Men's soccer fails to score in two games

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by Chuck Whitten

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The Owls tied Texas A&M University 0-0 on Saturday but lost ground in the postseason race by losing to Stephen F. Austin University 1-0 on Sunday.

Rice has fallen behind Baylor University in the conference.

The games left Rice 3-4-2 in the Texas Collegiate Soccer League and 3-4-3 overall.

Saturday's game seemed to sum up the season thus far for Rice as junior goalkeeper Todd Konkel led the defense to a shutout while the Owl offense struggled to score.

The ball seemed to be dominated by Rice early on, but the Aggie offense continued to generate offense right down to the final minutes.

Konkel was able to deflect a shot that came with about 30 seconds left to preserve the tie which left Rice optimistic about its chances for a postseason berth.

"I was very pleased by the win," Konkel said. "This was the first time A&M had been shut out all year. We really played together as a team."

On offense, Rice was able to generate an occasional run but was unable to pressure the A&M defense.

"We seem to have a real failure to finish," Jeremy Gibson said. "We have many opportunities that never end up with the ball in the goal."

The tie was good enough to keep Rice deadlocked with Baylor for the last playoff spot.

"By winning against A&M, we put our destiny in our own hands," Konkel said.

Against the Lumberjacks, Rice struggled on offense and lost the game 1-0 on an early first-half goal.

Rice dominated the ball and kept SFA in their defensive end for most of the game but broke down and allowed a single player to make a run on goal.

The forward was able to maneuver the ball around Konkel giving the Lumberjacks the lead for good.

"From that point on, they were able to fall back into a defensive shell," Konkel said.

Rice was unable to equalize and saw their postseason chances end as Baylor picked up a win.

Rice will finish its season with a game against Sam Houston State University on Saturday. Game time and location are to be announced.

This item appeared in the Sports section of the October 27, 1995 issue.

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