Women's Soccer Wins PK Shootout Over Rice; UCF Next

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

Women's Soccer Edges Rice 4-2 In Penalty Kicks To Advance At C-USA Championship
Mustangs Face Host UCF In The Semifinal Round On Friday At 6:30 p.m. CT

Nov. 3, 2010

ORLANDO (SMU) --- The SMU women's soccer team edged Rice 4-2 in penalty kicks in the quarterfinal of the Conference USA Championship on Wednesday. Senior Lauren Shepherd hit the deciding shot in the shootout after the teams played to a 0-0 tie through 110 minutes. The No. 4 seeded Mustangs face top-seeded UCF on Friday in the semifinal round.

"It's a fantastic win, and I'm blessed to have unbelievable players on this team who stick with it and keep fighting," said head coach Brent Erwin. "And Courtney Webb saving the first two penalty kicks really tells the tale. That was a great job by her making those saves. So we're very happy. So we'll go rest and come out ready to play Friday."

Junior goalkeeper Courtney Webb led the Mustangs (11-6-4) before and during the shootout. She recorded nine saves through the end of the second overtime. In the penalty kicks, Webb scored on SMU's first attempts in between saves on the first two Rice (8-8-4) attempts. The two stops were all SMU would need as the Mustangs hit all four shots. Juniors Katherine Cox and Logan May connected on the second and third goals, respectively.

The Mustangs face the host UCF Knights (13-3-3) in the Conference USA Championship semifinal on Friday at 6:30 p.m. CT. Follow all the action at SMUMustangs.com or ConferenceUSA.com .

[DallasDiehard]

Honestly, I'm a little surprised — Rice is a good team. Congratulations. Good luck against UCF.

[HeyHey]

This team has an incredible amount of heart. Injuries have taken a huge toll on them but they keep fighting.

Way to go, Ladies!

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

This is a great win. I don't know why people are so surprised. We did finish ahead of Rice and they only beat us in OT at their field this season. It's still a great result for the Mustangs - they deserve another game in the tournament for the resolve they have shown this season.

It's awesome to see Courtney Webb save two and score in the shootout - way to show those who left her off the all-conference teams this season.

It's also good to see Courtney Smith back healthy and able to play 110 minutes.

Did Shelby Redman really play? I thought she was out for the season. If so, that's awesome to know her knee injury wasn't that bad.

Go Ponies - beat UCF!

[redpony]

Congrats ladies! Great game. You will need to kick it up a notch to beat UCF- Rice was only a .500 team. Let's get to the NCAA tourney.

GO PONIES!!!