The UTEP women’s soccer team is gearing up for their final road trip of the season, where they will face UTSA, LA Tech and Southern Miss. The Miners are 8-4-2 overall, and 1-1-2 in conference.
They find themselves in ninth place in Conference USA, which currently puts them out of the top 25 in the NCAA RPI ranking.
The Miners are coming off two draws at home this past weekend in conference play. The first draw was against a strong Western Kentucky team by a score of 1-1. Western Kentucky is fourth in conference.
The second tie came against Marshall, who is second place in Conference USA.
The lone goal for the Miners was from Bri Thomas, whose first goal of the season could not have come at a better time.
“After our goal, we had a lot more energy, we got more physical and the ref was calling all our stuff,” said team captain Angela Cutaia. “We could tell they were getting frustrated about that”
Had the Miners lost against Marshall, they would be in a much bleaker situation, possibly in 11th or 12th place in conference.
“That’s what we were just talking about. They are probably the two best in the conference coming out with two ties is a lot better than if we were to lose both games,” Cutaia said. “Knowing that our best can potentially beat these teams, going into the rest of these games gives us a lot of confidence.”
The Miners also held their own against Western Kentucky earlier in the week. The 1-1 draw against one of the top teams in the conference bodes well for the Miners.
“It proves that when we play our best, we can beat anybody in the conference,” said head coach Kevin Cross. “So that’s what we’ve shown with the young team, that we can play with anybody, but everybody’s got to bring their best game.”
The Miners are now are looking to go up a couple spots with the upcoming road trip. UTSA and Southern Miss are two of the bottom three teams in the conference and offer UTEP a little bit of a softer schedule.
The Miners, however, should not overlook UTSA although they are lower in the standings than the Miners.
“We are going to take it one at the time like we always do. We are going to focus on UT San Antonio.” coach Cross said. “We are just going to take it one at a time. They have an excellent team. They went overtime with Marshall, so we are just going to take it one at a time.”
After the road trip, the Miners are back home to take on Charlotte, who sits at 11th place, Old Dominion, who is ahead of UTEP at eighth, and for their toughest opponent yet, Middle Tennessee, who is in first.
Juan Carlos Navarrete may be reached at [email protected].
