Nov. 18, 2007

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Senior Eric Burkholder netted a pair of goals including the game-winner in the 86th minute to lead Tulsa to a 3-2 victory over Florida International to win the 2007 Conference USA Men's Soccer Championship at UAB's West Campus Field.

Tulsa, the Conference USA regular-season champions, won its 10th game in a row to claim the automatic bid to the NCAA Championship with a 15-2-2 record on the season.

Burkholder scored the game-winner off an assist from Brian McCurdy for his sixth goal of the season. He was also credited with the first tally of the game in the 30th minute, when he took the ball from the circle and weaving through defenders to send a cross into the upper right corner of the net.

Florida International came back to take the lead though. Junior midfielder Bruno Barbosa scored unassisted in the 39th minute off a shot from the corner of the box. The Golden Panthers stayed aggressive in the second half, Steven Jair Cabas took a pair of shots in the first 10 minutes that both went wide. FIU pulled ahead in the 60th minute when Juan Guerra hit his eighth goal of the season (and third of the championship) off an assist from defender Cory Kendall.

Senior Todd Goddard netted his conference-best 10th goal of the season for the equalizer in the 81st minute taking a pass inside from Chris Taylor that came off one of seven corner kicks on the day.

FIU goalkeeper Kyle Thomas was credited with three saves on the day and 14 for the tournament. Senior Dominic Cervi made two saves for the Golden Hurricane and earned a spot on the all-tournament team with the following.

All-Tournament Team
Eric Burkholder, Tulsa
Dominic Cervi, Tulsa
Chris Clements, Tulsa
Eric DeFreitas, Tulsa
Steven Jair Cabas, Florida International
Ainsley Deer, Florida International
Juan Guerra, Florida International
Sterling Flunder, Marshall
Jeff Lenix, Marshall
Mike Lindsay, South Carolina
Mark Wiltse, South Carolina