UTEP women’s soccer fell to 9-4-2 on the season, 2-3 in conference play, after the shutout on Sunday, Oct. 9, against the Rice Owls. The Miners have the bottom two teams in Conference USA coming up on their schedule as they prepare for UTSA at home (Oct. 14) and Middle Tennessee away (Oct. 16).
Head coach Kevin Cross wants to wash away his memory of the 3-0 loss that the Owls handed them when they forced the Miners to fall short in back-to-back games.
“I can’t wait for Friday to get here,” Cross said. “This was for sure our weakest performance of the season. We’re going to have to respond on Friday. We’re better than this.”
The Miners were on the defensive end of the field during the first half and found themselves down at halftime by two goals to the Owls. UTEP’s goalkeeper Alyssa Palacios was getting attacked early and often throughout the game with shots coming from all around. She ended up tying her career high in saves with 10 on the day.
Cross indicated how important fast starts are for his Miners and the importance to play hard the entire game.
“We weren’t up tight on them, and we weren’t working off the ball as hard as we needed to be,” Cross said.
Senior midfielder, Aleah Davis, added to her coach’s comments.
“It’s just our mindset. We need to respond to team’s intensities and their high pressures,” Davis said. “We have to put two games together every week, and feed off of the energy from Friday.”
Knowing the challenges for the road, Davis understands the importance of winning their last games.
“We know that no team will give us an easy game,” Davis said. “Conference games are never a given. It’s a matter of who wants it more next weekend. A conference win would be awesome to go to the tournament.”
Last week, the Roadrunners faced Rice where UTSA got out to an early lead at half and lead 1-0. San Antonio ended up falling to the No. 3 in the conference 3-2, but Alexis Alaniz is coming in hot for her Roadrunners despite the loss to Rice. She ended the game with the team’s two goals. The Miners will need to cool her down if they hope to come out with a win.
A team that handed UTEP their second loss of the season, the UAB Blazers, was smoothly handled by Middle Tennessee earlier in the season. MTSU beat them 4-2, and the Miners will have to attack early in hopes of coming out victorious.
Davis only has five remaining games of her senior season and wants her last season to be memorable. These couple of wins against two C-USA opponents would help the Miners’ chances at a bid in the tournament.
Kevin Cross’ team has the potential to bounce back from the lopsided loss, and he knows this week of practice is a pivotal point in their season.
“We got to work harder for each other, and just play our game,” Cross said. “We need to play every game like it’s our last. When we play our best soccer, we can beat anyone.”
Conference USA takes the top eight teams in the conference for the post-season tournament. UTEP is currently tied for seventh place, with six points—along with Louisiana Tech, Old Dominion, and UTSA. The matchup between the Roadrunners will be a huge indicator on whether or not the Miners have what it takes to engage in post-season ball.
