Nov. 6, 2007

UAB vs. Rice Game Notes | Watch UAB-Rice Live! | Gametracker | C-USA Championship Central

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB women's soccer team will begin its quest for the 2007 Conference USA Women's Soccer Tournament championship Wednesday when the No. 4 Blazers take on No. 5 Rice at 2:30 p.m. MT in El Paso, Texas during the opening day of the league tournament.

UAB earned the fourth seed by ending its regular season schedule with an overall record of 9-7-2, including a 5-3-1 mark in conference play. Rice brings an 11-6-2 overall record into the tournament, which includes a 5-3-1 mark in league games.

Wednesday's first game will feature top-seeded UCF against No. 8 East Carolina at 12:00 p.m. UAB and Rice will play the second game of the day, followed by No. 2 Memphis and No. 7 Southern Miss at 5:30 p.m. Host-school No. 3 UTEP and No. 6 Colorado College round out the first day with an 8:00 p.m. matchup.

The Blazers enter the tournament as the defending champions, after capturing the 2006 tournament title as the No. 7 seed. UAB will be vying for its third tournament championship in four years, with previous titles in 2004 and 2006.

UAB and Rice met once during the '07 regular season that resulted in a 2-1 win for the Owls on Oct. 12 in Houston, Texas.

The last time the two squads met in the C-USA Tournament was during the first round of the 2005 tournament. In that match, No. 3 Rice topped the sixth-seeded Blazers, 1-0, before going on to win the title.

The Blazers, led by 12th-year head coach Paul Harbin, are paced on the field by senior Sally Palmer with a team-best eight goals, four assists and 20 points. Sophomore Danya Barsalona has added seven scores and senior Jill Porto and freshman Justine Hartigan have contributed four each.

At the helm of the Rice Owls is seventh-year head coach Chris Huston. The Owls are led offensively by Kate Edwards with 10 goals on the year, followed by Clory Martin and Korey Taylor with five goals apiece for Rice.

The winner of the UAB/Rice game will advance to the semifinal round on Friday at 5:00 p.m. and play the winner of the UCF/East Carolina match.