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C-USA Women's Soccer Championship Semifinals
Semifinal Recaps

Nov. 4, 2011

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -

2011 Conference USA Women's Soccer Championship

Mike Rose Stadium, Memphis, Tenn., Nov. 2-6

No. 7 UTEP 0, No. 6 Rice 0 (UTEP advances 3-1 on PKs)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - No. 7 UTEP advanced to the final of the C-USA Women's Soccer Championship after outlasting No. 6 Rice in penalty kicks, 3-1, Friday night at Mike Rose Stadium in Memphis, Tenn.

In contrasting halves of play, UTEP held a 7-3 advantage in shots during the first half, forcing a pair of saves from Rice goalkeeper Amy Czyz. In the second half, Rice gained the upper hand with eight shots toward the UTEP goal, compared to two shot from the Miners.

UTEP goalkeeper Sarah Dilling came up big during the second half, thwarting a point-blank chance in the 47^th minute from four yards out from Ashton Geisendorff, then pushing away a Rice cross through the box just minutes later.

After two scoreless overtime periods, Dilling again was the difference, stopping three of the four Rice attempts during the shootout, including a third round stop of opposing goalkeeper Amy Czyz.

Tess Hall converted the first penalty try for the Miners after the first of Dillings three stops against Alexandra Trenary.

Lauren LaGro netted the only Rice penalty kick with a blast to the right post before Brittany Kindzierski gave UTEP a 2-1 lead.

Czyz took the spot against Dilling in the third round and was denied by another diving stop by the Miners' keeper. Undeterred, Czyz saved Amanda Pak's low blast to keep the tally the same.

After Dilling's third stop, Katie Dorman - a two-goal scorer in the quarterfinals - scored to the top netting to send UTEP into Sunday's final.

The championship match of the 2011 C-USA Women's Soccer Championship will be played at 1 p.m. CST Sunday, Nov. 6, and will be aired on the CBS Sports Network.

No. 1 Memphis 3, No. 5 East Carolina 0

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Top seed Memphis defeated No. 5 seed East Carolina, 3-0, at Mike Rose Stadium in Memphis, Tenn., to advance to the final of the C-USA Women's Soccer Championship.

The Tigers jumped ahead in the 9^th minute of play when Lizzy Hildebrandt took a pass from Melissa Smith on the right flank and fired it to the far post for a 1-0 lead that they would take into the intermission.

Memphis held a 6-4 shot advantage in the opening half and a 2-0 edge in corner kicks.

East Carolina briefly grabbed the run of play early in the second half before Memphis's Lizzy Simonin rocketed a free kick from 25 yards away into the right upper 90 for a 2-0 lead in the 71^st minute.

The Tigers would add an insurance goal in the 89^th minute when Rasheeda Ansari scored into an open net after ECU goalkeeper Christiane Cordero came out of her net in attempt to play a square pass from Kaitlyn Atkins.

The host Tigers ended the match with a 14-11 edge in shots and a 7-5 edge in shots on goal.

Memphis improves to 20-0-1 on the season and will face No. 7 seed UTEP in the C-USA Championship match that will air at 1 p.m. CST Sunday on CBS Sports Network.

C-USA Women's Soccer Championship Semifinals

No. 7 UTEP 0, No. 6 Rice 0 (UTEP advances, 3-1, on PKs)

No. 1 Memphis 3, No. 5 East Carolina 0

C-USA Women's Soccer Championship Final

No. 1 Memphis vs. No. 7 UTEP - 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 6