Soccer Hosts ECU Thursday to Close Regular Season

// THE OPENING WHISTLE
The final match of the regular season awaits the University of Cincinnati women's soccer team this week as the Bearcats (7-8-2, 5-3-0 AAC) are set to play host to visiting ECU (5-10-2, 2-5-1 AAC) Thursday at 8 p.m. inside Gettler Stadium. The Bearcats have already clinched a berth in the 2019 AAC Tournament will play host to a first round match Sunday as either the #3 or #4 seed in the event.

// GOING LIVE
Thursday's match will be streamed live and free on UC's website (GoBearcats.com) with live stats for the match also will be available on the same website.

// EXPERIENCE UC
All home matches in 2019 will once again be part of the Experience UC initiative, which is geared toward inviting the community to campus to see firsthand the great things about and surrounding the university. Experience UC includes complimentary admission for patrons attending lacrosse, volleyball, tennis, soccer, swimming & diving and track & field home events.

// TIME CHANGE!
Thursday's match was originally announced with a 7 p.m. start, but has been pushed back one hour to 8 p.m. as the UC men's basketball team will be hosting an exhibition game with Thomas More across the street at Fifth Third Arena starting at 6 p.m.

// QUICK SHOTS
• Cincinnati holds a 7-8-2 overall record and stands third in the AAC at 5-3-0 (15 points)
• The Bearcats will finish either third or fourth in the league depending upon Thursday's results
• By finishing third or fourth, UC will play host to a home playoff match Sunday, only the second home conference tournament match in program history and the first since 1995
• UC's five league wins ties for the most in the AAC era (2015 & 2017)
• A win Thursday would be the most conference wins in the AAC Era for UC as well as the most since 2002 (6-1-3 in Conference USA)
• A win also would give UC 18 points, the most it has scored in the AAC Era (17 in 2017)
• The Bearcats have 199 all-time home wins ahead of Thursday's clash with ECU
• Ashley Barron scored her first career goal in the 1-0 win over UCF to help her earn AAC Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this year

// KNOW THE FOE: ECU
• The Pirates enter the regular-season finale with a 5-10-2 overall record and stand 2-5-1 in the AAC
• Despite their record, the Pirates are still in contention to earn a berth into the AAC Tournament
• Offensively, Tori Riggs leads the way with 10 points on a team-high four goals and two assists while three others have each chipped in three goals apiece
• Defensively, Melannie Stiles has started all 17 matches in goal, saving 84 shots and allowing 25 goals for a 1.45 goals-against average and a .771 save percentage

// NOTING THE SERIES: BEARCATS-PIRATES
• Cincinnati leads the all-time series, 7-2-1, and is 4-1-0 when the series is played in Cincinnati, having won each of the last two in a row
• ECU won the last meeting, 1-0, last year in Greenville, snapping UC's four-match winning streak
• In the 10 meetings, seven shutouts have been registered (UC is 5-1-1 in those matches), including all five meetings as members of the AAC (since 2014)

// WITH A WIN...
Heading into the final home match of the regular season, the Bearcats are poised to make history as win over ECU Thursday night would mean:
• The most wins (6) in AAC play since joining the league, bettering the five in both 2015 and 2017
• The most wins (6) in conference play since 2002 when UC was 6-1-3 in Conference USA
• Finishing third in the AAC standings, tying for their best AAC finish ever with the 2017 squad
• The most points (18) scored in AAC play since joining the league, beating the 17 tallied in 2017
• Tying for the largest points increase (+13) from the previous year in AAC history with Memphis, who also rose 13 points (2015 to 2016)
• Posting the largest point improvement from one year to the next after collecting 10 or fewer points the first year (+13), surpassing SMU's +12 (7 in 2015 to 19 in 2016)
• Securing the 200th home victory in program history, which also would come the same year UC celebrates its bicentennial

// WELCOME TO CINCINNATI!
This year, the AAC Tournament format was changed to have the #3 (vs. #6) and #4 (vs. #5) teams play host to a first-round match Sunday afternoon with the winners advancing to the site of the regular-season champion. By virtue of finishing third or fourth, the Bearcats will serve as one of the two hosts for a first-round match with final seedings and opponents to be determined Thursday. When the match takes place Sunday, it will be 24 years to the day (November 3, 1995) the Bearcats served as a host for a conference tournament as they fell to Evansville, 3-0, in the Conference USA Tournament.

