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The Rice Thresher
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by Paul Aronson thresher staff The women's club soccer team enjoyed its biggest triumph and its most stinging disappointment in the span of just two days at last weekend's NIRSA Region IV Tournament in Lubbock. The Owls, looking to qualify for their second straight National Championship tournament, opened the weekend with back-to-back wins over their two toughest opponents. They followed a 1-0 shutout of Texas A&M University with a 2-0 win over host Texas Tech University to assume a commanding role in the tournament. But injuries to many key players left the Owls depleted, and Rice suffered a letdown in its final two games, a 4-1 loss to the University of Texas Saturday night and a 3-0 loss to Baylor University Sunday morning. Their 2-2 record kept the Owls out of the tournament final, preventing them from making a return trip to the national championship tournament. Nevertheless, the victory over Texas A&M was particularly rewarding for the Owls, many of whom had been waiting for years to finally get past the Aggies. "That is the team we came here to beat," senior midfielder Hilary Schaffer said. "We clearly dominated those first two games against two of the best teams in the region. That was the best soccer the team has played in my four years here." Rice adjusted to high winds and cold weather to control the ball and the game versus Texas A&M. The only goal of the contest was scored by senior defender Clara Filice off of an assist from junior forward Lindsay Botsford. "Lindsay gave me a nice pass, and I was able to bang it in off of the goalie," Filice said. "I was really surprised that was the game-winner." The defense made sure the goal stood up, and Rice had its historic victory. In the Owls' win over the Red Raiders, Botsford led the way with a goal and an assist. She assisted sophomore forward Natalie Nardecchia midway through the first half before scoring to put the game away in the second half. The win avenged what had been Rice's only defeat of the season, when the Red Raiders shut out the Owls 1-0 Sept. 30. But the rigors of playing two difficult games caught up with the Owls Saturday night against UT, when the Longhorns scored two goals within the first five minutes. Rice never recovered from the early deficit. "We were really shocked and disappointed in ourselves and were never able to come back," Filice said. The Owls were able to cut the margin in half on a goal by Schaffer right after halftime, but the Longhorns regained the momentum by answering with a third goal of their own. "That third goal definitely took the wind out of our sails," Schaffer said. Following the loss to UT, Rice was still in position to reach the finals and secure a bid to nationals, needing a win or a tie versus Baylor to advance. But in the end, the Owls were simply too beat up. By the end of the match against Baylor, eight of Rice's 11 starters were suffering from an injury. Rice dominated most of the first half but never found the back of the net. To make matters worse, Baylor used a controversial direct kick to go up 1-0 with 30 seconds left in the half. The Owls missed a few opportunities to tie the score before the Bears added two more goals for the final margin. The result was that Baylor advanced to the finals instead of Rice and, along with Texas Tech, earned a bid to the national tournament. Despite the disappointment, the Owls can find solace in their historic victory over A&M and the belief that they would have proved to be the best team under different circumstances. "With the schedule and the weather, the odds were stacked against us because each team we played had a bye the previous game, giving us a notable disadvantage," Schaffer said. "Still, we played really well to start the weekend and I am very proud of our effort." Rice, which still plans to go Austin to compete in the open division of the national tournament, can look back with pride on the team's last season before women's varsity soccer begins competition at Rice. "I wouldn't change anything that we did this season," Schaffer said. "We peaked at the right time, playing our best soccer at the end despite all the injuries. I am very proud of this team and the way it went out in its last year before the varsity program begins play."
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