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SPORTS 11/9/11 6:00pm

Soccer's season ended by shootout yet again

By Thresher Staff Reports

Like a losing season for the Washington Redskins, the soccer team's elimination by shootout in the Conference USA tournament seemed inevitable. Last year, Southern Methodist University defeated the Owls 4-2 in a shootout after no goals were scored in 110 minutes. This year, Rice escaped a complete scenario of deja vu by beating the Ponies in overtime. But the shootout defeat finally found the Owls in the semifinals of the tournament, this time at the hands of the University of Texas-El Paso.

SPORTS 11/9/11 6:00pm

Fanuzzi has career day; Rice takes down UTEP

By Teddy Grodek

At the start of the season, it appeared that veteran senior quarterback Nick Fanuzzi was destined to be holding a clipboard on the sideline and watching the Owls' (3-6, 2-4 C-USA) season unfold. After losing his starting position over the summer to sophomore Taylor McHargue, it looked like the University of Alabama transfer was essentially done as an integral player. He proved all of that wrong this past weekend in the homecoming game against the University of Texas at El Paso (4- 5, 1-4 C-USA), which ended with a 41-37 win for the Blue and Gray.

SPORTS 11/1/11 7:00pm

Cougars send Rice football back to pre-school

By Teddy Grodek

Heading into the game against the nationally ranked and undefeated University of Houston, starting quarterback Taylor McHargue had thrown for eight touchdowns so far this season. Last Thursday night, University of Houston quarterback Case Keenum threw nine touchdowns.

SPORTS 11/1/11 7:00pm

Swimming takes third in final home meet of season

By Louis Lesser

Throughout two days of exciting competition, the Rice women's swim team was able to come through with a third place finish at the first annual Rice-Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Medical Center Fall Invitational held Friday and Saturday on Oct. 28-29. Showing strong efforts across the board, the Owls were able to set several individual records during the meet and proved that they are a force to be reckoned with as the season continues.

SPORTS 11/1/11 7:00pm

Volleyball goes 1-2 on conference road trip

By Dan Elledge

The Owls earned their extra miles this week as they flew across three time zones in two days to face off against University of Texas- El Paso and the University of Central Florida on the road. Rice was looking to repeat its sweep of UTEP earlier in the season and wanted to get revenge against UCF for a 3-1 defeat at home on Oct. 14. The Owls could not fare better as again they took care of UTEP on the road, but fell for the second time against the Golden Knights.

SPORTS 11/1/11 7:00pm

Cross country has subpar C-USA championship

By Thresher Staff Reports

While the Conference USA Cross Country championship has been characterized by the expected, 2011 was a different story for Rice, and not for the better. While the women expected to compete for first place and the men expected to finish in second or third, the Owls came away disappointed with their results from Monday's C-USA championship at the Wildcat Golf Club in Houston, Texas.

SPORTS 11/1/11 7:00pm

Soccer gets revenge against SMU in double OT

By Thresher Staff Reports

After a nearly catastrophic meltdown over a six-game stretch which saw it compile a 1-4-1 record and move from third to seventh in the Conference USA standings, the soccer team righted the ship just in time on Friday, as they tied the University of Houston (6-11-2, 3-6-2 C-USA), 1-1. With a tie, the Owls locked up a spot in the conference tournament.

SPORTS 10/27/11 7:00pm

Cougar High Sends Owls Back to Pre-School

By Jonathan Myers

Before Thursday night's game at Robertson Stadium on the campus of the University of Houston, many Owls' fans were taking a page out of Governor Rick Perry's book and praying for a sudden deluge of rain that would surely help ground the Houston air attack. Apparently only part of the prayer was heard as heavy rain lasted for a just a quarter-and so did the Owls' grip on the game, as they ended up losing by a score of 73-34.

SPORTS 10/27/11 7:00pm

Land of Enchantment anything but that for golf

By Paul Fitzgerald

Seeking to capitalize on the positive vibes from the Lone Star Invitational, the golf team traveled to Las Cruces, New Mexico for the Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate. Instead of another positive finish, they left New Mexico with a bit ter taste in their mouths from a last-place finish.

SPORTS 10/27/11 7:00pm

Swimming rebounds from loss, stomps Miami

By Owls get revenge for 2010 loss to Hurricanes

After suffering a loss the previous week, the swim team got off to a dominating start against the University of Miami (Fla.) and never looked back. The Owls' swimmers posted a 131-74 dual meet victory over the visiting Hurricanes this past Saturday afternoon at Rice Aquatics Center Competition Pool. It was the tandem of freshman Erin Flanigan and senior Alex O'Brien, who each won two events, that set the pace for Rice, which as a team won even of the meet's 11 events overall.

SPORTS 10/27/11 7:00pm

Volleyball splits weekend matches, still in fourth

By Dan Elledge

Yet again, the volleyball team had an up-and-down weekend in more ways than one. The Owls (12-10, 7-4 C-USA) had an irregular home/ road split this weekend as they played at home Friday against the University of Memphis (15-9, 4-7 C-USA) and went on the road Sunday to play the University of Alabama-Birmingham (18-5, 8-3 C-USA). The joy of home on Friday was over whelming for the Owls, but they could not keep the momentum as they left the comfort of the hedges to go to Alabama.