// SCENARIOS
The Bearcats can finish as high as third or as low as fourth in the AAC this year. Here are how scenarios can play out for each to happen:
• A win by Cincinnati (vs. ECU) locks up third place for the Bearcats (regardless of other scores)
• A win by USF over UCF locks up third place for the Bearcats (regardless of the UC vs. ECU score)
• If Cincinnati draws or loses to ECU, a UCF draw or loss would give the Bearcats third place
• If Cincinnati draws or loses to ECU, a UCF win over USF would push the Bearcats to fourth place

// QUICK CAP • FLORIDA SPLIT
• The Bearcats faced two teams receiving votes in the latest United Soccer Coaches rankings and split the weekend, falling to USF, 1-0, before bouncing back to down UCF, 1-0
• The lone goal allowed came in the 3' in the match with the Bulls
• Madison Less recorded six saves against USF
• On Sunday, Ashley Barron scored her first collegiate goal as she headed home a pass from Bri Costigan as UC defeated UCF
• Less was credited with her seventh shutout of the year, tying her career-high after also posting 7.0 in 2017 as a redshirt freshman
• With the win, UC guaranteed it would host a first-round AAC playoff match

// FEELING HONORED
On October 14, the league handed out its weekly awards with Han Tang earning a place on the Honor Roll for the second time this year. Tang finished with a brace in the opening 19 minutes of action and scored the team's first goals at home this year, snapping a scoreless span of 303 minutes.

// RUNNING TOTALS
So far this year, five Bearcats have combined to earn nine total awards from the AAC, including a trio of major awards as Madison Less has twice (8/26 & 9/16) been named the goalkeeper of the week while Ashley Barron earned the defensive player of the week award once (9/30). For the Honor Roll, Tang (9/16 & 10/14) joins Less (9/23 & 9/30) as two-time honorees while both Vanessa DiNardo (8/26) and Camryn Hartman (9/30) have earned one recognition.

// BARRON'S BIG DAY
In the match with UCF, the lone goal came on a set piece and Bri Costigan played a pass in over the defense and Ashley Barron running onto the ball and heading it home for the eventual 1-0 victory. That goal was the first of the rookie's career as well as her first points and first game-winning score. Additionally, Barron was all over the field defensively as she blocked a pair of shots and helped the Bearcats to their seventh clean sheet of the season.

// ADDED TO THE LIST
Barron is now the fifth Bearcats player this year to record her first collegiate goal and the third to tally a game-winner as well. Fellow freshman Han Tang leads all scorers with five goals and has one winning strike while sophomores Camryn Hartman and Ying Zhan have scored two and one, respectively, with both of Hartman's goals going as winners. Finally, senior Libby Greenwell scored her first goal and first game-winner on her first and only shot of her career on Senior Day.

// BRI-NGING HELP
The assist on Barron's winner went to Bri Costigan, who played the ball into the box for Barron to head home. With the helper, Costigan now has a team-leading four assists on the year, equaling the most recorded by a player in each of the past three seasons. Costigan has now doubled her career points total in her senior year after entering the season with one goal and two assists for four total points.

// LESS GETS MORE
Madison Less has been on her game this year as the junior keeper has recorded seven shutouts, including the most recent 1-0 win over UCF. All told, her season total is tied for the seventh-most in a single season at UC (including with herself after she tallied 7.0 in 2017) while her 15.0 career clean sheets ranks as the sixth-most in a Bearcats career.

// PROTECT THIS HOUSE
Since the start of the 2013 season, the Bearcats have played 65 home matches, posting a 39-12-14 record in that time. Through last season, UC has won at least five home contests each season with eight in 2017, seven wins in 2014 and 2015, six in 2016 and four in 2013. Also, in that time, UC has out-scored its guests, 99-48 (+51).

