that features Holly Hargreaves (12) and Danielle Spriggs (19), two of the Owls' 17 returning letterwomen.

Jennifer Yacuta (14) slides one past Rice goalie Amy Czyz (00). In her freshwoman year, Jennifer is tied for first on the team in goals scored.

Lamar forward Jannet Hernandez (16) keeps the Rice defense on their toes. Fast and quick, Jannet provided the Cardinals' most effective offensive possessions.

(All photos by Kokoy Severino.)

This is one of those matches that represent the closest I'll ever get to seeing my dream of a cup tournament involving the eight schools within the greater Houston landscape. Now that most of them are members of different conferences, people like me will have to be content with watching single matches until someone can find a way to get such a tournament together.

UPCOMING MATCHES OF THE WEEK: 

Sunday Sep 15 Louisiana State University (#66) @ Rice (#82) 1:00 pm

Sunday Sep 15 U of H (#126) @ Houston Baptist University (#205) 7:00 pm

Friday Sep 20 Oklahoma State University (#76) @ Rice 7:00 pm
           
Sunday Sep 22 South Carolina State University (#292) @ TSU 7:00 pm

Friday Sep 27 Northwestern State University (#260) @ HBU* 7:00 pm

Sunday Sep 29 Vanderbilt University (#114) @ Texas A&M University (#15)* 2:30 pm in College Station

Thursday Oct 3 University of Cincinnati (#227) @ U of H* 7:00 pm

Friday Oct 11 TSU @ Prairie View A&M University (#303)* 7:00 pm

Friday Oct 18 Oral Roberts University (#124) @ HBU* 5:00 pm

Friday Oct 18 Colorado College (#50) @ Rice* 7:00 pm

Sunday Oct 20 Mississippi Valley State University (#275) @ TSU* 1:00 pm

Thursday Oct 24 University of Central Florida (#20) @ U of H* 7:00 pm

Friday Oct 25 Grambling State University (#322) @ TSU* 7:00 pm

Saturday Oct 26 University of Texas-Tyler @ Concordia* 5:00 pm at St. Stephen's HS, Austin

Sunday Oct 27 East Carolina University (#97) @ Rice* 1:00 pm

Thursday Oct 31 LSU @ Tx A&M* 7:00 pm in College Station

Friday Nov 1 Sam Houston State University (#233) @ HBU* 5:00 pm

Friday-Saturday Nov 1-9 Red River Athletic Conference Tournament* @ Houston Amateur Sports Park
Monday Nov 4 Conference USA Tournament Quarter-Finals @ Rice* Wednesday 
Nov 6 Conference USA Tournament Quarter-Finals* @ Rice
Thursday Nov 7 Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament* @ Houston Amateur Sports Park
Friday Nov 8 Conference USA Tournament Semi-Finals* @ Rice
Saturday Nov 9 Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament* @ Houston Amateur Sports Park 
Sunday Nov 10 Conference USA Tournament Final* @ Rice

(Kokoy's Matches of the Week are those which I plan to attend.) 

Kokoy Severino has been coaching junior high school soccer in the public school system of the Greater Houston area for 19 years. He holds a National Youth Diploma from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, two coaching certifications from the United States Soccer Federation, and a Master in Educational Leadership degree from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. His research focuses on the relationship between interscholastic competitive soccer and the academic success of at-risk students. He returns regularly to his native country of the Philippines and conducts soccer training sessions for economically disadvantaged youths.

