Posted on: Saturday, November 6, 2004
Rice advances before rain stops WAC tourney
By Leila Wai
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Western Athletic Conference women's soccer tournament was postponed because of inclement weather last night, during the first half of the semifinal match between Southern Methodist and Tulsa at the Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Stadium.
Top-seeded SMU and fifth-seeded Tulsa will resume their match — called after 8 minutes, 49 seconds elapsed — today at the University of Hawai'i soccer practice field at 11 a.m.
The championship match is scheduled to be played tomorrow at UH, at a time to be announced.
Second-seeded Rice defeated No. 3 Texas-El Paso, 2-1, in the other semifinal match last night, and will await the winner of the Mustangs and Golden Hurricane.
Host Hawai'i was eliminated in the tournament's first round by Tulsa Thursday night.
Pouring rain formed a trench of water surrounding the field last night, and players struggled to dribble, pass or kick the ball farther than two feet ahead of them. As a result, the game was halted at 7:40 p.m.
Rain continued to fall as officials discussed the possibilities of when to resume the match.
In the first semifinal match, Rice senior midfielder Becky MacAllister scored a goal and added an assist as the Owls made up a one-goal deficit.
UTEP started the scoring in the sixth minute on a goal by freshman midfielder Kara Nordin, but Rice answered with a goal by freshman midfielder Samantha Conn on a header off a corner kick by MacAllister in the 11th minute.
Macallister scored the go-ahead goal in the 23rd minute.
Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2457.
NOTES: Hawai'i junior forward Natasha Kai, a three-time all-WAC first-team selection, suffered a hairline fracture to her collarbone in a collision with a Tulsa player with five minutes left in Thursday's match. She would have missed last night's match if the Rainbow Wahine had advanced. The injury usually takes two to three weeks to heal. Hawai'i's first-round tournament loss to Tulsa Thursday night actually went into the record books as a tie, making UH's final record (12-6-3). The penalty-kick tiebreaker was only for WAC tournament purposes.
Natasha Kai
