Texas vs. UTEP
2005 NCAA Women's Soccer Championship
1st & 2nd Rounds -- Austin, Texas
Friday, Nov. 11, 2005
POSTGAME NOTES
UTEP
The Miners made their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance this evening and earned their first tourney victory with their come-from-behind 3-2 win.
Their triumph also gave UTEP 20 wins on the season - the second most in NCAA Division I women's soccer to date - and ties the single-season Conference USA record set by Cincinnati in 2001 and Marquette in 2000.
The overtime victory improved the Miners' record in overtime to 4-0-1 on the year.
Junior midfielder Leslie Platz's game-winning goal in overtime marked the first game-winning score of her career and her second career goal overall.
Sophomore forward Jami Tullius' two goals on the evening upped her season total to 17, which is a club-high, and gave her the team scoring lead with 38 points.
Senior midfielder Kia Sams upped her team assist lead to 11 with a pair of helpers on the night as she assisted on the Miners' first and third goals.
With UTEP and SMU advancing to the second round of this year's NCAA Tournament, it marks the first time that Conference USA has had two teams advance to the second round in the same season.
TEXAS
Texas made its fifth consecutive and overall NCAA Tournament appearance this evening and hosted the first and second rounds of the tournament for a second straight year.
With the loss, the Longhorns fell to 2-5 all-time during NCAA Tournament action.
Junior forward Amy Burlingham tied an individual game best with three points on the night to give her 10 points in her last nine games and up her postseason scoring total to seven points - highest among all active UT players.
Junior forward Ashley Foster's goal gave her nine points in the last nine games.
Sophomore forward Kelsey Carpenter returned to action for the first time in three games after recovering from an ankle injury and assisted on UT's first goal to give her 10 points in her last six matches, 26 points in her last 29 contests and tie her for the team's overall scoring lead (16 points) with fellow sophomore Caitlin Kennedy.
Freshman Kasey Moore's assist marked her first of the season and the first helper of her career as she finished the campaign as the Longhorns' top scoring defender with 11 points - good for third on the club.
POSTGAME QUOTES
TEXAS
Chris Petrucelli— Texas Head Coach
On the game vs. UTEP…
"It was a tough way to lose a game. We were in control for 80 minutes and had a couple of chances to go up by three goals and put the game away, but we struggled down the stretch. We didn’t hold the ball and gave possession away. Our youth showed a bit at the end of the game. Still, our players had a good season and fought hard every chance they had on the field. They are a wonderful group of people and it was difficult to walk into that locker room tonight. Because of the amount of respect I have for each of them, it was tough to find the words."
Amy Burlingham — Jr., F
On the loss in overtime…
"It is definitely frustrating to lose in the first round because you want to keep playing. We fought hard, and it could have gone either way towards the end. Unfortunately it went their way."
Kasey Moore — Fr., D
On UTEP’s late goals…
"It got chaotic towards the end. Their two goals in the last 10 minutes (of regulation) changed the momentum."
UTEP
Kevin Cross — UTEP Head Coach
On winning the game vs. Texas…
"We had a lot of opportunities at the start of the game and felt if we started to attack them, we could beat them. Finally at the end of the game, we started to believe that. Going into overtime after scoring two goals, we had the momentum and knew we were going to do it."
Brittany Popoff — So., GK
On the comeback at the end of the game…
"Our team stepped up and showed a lot of heart. We really were a strong team from the start, but just didn’t compete like we should have. We realized we had to step it up a level."
Jami Tullius — So., F
On scoring the game-winning goal…
"I just knew where the goal was and didn’t worry about the goalie. I saw the ball coming, went up for it and it happened to be a good shot."