"This blog is to document the intensity, the depth, the passion, the strategic and tactical nuances, the stars, the spectacular play that I witness in the women's teams at the college level. And in doing so, it is my hope that others might be inspired to discover for themselves the beautiful game brought by the women." (Kokoy, from blog entry dated Nov 4, 2012)

THE IRONWOMEN OF SOUTH TEXAS: Roadrunners 1, Cardinals 3 (Blog date September 4, 2013)

Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners 1, Lamar Cardinals 3
W-D-L: 1-0-3                                       2-0-2          
September 1, 2013
1:00 pm @ University of Texas-San Antonio

Travelers be advised - the University of Texas at San Antonio's beautiful brand spanking new soccer-specific stadium is not yet on the map. If you assume that you can find the Roadrunners' home field on the board located at Peace Circle by the Information Booth, which is incidentally closed on Labor Day Sunday, then you will be mislead into driving around in search of the only soccer fields on campus, which are part of the Recreational Field Complex devoid of any matchups between two Division I teams with multinational lineups. By the time you return to Peace Circle, you will be terribly frustrated. The diagram on the UTSA Classic tournament link with directions to the venue provides little help to those unfamiliar with the exits on 1604. Even after digging through the UTSA main website to find the actual street address of the Park West Athletics Complex, just opened on August 15, then clicking on the Google Maps link, you will find the upside-down teardrop points to a big gaping empty space. By the time you realize that you are a good several miles off, you will arrive at the match 15 minutes past kickoff, missing the first goal scored by the visiting team. But the reward for your perseverance is a terrific end-to-end match in which two high-quality squads battle in searing hundred-degree weather without a trace of a breeze under a merciless midday sun, a testament to their respective conditioning programs that produce hard-bodied soccer-players of iron.

The Lamar Cardinals began the 2013 campaign on the heels of their most successful season in school history. Only the fifth year of the soccer program, they went unbeaten at home and marched all the way to the Southland Conference tournament final where they fell to none other than Stephen F. Austin (see my blog entry dated September 3, 2013). This year, Lamar is poised to better their 2012 success, with nine returning starters, including junior striking duo Kimmy Albeno and Kristin Bos who combined for 23 of the team's overall 41 goals, three seniors and two juniors in their defensive line plus keeper Bailey Fontenot now in her third year.

While Lamar may very well be a favored contender to win their conference championship this year, UT San Antonio is on the opposite end of the development spectrum, rebuilding to bounce back from the worst season since the program's inception in 2006, winning only three matches overall and suffering through a goal differential of -22. The Roadrunners are somewhat the journeywomen of the south, joining their third different conference in as many years. Starting off in Southland where UTSA compiled a respectable measure of success, winning the tournament outright in 2010, they moved to the Western Athletic Conference in 2012 where they posted the aforesaid disastrous results, and now enter Conference USA West to face the likes North Texas (see my blog entry dated August 21, 2013). With only two seniors in their ranks, Brazilian striker Laylla da Cruz and Norwegian defender Anka Grotle, both of whom were integral in that SLC title season, the Runners are counting on a robust junior class bolstered by several transfers who excelled last season - Taylor Wingerden who scored 17 goals for Monroe Community College in New York, All-Americans Teresa Offerman and Megan Snyder from Butler CC in Kansas, midfielder Kaytee O'Brien who won the Southern Conference league and cup double with North Carolina Greensboro in 2010, and the most exciting and creative player to watch on the field Happy Orere-Amadu from New York's Monroe College which won 25 matches and lost only two during her tenure there.

Already beginning to gel, this UTSA unit will make a splash in their newest conference before dominating it outright in a year's time. But on this afternoon, the Lamar Cardinals showed why they are proven Southland Conference title contenders now, outlasting the Roadrunners in the tortuous Texas heat 3-1. Taylor Wingerden tied it up for a resurgent UTSA early in the second half when she found herself in a one-on-one with Bailey Fontenot after a defensive mishap by Lamar, and she calmly shuffled it into an open net. The Roadrunners seemed to lapse into some sluggish defense later in the half, perhaps the temperature beginning to take its toll on the northeastern American and Scandinavian contingent. Freshwoman forward Jennifer Yacuta answered for Lamar 11 minutes later with her third goal of the season. This woke the Roadrunners back to life, mounting a furious attack producing numerous opportunities from all directions, but the Lamar defense stayed composed, weathered the heat and countered in transition, with Stefanie Miroballi adding an icer for the Cardinals in the 77th minute. Even into the final seconds however, UTSA continued to attack, and they seemed to gel closer together with each successive drive. Just a couple of more matches, and this group of junior transfers will hit a dangerous stride with their new pitchmates.

