Soccer Hosts SMU Sunday in AAC First Round Match

// THE OPENING WHISTLE
Not only does postseason play open this weekend, but it will open in Cincinnati as the University of Cincinnati women's soccer team is set to play host to SMU in an American Athletic Conference Tournament First Round match at Gettler Stadium Sunday at 1 p.m. inside Gettler Stadium. The Bearcats (7-8-3, 5-3-1 AAC) finished the regular season as the #4 seed in the tournament while the Mustangs (11-6-1, 4-5-0 AAC) earned the #5 seed on the final day.

// GOING LIVE
Matt Noonan and BearcatsTV will be on the call for the match with the free live stream being carried on the American Digital Network on Facebook. Live stats for the match will be available on StatBroadcast.com as well.

// THE STAKES
The winner of the AAC Tournament earns the Conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament while the rest of the league's team will only advance to the national event with selections as at-large participants, which will be announced November 10.

// QUICK SHOTS
• Cincinnati finished the regular season at 7-8-3 overall and was fourth in the AAC at 5-3-1
• The Bearcats are appearing in their 17th conference tournament, their sixth in seven years as members of the American and their first since the 2017 tournament that was held in Orlando
• UC has won seven conference tournaments in its existence, including the 2015 event in which it entered as the #4 seed with a 5-3-1 record, identical to this year's record and placement
• In AAC Tournaments, the Bearcats hold a record of 2-3-2 and have only advanced past the first round once: 2015 when they won it all
• Sunday's match will mark the second time UC has played host to a conference tournament match and the first in exactly 24 years (vs. Evansville, Conference USA, November 3, 1995)
• A win Sunday would be the 200th in program history and would come in the year the University is celebrating its bicentennial (1819-2019)
• Madison Less continues to climb the season (5th) and career (t-5th) shutout charts after she recorded her 8th clean sheet of the season Thursday to bring her career total to 16.0

// TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Sunday's match will mark the start of UC's 17th conference tournament appearance as well as its sixth appearance in the seven AAC Tournaments that have been held. The Bearcats have captured seven conference tournament crowns in their history, including one Midwest Intercollegiate Women's Soccer League (MISWL) title (1980); one Great Midwest title (1994); four Conference USA titles (1996, 19097, 2001, 2002) and one American Athletic Conference title (2015).

// HAPPY TO HOST
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.

// KNOW THE FOE: SMU
• The Mustangs posted an 11-6-1 overall record and finished the regular season with a 4-5-0 league record to finish fifth in the AAC as they defeated Houston, 3-2, to secure their tournament berth
• Allie Thornton continues to lead the offense as she has scored 12 goals and added two assists for 26 points while Celiana Torres has 18 points on five goals and eight assists
• Defensively, Tatum Sutherland has logged much of the minutes in goal for SMU, allowing 14 goals and saving 58 shots for a 0.85 goals-against average and an .806 save percentage

// NOTING THE SERIES: BEARCATS-MUSTANGS
• SMU holds a slim lead in the all-time series at 5-4-2 with Cincinnati climbing to within one match after this year's 1-0 victory in Dallas (October 17)
• Cincinnati holds a 2-1-1 all-time record in the series when playing host to the match, although the lone loss came in the most recent meeting, a 3-0 win for SMU September 27, 2018
• The two sides have met in the AAC Tournament once before with the Mustangs winning, 1-0, in the first round of the 2017 tournament that was played in Orlando

// QUICK CAP • FINAL DRAW
• The final match day of the season saw the Bearcats and visiting ECU Pirates play to a scoreless draw
• The Bearcats led in all statistical categories, but were held to a 0-0 tie for third time this year
• Less was called upon to make just one save as she earned her career-high 8th shutout of the year
• The Bearcats finished the AAC season with a 5-3-1 record to tie for the most wins in AAC play in program history while also placing fourth overall after being projected to finish sixth

// BIG IMPROVEMENT
Heading into the season, the Bearcats were looking to erase the memory of placing 10th last year in the AAC with a 1-6-2 record and five points. Voted by the coaches to finish sixth this year, the Bearcats posted a 5-3-1 record and earned 16 points, tying for the most wins in the AAC era (2015, 2017) and tying for the second-most points in an AAC season for the program. Additionally, the 11-point improvement over last year ranks as the third-best in AAC history behind the 2016 improvements of Memphis (+13) and SMU (+12) while marking only the fifth double-digit improvement in AAC history.

// QUICK CAP • PREVIOUS PLAY
• Earlier this year, the Bearcats won, 1-0, at SMU with Sydney Goins scoring from distance
• The win was the first for UC at SMU in the five meetings that have taken place in Dallas (1-3-1)
• In the 11 meetings between the two sides, eight have ended with one team being shutout, including each of the last five meetings while three of those contests have finished in a 1-0 score
• Less made five saves on the night, including several diving stabs, to record her sixth clean sheet of the year and the 14th of her career
• Goins scored her second goal of the year, doubling her single-season high (one each her freshman and sophomore years), with both going down as game-winning tallies

// SCORELESS DRAWS
The Bearcats are in the midst of their 40th varsity season after opening their program's history in 1980. Including Thursday's 0-0 draw with ECU, UC has played 755 matches all-time. Of those contests, only 25 have ended in a scoreless draw with nine 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. Overall, this year's three scoreless draws is a program record after the team recorded two in seven different seasons.

// LESS GETS MORE
Madison Less has been on her game this year as the junior keeper has recorded eight shutouts, including the most recent 0-0 draw with ECU. All told, Less has moved into a tie with Christy Hoffman (1997) for the fifth-most shutouts in a single season. Less also has 16 career shutouts, which ties her for fifth with Andrea Kaminski (2006-09).

// PROTECT THIS HOUSE
Since the start of the 2013 season, the Bearcats have played 66 home matches, posting a 39-12-15 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 14, holding a 2-0-12 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.

// SUNDAY FUN DAY!
Since Stafford took over the program in time for the 2013 season, the Bearcats have played at home on Sunday 31 times and hold an impressive 25-2-4 record in those matches. In that span, the Bearcats have not only posted an impressive record, but also have outscored their foes, 59-20, while the defense has recorded 17 clean sheets, which includes the most recent victory over UCF.

PREVIOUSLY NOTED
// 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.

// JOINING 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.

// 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.

// 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 HONORE
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
Should the Bearcats win Sunday, they will return to action Thursday at 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. CT) in Memphis, Tenn., facing the host and top-seeded Tigers in the AAC Semifinals. A loss Sunday would end the Bearcats' 2019 season.