With a 1-0 win over The University of Texas at San Antonio on “Senior Night” Nov.1, the UTEP soccer team (10-6-3, 5-4,1) earned their first Conference-USA tournament bid in three seasons.
Freshman forward Tessa Carlin scored past UTSA goalie Jil Schinder in the 82nd minute to seal the win for the Roadrunners. Carlin finishes the regular season tying a team–high with five goals and leading the Miners with six assists.
Freshman goalkeeper Emily Parrott secured her seventh shutout of the season against UTSA blocking three shots on goal for the Miners.
First–year head coach Kathyrn Balogun has led the Miners thus far to their most wins as a program since 2016 with ten. At her previous head coaching position, Balogun led Texas Southern University to a combined 31-13-6 record over five seasons.
This year’s Miners, led by senior Lauren Crenshaw and sophomore forward Jojo Ngongo, have had a resurgence in Conference USA making the tournament.
Crenshaw currently is tied for a team–high with five goals, is second on the team in points with 13 and leads the team in minutes played with 1,557.
Ngongo is second in assists with five points with 13 and goals with five. The Canadian recorded a season–high two assists in the Miners 3-1 win over Florida International University earlier this season.
The next matchup for the Miners is against reigning Conference-USA champion North Texas University (12-5-1, 7-2-1) in the quarterfinals of the tournament. UTEP is set at the number seven seed with North Texas at the second seed.
The Mean Green have 36 goals made in the regular season tied for third–best in Conference-USA.
Junior forward Berklee Peters leads North Texas with 11 goals ranking her third best in Conference-USA and amongst the top 40 in the nation.
UTEP last played against North Texas Oct. 6, 2017, in a 3-1 loss.
The quarterfinal game for the Miners takes place at 7 p.m. Nov.6 in Denton, Texas. The game will be streamed on the ESPN +.
The winner of the UTEP versus North Texas matchup will face the winner of the Rice versus Middle Tennessee State matchup at 7 p.m. Nov. 8 in Denton, Texas.
Isaiah Ramirez may be reached at [email protected]
