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Friday,
November 2, 2001
Men’s
soccer needs three wins for tournament berth
By
Dan Smith
Skiff Staff
The men’s
soccer team enters tonight’s match against UAB needing
to move in front of two teams in the standings to qualify
for the Conference USA Championships.
Associate
head coach Blake Amos said the Frogs (5-8-1, 2-4-0 Conference
USA) need to win three of their last four matches to have
a chance to jump over Charlotte (7-6-2, 3-2-1), which has
four conference matches left, and Memphis (4-8-2, 2-5-1),
which has two matches left.
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Caled
Williams/Skiff Staff
Junior defender Adam Williams battles for the ball Friday
against Marquette. The Frogs play UAB 6 p.m. tonight in
Birmingham, Ala. |
To do
so, the Frogs will have to play strong defense, Amos said.
The Frogs get a chance to do just that against UAB (12-3-0,
6-1-0 ) 6 p.m. today in Birmingham, Ala.
“If we can keep ourselves from giving our opponents goals,
we will have a chance to win these games,” Amos said.
The Frogs
have allowed only five goals in their last four matches, a
big reason why they have won three matches during that span.
The wins have saved the team from postseason elimination.
“Our
defensive intensity has kept up and we have stayed in the
last few games,” junior goalkeeper Michael Lahoud said.
“We have not been playing teams like Southern Methodist
or Saint Louis but we have won some key games against teams
we needed to beat.”
The Frogs
last four matches are against UAB, South Florida (12-4-0,
5-2-0), DePaul (2-10-2, 1-4-2), and Louisville (5-9-1, 1-4-1).
UAB had
an impressive win as they knocked off Saint Louis, ranked
third in the conference, last week 1-0, but followed their
win with a 3-2 loss to Cincinnati (6-7-3, 4-3-1).
The Blazers
bring an offense that averages 2.2 goals a match and a defensive
weapon in freshman goalkeeper Clint Baumstark, who is only
allowing 0.63 goals a match.
Baumstark
has eight shut outs and only nine goals in 14 matches. TCU
has matched UAB’s offense by averaging 2.3 goals over
the last four matches, and Lahoud is coming off one of its
best matches of the season, in which he held Marquette to
one goal Oct. 26.
Junior
forward Bobby Montes enters the match on a hot streak, as
well. He has scored four goals in as many matches. The Frogs
will carry an 18-player roster to UAB and are without sophomore
forward J.J. Strong, who cracked his cheek bone last weekend
against Drury.
After
the Frogs play UAB, they face the South Florida Bulls 1 p.m.
Sunday at Tampa, Fla.
Dan Smith
d.r.smith@student.tcu.edu
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