// THE OPENING WHISTLE
Coming off a nervy 1-0 victory at SMU Thursday night, the University of Cincinnati women's soccer team will look to close out its trip to the Lone Star State with another victory, this time when the Bearcats meet the Houston Cougars Sunday at 1 p.m. CT (2 p.m. ET) in an American Athletic Conference match at UH's Carl Lewis International Complex. The Bearcats, who evened their overall record to 6-6-2 Thursday, are 4-1-0 in the AAC and tied for second place on the table with the Cougars entering the match also coming off a 1-0 victory (vs. ECU) with a 4-11-0 record and a 1-4-0 mark in the league.
// GOING LIVE
Sunday's match will be streamed live and free on Houston's website (UHCougars.com) with live stats for the match also will be available on the same website.
// QUICK SHOTS
• Cincinnati enters Sunday's match at Houston with a 6-6-2 overall record and is currently tied for second in the AAC with 12 points and a 4-1-0 record
• The Bearcats leveled their record at .500 on the strength of a 5-1-2 record in their last eight matches after opening the year 1-5-0, including a five-match losing skid
• UC's 4-1-0 start in AAC play is the second-best since league play began in 2013, trailing only the 4-0-1 record the 2017 squad put together
• Thursday's win at SMU is the first in the history of the series as the Bearcats, who are now 1-3-1 all-time in Dallas against the Mustangs, have now defeated every AAC foe in a conference game at least once in program history
• A win Sunday would mark several firsts, including the first sweep of points against the Texas schools in league action and would be the second weekend road sweep of the year after winning at both Temple and UConn to open the AAC slate
• A result Sunday would make UC undefeated on the road in AAC play for the first time in program history with the three victories already recorded the most for a single season
• So far this year, UC is 3-for-3 in AAC road matches not only in wins, but also shutouts as the Bearcats have posted two, 1-0 wins and one, 2-0 win
• Sydney Goins scored the lone goal Thursday marking both her second goal of the year and her second winning strike of the season
• Madison Less made five saves at SMU to post her sixth shutout of the year and the 14th of her career, tying for 10th and 6th, respectively, in program history
// KNOW THE FOE: HOUSTON
• The Cougars enter Sunday's match with a 4-11-0 overall record and stand 1-4-0 in the AAC
• Houston defeated ECU, 1-0, in overtime Thursday night for its first league win of the year and also snapped a six-match losing streak
• Five different players lead the team in scoring with two goals each while Desiree Bowen leads all players with seven points on two goals and three assists
• Four different keepers have seen minutes in 2019 with Samantha Cude seeing the most as her six starts have produced 28 saves and 11 goals allowed for a 1.67 goals-against average
// NOTING THE SERIES: BEARCATS-COUGARS
• Cincinnati leads the all-time series, 7-3-2, with Houston, but is 0-1-2 in the last three meetings with both draws coming in Cincinnati and the loss coming in Houston
• The Bearcats lead the series, 3-2-0, when it is played in Houston, but lost the last meeting, 2-1, to snap a three-match winning streak
• The last time the teams met was last year in Cincinnati, a 1-1 draw on September 30, 2018
// TEXAS TWO-STEP?
With a win at Houston Sunday, the Bearcats will accomplish several things, one of which would be sweeping the Texas schools in league play on the road for the first time in program history. UC has defeated both SMU and Houston in the same week before with the previous instance coming at home in 2014 with identical 1-0 wins. The closest UC has come to accomplishing the feat on the road was in 2015 when the Bearcats drew SMU, 2-2, and then defeated Houston, 1-0.
// SWEEP TO SWEEP
A Sunday also would mean UC would close out its AAC road slate with a perfect 4-0-0 record for the first time since the league began in 2013. The three wins the Bearcats have already is the most road AAC wins in a season, surpassing the two collected in 2013 (2-2-0), 2016 (2-2-1) and 2017 (2-2-0) and also guarantees an above .500 record for road AAC matches for the first time as well.
// ROAD WARRIORS
Dating back to the 1996 season, the Bearcats have taken all six points in the same conference weekend 19 times with the wins at both Temple and UConn at the end of August the most recent addition to the list. Should UC win at Houston, it would mark the team's second weekend sweep of the year with both coming on the road. While a sweep would mark the fifth season in which at least two sweeps have occurred and the first since 2002, it would mark the first in which more than one weekend sweep took place.
// QUICK CAP • MUSTANGS TAMED
• Cincinnati weathered a barrage of shots from SMU and took advantage of a great opportunity on the offensive end to snare a 1-0 victory Thursday in Dallas
• The Bearcats were outshot, 21-6, on the night, but were able to make one count as Sydney Goins scored from distance in the 36' for the lone goal of the night
• Madison Less made five saves and the defense blocked several attempts to record their sixth clean sheet of the year
// ADD IT TO THE LIST
Thursday's win at SMU was historic as it is marked the first time UC has defeated the Mustangs on their home turf. Prior to the match, the Bearcats, who were 2-0-1 in the 2015 AAC Tournament on the same pitch, held a 0-3-1 all-time record at SMU before collecting their first win. With that win, the Bearcats crossed the final team off their list of opponents they had not defeated in a conference match on the road. Last year, Cincinnati traveled to Tulsa and defeated the Golden Hurricane, 2-0, to mark the first time in program history the Bearcats had won at Tulsa.
// GOLDEN GIRL
Goins has been golden for the Bearcats twice this year with both of her goals scored coming on the road, against a conference opponent and standing as the winning strike. Her first score was truly a golden goal as she headed home the winner in overtime at UConn to give UC a 1-0 win and a 2-0-0 record in the early going of AAC play. In Dallas, she fired from long range to hit the back of the net in the 36' with that score holding up as the winner. Prior to the year, Goins had two total goals in her first three years with the program and one game-winner, meaning three of her four goals have won games for the Bearcats in her time.
// LESS GETS MORE
With five saves to her credit, including several diving stops on well-struck shots, Less posted her sixth shutout of the year and the 14th of her career. With those numbers, she is now tied for 10th on the single-season listing with the trio of Chris Jones (1982), Kathy Kronauge (1986) and Andrea Kaminski (2005) while the career ledger sees her tied with Tracy Hale (2001-04).
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// NEXT UP
The Bearcats will return to action at home next week with what is shaping up to be two pivotal AAC matches as UC will play host to USF at 7 p.m. Thursday before facing UCF Sunday at 1 p.m. Both matches could go a long way in determining which teams earn berths into the AAC Tournament as well as seeding for the event.
Soccer Heads to Houston Sunday for AAC Match
Coming off a nervy 1-0 victory at SMU Thursday night, the University of Cincinnati women's soccer team will look to close out its trip to the Lone Star State with another victory, this time when the Bearcats meet the Houston Cougars Sunday at 1 p.m. CT (2 p.m. ET) in an American Athletic Conference match at UH's Carl Lewis International Complex.
