[NDR] College soccer in and around Houston [various Rs]

[anderson]

Today's Chron has a nice piece by Bernardo Fallas on the very competitive men's soccer program at San Jac:

San Jac soccer team gains solid footing nationally (http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/soc/3390681)

http://images.chron.com/content/news/photos/05/10/11/soccer.jpg

IIRC, one of San Jac's best players from last season transferred to Clemson.

Here's more info on their program: Coyotes Soccer (http://www.sjcd.edu/south/athletics/men_soccer/).

Has anyone been out to their soccer facility on the San Jac South Campus? Any room for additional stands? ;)

[CeltTexan]

Tigres from the MFL offered a contract to a San Jac player that I grew up playing against. I brought Mike in to play a right mid for the Houston Hurricanes FC in our last season. He did so well that he made the All-Star game held at Delmar. Right after the All-Star game the Tigres scouts set him down to serious discussions about returning with them to Monterrey. Unfortuantely Mike was too old for them. He was 25 and they mandated that if they were going back to Mexico with a Texan...he better be younger than 23 or the press would have a field day with the new signing.

The level of quality players that have been coming out of San Jac is over a decade long. San Jac should be more supported and followed by all of us Houston die-hards. Their squad is very diverse and very techincally gifted. Snr. Fallas writes good articles for the Chron.

[yanks02]

Has anyone been out to their soccer facility on the San Jac South Campus? Any room for additional stands? ;)

HAHAHA. I take a couple of classes at San Jac South and I gotta say no. I remember going to a couple of games a few years back. My friend played for them a couple of years ago. I haven't seen them this year though.

[anderson]

The Conference USA women's soccer tournament takes place this week at the Rice Soccer & Track Stadium on the Rice campus. The first round starts this Wednesday, with the second round on Friday and the final on Sunday. Rice is seeded third and will open against UAB. UH is seeded eighth and will open against top seed Central Florida.

I've seen several of these teams when they came to play Rice. The level of play isn't bad at all and it's certainly fair entertainment value. Rice, SMU, and UTEP, in particular, are all usually very watchable. The weather looks like it'll be really nice this week, so it'll be a nice opportunity to enjoy some cool weather and watch a soccer tournament.

Here's a piece in today's Chron about the event:

Owls, Coogs face tough climb in C-USA soccer (http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/soc/3429565)

The official C-USA page contains a link to the tournament schedule:

C-USA Women's Soccer Championship, Nov. 2-6 (http://conferenceusa.collegesports.com/championships/05-w-soccer-tourney.html)

Here are maps of the Rice campus:

Rice Maps (http://www.rice.edu/maps/index.html)

The Rice Soccer & Track Stadium is located in the lower central part of those maps (near the intersection of South Main and University Blvd.). The facility is very rudimentary, but the field is decent and it's not like they're going to charge much. Parking is plentiful and usually free or cheap.



Go Owls.



http://graphics.fansonly.com/confs/c-usa/graphics/w-soccer-champs05-343w.gif

[bford]

It would also be a good chance for anyone interested to see the sight lines for soccer at Rice stadium...

if we ever have some type of team play there.. :cool:

rock

bford

[anderson]

It would also be a good chance for anyone interested to see the sight lines for soccer at Rice stadium...Just wanna make sure that everyone knows that the Rice Soccer & Track Stadium is a different venue than Rice Stadium.

The Rice Soccer & Track Stadium is a small facility, about 5,000 capacity, that will host the C-USA tourney.

Rice Stadium is the football stadium that Celt mentioned as being considered as an MLS venue. It has no track and the seats slope pretty steeply. The gates to Rice Stadium are sometimes open, so you may be able to just wander in there anyway.

[bford]

Well I did know it was a different stadium, but I did not pay enough attention to your first post! I'm taking points off my final grade...

bford

[anderson]

Well I did know it was a different stadium, but I did not pay enough attention to your first post! I'm taking points off my final grade...

bford:D It's all good - that was just a minor FYI sort of thing for people who may be new to the neighborhood.