SPORTS 10/27/11 7:00pm

Golden Hurricane sweeps away football 38-20

By Teddy Grodek

For the second straight week, Rice (2-5, 1-3 C-USA) simply did not look ready to play in the first quarter. In a winnable game, the Owls quickly fell behind – giving the Univer sity of Tulsa (4-3, 3-0 C-USA) momentum, and digging themselves into a pretty deep hole.

SPORTS 10/27/11 7:00pm

Soccer loses two on road to C-USA cellar-dwellers

By Thresher Staff Reports

If the fans of Owls soccer could take any solace in the team's lackluster performance over the last four games leading up to Oct. 21, it was that the team's final three matches were against three of the five worst teams in Conference USA. Surely this reprieve from the top teams in C-USA would allow Rice to se cure a bid in the postseason conference tour nament and perhaps a top-four seed. But un like conventional wisdom, which would have seen the Owls dominate the first two of those three matches, Rice lost both, first to East Carolina University (9-6-1, 4-5-0 C-USA) by a score of 3-1, and then to Marshall University (4-11-3, 2-6-2 C-USA) in a 1-0 shutout.

SPORTS 10/19/11 7:00pm

Football snatches defeat from the jaws of victory

By Teddy Grodek

Another week, another tough loss for the football team, which was, for once, only a few key plays away from a well-fought victory. While it is a tough road trip up to Marshall University in West Virginia, the team that now sports a 2-3 record simply looked unprepared in the first half.

SPORTS 10/19/11 7:00pm

Volleyball climbs near top of C-USA

By Dan Elledge

The Owls returned to the friendly confines of Tudor Fieldhouse hoping to add to their dominating two-game sweep at Marshall University the previous weekend. However, home was not totally sweet for Rice, as the team fell to the rising University of Central Florida. It did recover later in the weekend when the Owls easily took care of the University of Texas-El Paso.

SPORTS 10/19/11 7:00pm

Mustangs corral Owls in pool; Hurricanes up next

By Louis Lesser

In a matchup of the two schools who have combined to win the last 15 Conference USA championships, the swim team proved they still have a lot to learn from Southern Methodist University. The SMU women's swim team won 156-106 in a C-USA dual meet, the first of the season for both teams, on Oct. 15 at the Rice Aquatics Center. It was just last spring when Rice ended SMU's winning streak of 14-straight conference championships in women's swimming by claiming the 2011 C-USA title and it is clear from Saturday's match that the Mustangs were out for revenge. Rice showed that it was still out to contend this season, as sophomore Chelsea Fong set a facility record with a time of 2:05.64 in the 200-yard individual medley and senior Alex O'Brien took the top position in the 1,000-yard freestyle, but, possibly seeking vengeance from their loss last season, SMU won 12 of the meet's 14 events while setting seven facility records.

SPORTS 10/19/11 7:00pm

Cross country impresses at Pre-National Invite

By Thresher Staff Reports

Coaches across the entire spectrum of sports continually yearn for their team to exceed expectations. The coaches of the men's and women's cross country teams need not yearn any longer, as both contingents of runners ran well at the Houston Baptist University/Puma Invitational on Oct. 7 and at the Pre-National Invitational on Oct. 16.

SPORTS 10/19/11 7:00pm

Soccer stuck in the middle of C-USA pack

By Thresher Staff Reports

With just three conference matches remaining, the soccer team is currently looking at possibly missing out on the conference postseason tournament. What started off as a 3-1-0 record in Conference USA action has now devolved into a 4-3-1 record that leaves Rice in a three-way tie for fifth place and, in terms of a berth in the C-USA Championship Tournament, is on the outside looking in.

SPORTS 10/5/11 7:00pm

Soccer 24th in nation after flawless weekend

By Thresher Staff Records

13-8-4. That's the record of the soccer team since Head Coach Nicky Adams took the helm back in September 2010, a 25-match record that presents a stark contrast to the 6-10-3 record the Owls endured during the 2009 season. Two of those 13 wins came this past weekend as Rice took to the road to face Southern Methodist University (7-5-0, 3-1-0 Conference USA) on Saturday and the University of Tulsa (7-4- 2, 1-2-1 C-USA) on Sunday. With the Owls and Mustangs having nearly identical records, the fans at Westcott Field in Dallas were expecting a close matchup featuring two of the conference's top defenses, which is exactly what they got. SMU came into the tussle very confident after knocking off the 19th-ranked University of Central Florida, while the Owls were hoping to bounce back from a tough 1-0 loss to the ninth-ranked University of Memphis. After 45 minutes, the score remained deadlocked at zero, with SMU having a slight advantage in terms of total shots and corner kicks. Freshman goalkeeper Amy Czyz stonewalled the Mustangs' attempts to put points on the scoreboard, but the Owls' attacking forwards were unable to capitalize on a few first-half breakups, pushing the ball forward too often when the numbers were not to their advantage. Adams spoke about the Owls' initial nerves that kept them from setting up better opportunities for goals.

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