// FRIENDLY CONFINES
In their first five seasons, Stafford and his staff accumulated 32 home wins, the most of any UC women's soccer coach in his/her first five seasons. Meridy Glenn's teams from 1983 to 1987 won 28 matches and posted a .843 win percentage (28-4-3) in her first five years. Expanding into the first six years, Glenn's teams won 34 home matches (34-5-3) while Stafford's Bearcats won 37 (37-9-12) thanks to a 5-2-3 home record in 2018.

// HOME OVERTIME
When playing in home overtime matches, the Bearcats have been tough to beat recently as they are undefeated in their last 13, holding a 2-0-11 record. The last time UC lost in overtime at home came in 2013 in a 5-4 loss to Louisville. Prior to the current streak, the longest stretch of undefeated home overtime matches was six and came two times, first from 1996-98 (3-0-3) and then from 1999-03 (5-0-1). All told, the Bearcats are 18-19-30 all-time in home OTs.

PREVIOUSLY NOTED
// GOLDEN GIRL
Sydney 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.

// ADD IT TO THE LIST
The 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.

// ROAD WARRIORS
The win at SMU also marked the team's third road conference win of the season, breaking the record for most league road wins in a season of two (2013, 2016 and 2017). Following the weekend, the 3-1-0 record also broke records for win percentage (.750) while the nine points earned bested the seven collected in 2016 with a 2-2-1 mark.

// WOO, TANG!
Earlier this year, Tang recorded her first brace as she netted a pair of goals against Lipscomb, marking the first multiple-goal game by a UC player since 2017 when Julie Gavorski scored twice against Northwestern. With her two goals against Tulsa, Tang became the first Bearcats player to bag two braces in a season since 2009. That year, Julie Morrissey recorded back-to-back matches with two goals each as she accomplished the feat against Xavier at home (9/10) and at Eastern Kentucky (9/13).

// LOTS OF HART(MAN)
In the Tulsa match, the third goal scored turned out to be the game-winner as Camryn Hartman tallied the goal after hammering home a shot off a blocked attempts from Julia Abbott. For Hartman, the sophomore now has two goals this year, both of which are the only two of her career. More importantly, both goals are game-winners in conference games this year with the first coming at Temple.

// BATTING 1.000
What would Senior Day be without a little magic! After celebrating the team's eight seniors and with action underway, Libby Greenwell was sent into the match with the senior defender logging her first minutes of the season and just her 10th appearance overall. After settling in, she came forward for a corner kick that Bri Costigan played toward the front post where Delaney Riester back-heeled the ball toward the top of the six-yard box. There, Greenwell slotted home a shot and made it 4-1. The goal was not only the first score and first points of the senior's career, but it also came on her first collegiate shot attempt, making her a perfect 1-of-1 shooting in college.

// HAPPY TO HELP
In the match with Tulsa, Bri Costigan assisted on a pair of goals. Not only is that a career high for the senior and ties her single-game career-high for points, it also marked the first time since 2015 that a Bearcats player recorded two or more helpers in a conference match. The last time it happed was September 24, 2015, when Danielle Rotheram recorded assists on both goals in UC's 2-2 draw with SMU in Dallas, the only non-loss UC has recorded against the Mustangs in Dallas.

// SWEEP IT UP
To get off to one of its best starts, the Bearcats needed wins and got that from the jump. UC opened with wins at Temple and UConn collected six points in league play. The points sweep is the first the Bearcats since 2017 when they downed UConn (1-0) and Temple (3-0) on the road September 28 and October 1, respectively. In fact, of the 19 weekend sweeps the Bearcats have captured in program history, the wins over the Owls and Huskies two weeks ago gives UC four as members of the AAC with the other two coming at home, including a sweep of the Florida schools in 2015 (1-0 over #18 USF and 2-0 over UCF) and the Texas schools in 2014 (1-0 over both SMU and Houston). Prior to the Texas sweep, the last time UC had accomplished the feat was in 2002.

