Tulsa Wins Back-to-Back C-USA Men's Soccer Titles
Nov. 16, 2008 Photo Gallery
DALLAS, Texas - For the first time since 2003 the Conference USA Men's Soccer Championship match went to penalty kicks as Kentucky and Tulsa remained tied at 1-1 after 110 minutes, but the Golden Hurricane outscored the Wildcats, 4-2, in the shootout to claim their second consecutive C-USA Men's Soccer title. TU is the first team since Saint Louis in 2000-03 to notch back-to-back titles. In the penalty kicks, Tulsa struck first with the first two goals, going up 2-0. Diego Henriquez netted Tulsa's first penalty, beating UK keeper Dan Williams in the right corner. UK then turned to its co-captain Jason Griffiths - who entered the penalty 6-for-6 in his career and 4-of-4 in 2008 in penalty kick goals. Griffiths tried to go left but Tyrel Lacey, the first-team All-Conference USA keeper, made a tremendous diving save. C-USA Offensive Player of the Year Ashley McInnes gave Tulsa a 2-0 lead, beating Williams left. Dos Santos took UK's second penalty for UK, going right, but Lacey again made a diving save. Tulsa's Chris Taylor was next, and his shot missed left. The Wildcats turned to Jirijoonas Kanth, who had played in just four games in 2008 and not in the conference tournament, to keep its hopes alive. Kanth, came up large, ripping a powerful shot that Lacey got a hand on, but it trickled into the net to make it, 2-1, Tulsa. Eric DeFreitas came next for Tulsa and his shot was good to the left, making it 3-1 Tulsa. C.J. Tappel was next for the Wildcats, and Tappel fired a hard-hit shot into the right corner to make it 3-2 and keep UK's hopes alive. With the Conference Tournament title resting on the next penalty, Justin Chavez fired the winner into the left corner, giving Tulsa the league title. Lacey was confident coming into the game the he and his team could defend its title. "To be honest, the guys in front of me made it easy," Lacey said. "We stepped up there in the PKs and we were confident we would win. I thought we outplayed them most of the game and I was able to get lucky on a couple of saves to put them away. We are excited to me moving on and we have been working hard all year long for this. We have a heck of a streak going and we need this momentum. It was man versus man at the end and I had to make those saves at the end for my team since they had worked so hard the entire game." The match got off to a quick start in the sixth minute when both teams scored within 33 seconds of each other, giving the impression that the game would be a shootout. Tulsa got on the board first when Jose Parada scored a beautiful goal off of a nifty pass from Jeovahnni Sandez. Parada was open from about 35 yards out at an angle and lofted a bending shot that sailed around the UK defense and past a diving Williams, netting the ball in the far post. The goal was Parada's sixth of the season, while the assist was the fifth for Sandez. Seconds later, Kentucky was on the attack and evened the score. C-USA Newcomer of the Year Marco dos Santos found himself with an open net on the far edge of the six-yard box and he slipped in a nifty goal that found the far corner of the net, past the rush of the Tulsa defense. The goal marked dos Santos' fifth of the year, second-best on the team. The team's defenses secured the game for the remainder of the day, not allowing a goal in the final 104 minutes. Tulsa controlled the statistical advantage, posting a 18-11 shot margin and a 4-2 corner-kick advantage. The tie extended both team's school record unbeaten streaks. Tulsa has now not lost in 15 games, while the Wildcats have not been downed in 10 games. The title game appearance was the third in four seasons as a member of C-USA for Tulsa and the second in three years for UK. All-American defender Barry Rice of Kentucky, the only player in conference history to win Defensive Player of the Year in two straight seasons, won 10-of-13 contested header attempts, to bring his total to 189-for-218 on the season. With the win, Tulsa claims the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship. The NCAA appearance will be the fifth in the program's history. Kentucky will have to wait to see if its name is called during the NCAA Tournament selection show, set for Monday evening on ESPN News, from 5-5:30 p.m. CST. ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM For complete C-USA Men's Soccer Championship information visit www.ConferenceUSA.com
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