Happy Orere-Amadu (17), one of a slew of exceptional junior transfers to UTSA this year, is one of the most exciting and technically creative players in south Texas. Stefanie Miroballi (7), one of six returning seniors to Lamar, pressures Happy in the midfield.

Freshwoman forward Jennifer Yacuta (14) gives Happy little space and time on the ball, forcing her to make a creative move to take space.

Monitored by Lamar's Stefanie Miroballi (7), Jennifer Moore and Nicole Frank (4), Happy flicks one on. As this UTSA unit gels, Happy will be able to find her options more quickly and not have to hold the ball as long, making the Roadrunners an increasingly potent squad as the season progresses.

Kristin Bos (10), one of nine returning starters to the Lamar lineup, is omnipresent as the Cardinals' midfield boss.

Norwegian junior Mari Olastuen (21) connects with striker Kimmy Albeno (9) as Teresa Offerman (20) approaches with pressure. With her goal in this game, Kimmy continues to be Lamar's leading scoring threat and one reason why the Cardinals are favored to capture the Southland Conference title this year.

Junior left back Nicole Frank is very busy on the flank, defending and attacking down the line all afternoon. 

Jannet Hernandez (16) uses the left flank effectively to lead numerous Lamar drives deep into Roadrunner territory.

An open net awaits forward Taylor Wingerden, but she first has to get past Lamar keeper Bailey Fontenot (1) forced to come off her line. This group of high-achieving junior transfers including Taylor, once gelled, will lead UTSA on a good run in Conference USA this year, and may take it all in 2014.

Alexis Alaniz (5), a sophomore transfer from UT-El Paso, attacks from her left back position during UTSA's second-half surge, keeping red-shirt freshwoman defender Shavonn Johnson (11) busy.

Returning junior Anissa Munson (18) hustles to maintain control deep in Lamar territory,...

...recovers the ball just inside the endline and evades pressure from Nicole Frank (4)...

...to make a terrific pass to Happy Orere-Amadu (17) at the inside corner of the box. Jennifer Moore (2) quickly closes on Happy. Jennifer is one of two Lamar players from England.

In the face of tight pressure from Jennifer, Happy makes a quick tricky move to get past her and into the Lamar box.

But Jennifer recovers intelligently to force an errant cross over the bar.

Freshwoman forward Brianna Livecchi (2) provides UTSA with alot of offense from the left side during their furious second-half drive. Shavonn Johnson (11) takes alot of pressure on that side.

Junior Charlotte Husoe (14) from Norway penetrates past English defender Grace Bowman (3). Both teams field multinational lineups representing five different countries.

Junior Kaytee O'Brien (9) runs the Roadrunner midfield.

Kaytee (9) gets the ball past Mari Olastuen (21), forcing Jennifer Moore (2) to step up. The daughter of Major League Baseball veteran Pete O'Brien who batted in 736 runs in 12 seasons for the Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians and Seattle Mariners, Kaytee is part of the transfer contingent that will make UTSA a dominant force in the conference before they graduate.

Kauwela Neal (7), sophomore forward from Hawaii's Kamehameha High School, makes a run up the middle, chased by Danielle Pearce (20), Alejandra Amador (15) and Grace Bowman (3).

Shoulder to shoulder with sophomore defender Megan Campbell (18), Kauwela is a big part of the furious UTSA second-half surge.

Brazilian striker Laylla da Cruz (10) is able to get in good position to receive a cross for UTSA's closest chance in the waning minutes. Double-teamed by Alejandra Amador (15) and another Lamar defender, Laylla manages to connect on an off-balance header that goes wide.