// STREAKS SNAPPED
On October 10 and 13, the Bearcats saw a pair of streaks snapped. Defensively, the goal allowed to #8 Memphis at 24:11 halted UC's shutout streak at 497:15, the eighth-longest in program history and the second-longest under Stafford (588:19 in 2017). Offensively, Han Tang's first goal at 13:56 stopped a streak of 303 minutes in which UC had not scored at home this year. That included losses to Western Michigan, Northwestern and Memphis and scoreless draws to both Xavier and Austin Peay.

// MAKING THE GRADE
The United Soccer Coaches announced their Team Academic Awards for the 2018-19 season with the Bearcats program not only earning its 13th overall and fifth in a row, but also posting the highest GPA of all women's and men's four-year programs in the nation (tied with St. John's) with a 3.79 GPA. UC, who had the best GPA among all teams in the AAC last year and was named the recipient of the AAC Team Academic Excellence Award for the first time, continues to shatter records. Prior to Neil Stafford's arrival in 2013, the program had a GPA of under 3.00. Now, it continually strives to surpass its stated annual goal of a collective 3.51 team GPA.

// MORE QUICKNESS
At Temple, Hartman bagged her first career goal when she netted a shot at 58:29 to put UC up, 1-0. That goal, which would eventually become the game-winner, was followed by a score from Gorman at 60:37. With just 2:08 between the two goals, it marked the third time this season the Bearcats have scored back-to-back goals in under 2:10. Previously, Vanessa DiNardo scored a brace in the season-opening 2-0 win over St. John's with her two goals coming 21 seconds apart. Two weeks before the goals at Temple, Gorman (63:20) and Han Tang (PK at 65:16) combined to scored two goals in a span of 1:47. All told, those three sets of goals this year rank as the #1 (0:21), #10 (1:47) and #12 (2:08) spans since electronic stats began in 2001 and brings the total in that time 22 back-to-back goals scored in under four minutes for UC, 10 of which have come under Neil Stafford (2013+).

// LATE WINNER
Sydney Goins' overtime winner at UConn (93:14) stands as the seventh-latest goal scored in the Stafford Era (2013+) and the seventh overtime winner in that span. With the addition of Goins' time, the 'Cardiac Cats' have now scored 26 goals in the 85' or later under Stafford, including 19 in the final five minutes of regulation. With Ying Zhan's goal at Tennessee earlier this year (82:36), the Bearcats have now scored 30 goals in the 83' or later under Stafford as well.

// BEEN A WHILE
With the win at UConn, the Bearcats snapped a streak of 12 matches in a row in which UC played into overtime of a regular season conference match and did not win. In those 12 matches, the Bearcats were 4-8-0 with the last victory in an overtime AAC contest going all the way back to the inaugural season of 2013, a 3-2 win in double overtime at home against Memphis. During that time, UC did defeat a league opponent in overtime when it downed #10 UConn, 3-2, in the first overtime, but that doesn't count toward this mark as it came in the semifinals of the 2016 AAC Tournament.

// SCORELESS DRAWS
The Bearcats are in the midst of their 40th varsity season after opening their program's history in 1980. Including last Saturday's 0-0 draw with visiting APSU, UC has played 746 matches all-time. Of those 746 contests, only 24 have ended in a scoreless draw with eight coming since 2015. In fact, UC has played at least one scoreless draw in each of the last five years (2015-19) with the first two in that span coming at home to LU and then at Xavier in 2015.

// EVEN MORE RARE
Additionally, in regards to scoreless draws, the Bearcats' current two-match streak ties for the longest in program history with the 1983 squad (Year 3 of the program). That season, UC traveled to the Tournament of Champions in Courtland, N.Y., and drew with both Springfield and UConn on successive days for the only other back-to-back 0-0 score lines in program history.

// BACK IN THE DAY...
• Han Tang's brace (at Lipscomb) was the second recorded this year after Vanessa DiNardo accomplished the feat in the season-opening win over St. John's. Prior to that, UC had not seen a player score more than one goal in a match since Sept. 3, 2017, when Julie Gavorski scored two at Northwestern
• The last time UC converted a spot kick came October 4, 2018, when Bri Costigan scored a PK at USF
• The last time the Bearcats scored more than two goals in a match was October 16, 2017, in a 4-0 defeat of visiting Morehead State

// LONG-RANGE SCORING
Ying Zhan not only scored her first collegiate goal (at #20 Tennessee), but she did so in stunning fashion. After Camryn Hartman carried the ball through traffic, she sent a pass to Julia Abbott, who dropped it a cutting Zhan. From there, the sophomore ripped a shot from 25-yards out and blasted the ball toward the upper 90 with the keeper's dive not coming in time.