Btw, here's the Chron's report on the first round - there were a couple of pretty crazy games:

C-USA Soccer, Houston Chronicle (http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3435112)

[bford]

If only my daughter was a little older... she turns 2 December 1. She would only run around in circles... but if they host again in the next few years.. we'll be there... it's great for kids to be able to get so close to the games and see some talented players up close.

rock

bford

[anderson]

Update from last night's action:

C-USA SOCCER TOURNAMENT, Houston Chronicle (http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/soc/3440458)


Rice plays UTEP at 1:00 pm on Sunday for the conference title and the automatic NCAA bid.

Go Owls.



http://images.chron.com/content/news/photos/05/11/05/ricesoccer.jpg

[CoachKip]

Well anderson I won't let that go unanswered......GO LADY MINERS!!!
Adios, Coach Kip

[anderson]

Well anderson I won't let that go unanswered......GO LADY MINERS!!!
Adios, Coach KipIt should be fun. I see that UTEP has about a +40 or so GD this year. That's amazing.

From Glenn's column this morning:

Thumbs up

To Rice University and the track/soccer complex where the Owls are hosting the Conference USA women's tournament. With the Texas Medical Center as its backdrop and an impeccable playing surface, who wouldn't want to be a college player? Now the women at Rice need a men's program to match it.

...

Third-seeded Rice faces fourth-seeded Texas-El Paso in the Conference USA women's final at 1 p.m. today at the Rice Track/Soccer Complex.
On Soccer, Houston Chronicle (http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/soc/3441865)

The game is also apparently on CSTV, although I'm not sure I even know anyone who get CSTV.

[truthandlife]

I took my daughter to the game today. It was about 95 degrees. It was very hot but Rice was impressive. Rice truly dominated UTEP. I was impressed with the way Huston coaches the Owls. Good win for them and a good style of play.

Good crowd. I was very impressed with the playing surface. Big field and groomed very well. If I was a big recruit and lived near Houston, I would definitely consider this program.

[anderson]

I took my daughter to the game today. It was about 95 degrees. It was very hot but Rice was impressive. Rice truly dominated UTEP. I was impressed with the way Huston coaches the Owls. Good win for them and a good style of play.

Good crowd. I was very impressed with the playing surface. Big field and groomed very well. If I was a big recruit and lived near Houston, I would definitely consider this program.It was fun. I assume that UTEP and SMU both have very good shots at making the NCAA tourney at-large. The NCAA selection show will be on ESPNEWS at 4:00 pm today.

Here's the Chron's report:

Rice wears crown in Conference USA (http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3443204)

http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/schools/rice/sports/w-soccer/auto_action/341102.jpeg

[anderson]

Just FYI in case anyone's up near Tyler - San Jac plays in the NJCAA D-1 National Championship Tournament, hosted at Tyler JC, on Nov. 17-20.

Good luck.

[anderson]

Today's column in the Chron discusses Dane Richards, who played at San Jac, and is now the leading scorer for Clemson:

Former San Jac striker stands at top of his game (http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3510681)

A couple other players with connections to this area may also play in the NCAA Men's College Cup this weekend:

[Clemson coach] Adair said he feels that Richards and the rest of the Clemson squad's speed will give them the advantage against the [Univ. of New Mexico] Lobos, whose roster includes Nederland product Lance Watson (the team leader in assists) and Stratford's German Gomez, a reserve.

[anderson]

Some good college soccer exhibition games are coming up in the area over the next few days (from Keeper Notes (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=291916)):

Sunday, March 5 at Rice Track/Soccer Stadium (http://riceowls.collegesports.com/facilities/track-soccer-stadium.html):

Rice v Sting, 9 am
Sam Houston State v Sting, 1 pm
Rice v Sam Houston State, 5 pm

Sunday, March 5 at Aggie Soccer Complex:

A&M v South Texas '89 ODP, 5 pm

Thursday, March 9 at Aggie Soccer Complex:

A&M v US u20 national team, 7 pm

Please add Houston area college soccer info here if you come across it.

[dredgfan]

are these games male or female

[texgator]

are these games male or female
Must be female, A&M doesn't have a men's team.

[nobius]

Must be female, A&M doesn't have a men's team.

There's a joke there somewhere. ;)