Soccer
The Cougars’ late season push for the postseason took a hit last weekend when they split a pair of home games with Southern Miss and Central Florida.
UH entered their final home stand of the season needing a sweep, or at least a win and a draw, to keep their already slim conference tournament hopes alive. The weekend started out on a bright note as the Cougars knocked off Southern Miss, 2-1, behind first-half goals from Katelyn Rhodes and Lauri Byrne. Byrne also assisted Rhodes, notching her first assist of the season to go along with her second goal of the year.
Sunday’s match didn’t go as well for the Cougars, as they went from facing the basement of Conference USA competition to the penthouse in less than 48 hours. While Southern Miss is in last place without a conference victory this season, UCF sits atop the standings with a 7-1-0 C-USA record.
The Cougars are in 10th place in the conference with eight points, and are one of four teams within striking distance of Marshall, with 12 points, for sixth place and the final playoff spot. The Cougars are at a disadvantage, though, because they do not play any of those four teams (SMU, East Carolina and Tulsa) in their final three matches.
At this point, the Cougars’ only shot is to win out over their final three games and hope for some help from their C-USA counterparts ‘ Should the Cougars go undefeated down the final stretch and garner nine points, they would be in a position to advance to the C-USA Tournament. However, given the team’s inconsistent play’-especially on the road’-that may be too big a mountain to scale.
UH returns to action at 7 p.m. Friday when it travels to El Paso to take on UTEP.
Cross Country
The Cougars continued their season at the Sam Bell Invitational in Bloomington, Ind. over the weekend. Both the men’s and women’s squads each earned third place finishes in the five team event.
Stephanie Aldea led the Cougars in the women’s 6K race with a seventh place finish and a time of 22:11, while Nate Pineda came in 17th in the men’s 8K with a time of 26:52.
The Cougars return to action when they host the C-USA Championships on Oct. 31 at the Bear Branch Sports Fields in The Woodlands.
Golf
The Cougars hit a bump in the road back to respectability, finishing last in a field of 12 at the Lone Star Invitational, which wrapped up Monday. The Cougars posted a team score of 313 in the final round to finish the 54-hole event with a total of 923.
Jackie Lindsey and Beau Davis led the way for the Cougars, posting UH’s lowest scores of the tournament. Lindsey turned in a 226 to tie for 37th place while Davis tied for 44th with a total of 230.
The Cougars return to action with their final tournament of the fall, the Husky Invitational, which will be hosted by Houston Baptist University at the Sienna Plantation Golf Club next Monday and Tuesday.
Keenum
C-USA named Cougars’ quarterback Case Keenum the Offensive Player of the Week for the third time this season after his 33-of-46, 371 yard performance against Tulane. It marks the sixth time Keenum has garnered the award, leaving him one short of the C-USA record shared by Tulane’s Shaun King (1995-98) and DeAngelo Williams of Memphis (2002-05).
Baseball
The Cougar baseball team will host Blinn College Friday for their lone scrimmage in preparation for the 2010 season. The 16-inning game will begin at 3 p.m. at Cougar Field. Admission’ will be free.