// ON THE LIST
Since Neil Stafford took over the program in 2013, the Bearcats have had a habit of scoring late in matches. Zhan's goal is the 29th scored in the final 10 minutes of regulation and overtime under Stafford and the 23rd in just the final 10 minutes of regulation. To put in perspective, UC has scored a goal in the final 10 minutes and overtime in 23 percent of the 127 matches played under Stafford through the match at Tennessee.

// HAPPY HELPERS
Setting up Zhan's goal was the work of two of her teammates, Julia Abbott and Camryn Hartman. With their assists, the duo each picked up their first points of the season with Abbott securing the first assist of her collegiate career. Hartman recorded the second assist of her career.

// FIRST MULTIPLE
With the loss to Northwestern, the Bearcats dropped back-to-back home contests for the first time since Neil Stafford took over coaching duties in 2013. Previously, the last time UC feel twice in a row came in 2012 when UC fell to #11 Georgetown and Villanova, both by 1-0 scores.

// BRACE YOURSELF!
After playing 16:09 in the opener against, ironically, the Red Storm, a lightning storm forced the teams off the pitch for 95 minutes. Once the storm moved on and play resumed, more lightning was seen, this time not from the sky, but from the quick scoring of the Bearcats. The lightning came early in the second half, starting with Vanessa DiNardo, a preseason AAC all-conference selection in 2019, finding the back of the net at 51:39 off a long pass from Sydney Goins. Then, 21 seconds later, at 52:00, DiNardo hit the back of the net again, this time after UC stole the ball and saw Pittman fire a shot that hit the post and deflected to DiNardo, who made it 2-0. Not only did that spark UC to a 2-0 win, it also gave DiNardo her first career game-winning goal and saw her double her college goal scoring output after she scored once last year.

// HISTORICAL HITS
Sifting through the archives dating back to the start of the 2001 season, the quick brace for DiNardo is the fastest found. As it stands, the next closest brace scored came from Danielle Rotheram in 2014 against St. Francis when she scored her brace 2:11 apart with goals at 66:18 and 68:29. In fact, prior to DiNardo's double, the quickest back-to-back goals scored by the Bearcats (since 2001) came in 2001 against USF when Ann Thomas (59:28) and Tasha Wagner (59:51) scored 37 seconds apart. Overall, since 2001, DiNardo's brace is the 10th time UC has scored back-to-back goals in under two minutes.

// PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATIONS
Ahead of the season, the coaches of the American Athletic Conference voted on several things, including how they think each team will finish in the regular-season standings. In that poll, the Bearcats were voted to place sixth and earn the final spot in the 2019 AAC Tournament. USF (76 points) and Memphis (74) both received four first-place votes in what the coaches feel will be a tight race for the top of the table. UCF, SMU and ECU were picked third, fourth and fifth, respectively, with UConn, Houston, Temple and Tulsa all placed behind UC.

// FEELING HONORED
As part of their voting, the coaches also selected preseason all-conference players with UC's Vanessa DiNardo, a unanimous selection to last year's AAC All-Rookie Team, earning a spot on the 2019 list. With her selection, DiNardo gave UC a preseason honoree for the fourth year in a row after not having a representative on the lists in the first three years of the league.

// LORDY, LORDY... LOOK WHO'S 40!
The 2019 season will mark the 40th season of play for the Bearcats as a varsity program. Begun in 1980, the Bearcats have compiled an overall record of 387-286-64 in the first 39 years on campus and have captured seven conference tournament crowns and two regular season titles to go along with seven NCAA appearances.

// NEXT UP
The postseason gets underway Sunday as the Bearcats will host to one of two AAC First Round matches. The start time, as well as the opponent and tournament seeds, will be announced Friday morning once all ties are broken and information is available.