Nicole Frank (4) takes the ball from Anisa Patterson (15). Nicole is a major component in the defense that keeps composed and organized to weather the heat of a furious UTSA second-half surge.

Danielle Pearce (21) punishes Taylor Wingerden (19) for penetrating down the left side. The Aussie defender is a solid presence in Lamar's backline.

(All photos by Kokoy Severino.)

This was the most intense game so far in the young 2013 KWCSB season. I am looking forward to seeing both these teams again as the year progresses - Lamar at Rice, and Texas-San Antonio in the C-USA tournament hosted by Rice.

UPCOMING MATCHES OF THE WEEK: 

Monday Sep 2 Texas Lutheran University (Div III, 0-0-1) @ Concordia University (Div III, 0-0-0) at Town & Country Field, Austin 2:00 pm

Friday Sep 13 Lamar University (#161) @ Rice (#82) 7:00 pm

Sunday Sep 15 Louisiana State University (#66) @ Rice 1:00 pm

Sunday Sep 15 U of H (#126) @ Houston Baptist University (#205)7:00 pm

Friday Sep 20 Oklahoma State University (#76) @ Rice 7:00 pm
           
Sunday Sep 22 South Carolina State University (#292) @ TSU 7:00 pm

Friday Sep 27 Northwestern State University (#260) @ HBU* 7:00 pm

Sunday Sep 29 Vanderbilt University (#114) @ Texas A&M University (#15)* 1:00? or 3:00? pm in College Station

Thursday Oct 3 University of Cincinnati (#227) @ U of H* 7:00 pm

Friday Oct 11 TSU @ Prairie View A&M University (#303)* 7:00 pm

Sunday Oct 13 Texas Tech University (#21) @ Baylor University (#10)* 1:00 pm in Waco

Friday Oct 18 Oral Roberts University (#124) @ HBU* 5:00 pm

Friday Oct 18 Colorado College (#50) @ Rice* 7:00 pm

Sunday Oct 20 Mississippi Valley State University (#275) @ TSU* 1:00 pm

Thursday Oct 24 University of Central Florida (#20) @ U of H* 7:00 pm

Friday Oct 25 Grambling State University (#322) @ TSU* 7:00 pm

Saturday Oct 26 University of Texas-Tyler @ Concordia* 5:00 pm at St. Stephen's HS, Austin

Sunday Oct 27 East Carolina University (#97) @ Rice* 1:00 pm

Thursday Oct 31 LSU @ Tx A&M* 7:00 pm in College Station

Friday Nov 1 Sam Houston State University (#233) @ HBU* 5:00 pm

Friday-Saturday Nov 1-9 Red River Athletic Conference Tournament* @ Houston Amateur Sports Park
Monday Nov 4 Conference USA Tournament Quarter-Finals @ Rice* Wednesday 
Nov 6 Conference USA Tournament Quarter-Finals* @ Rice
Thursday Nov 7 Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament* @ Houston Amateur Sports Park
Friday Nov 8 Conference USA Tournament Semi-Finals* @ Rice
Saturday Nov 9 Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament* @ Houston Amateur Sports Park 

Sunday Nov 10 Conference USA Tournament Final* @ Rice

(Kokoy's Matches of the Week are those which I plan to attend.) 

Kokoy Severino has been coaching junior high school soccer in the public school system of the Greater Houston area for 19 years. He holds a National Youth Diploma from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, two coaching certifications from the United States Soccer Federation, and a Master in Educational Leadership degree from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. His research focuses on the relationship between interscholastic competitive soccer and the academic success of at-risk students. He returns regularly to his native country of the Philippines and conducts soccer training sessions for economically disadvantaged youths.

"This blog is to document the intensity, the depth, the passion, the strategic and tactical nuances, the stars, the spectacular play that I witness in the women's teams at the college level. And in doing so, it is my hope that others might be inspired to discover for themselves the beautiful game brought by the women." (Kokoy, from blog entry dated Nov 4, 2012)