Nebraska Opens Big 12 Tourney Play Against the Aggies

The <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska soccer team will try to begin another postseason run this week when it faces No. 14 Texas A&M in the Big 12 Tournament opener at 1:30 p.m. Thursday in San Antonio, Texas.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

The Huskers will try to defend their 2002 tournament crown that was won over Texas A&M in the championship game last season.

 

This year the run begins with Texas A&M, which joins Nebraska as the only schools to claim Big 12 Tournament titles in the tournament’s seven-year existence. The Huskers have taken five of the seven crowns.

 

The road to the crown in 2003 looks to be the toughest it has ever been for the Huskers. As the fourth seed, Nebraska opens with A&M and could face Big 12 champion Colorado in the semifinals and second-seeded Texas in the championship game.

 

The Huskers will try to extend a seven-year winning streak in their opening game of the Big 12 Tournament, as NU has never been eliminated in its first game of the tourney.

 

The last time Nebraska faced the Aggies in its opening game of the conference tournament, NU won 3-2 in triple overtime in the semifinals. The Huskers had a bye in the first round because of a six-team tournament field.

 

The Huskers are 11-6-1 overall and finished 6-4-0 in the Big 12 after falling 3-1 at No. 6 Colorado last Friday.

 

Nebraska defeated Texas A&M 2-1 in College Station in the first meeting this season on Oct. 24. The Huskers are 12-5-0 all-time against the Aggies and hold a 4-2 advantage in Big 12 Tournament games.

 

Not only does this game hold Big 12 implications, but could also have a major impact on NCAA Tournament bids and seedings.

 

Nebraska’s games can be heard live throughout the tournament on the radio at KRNU 90.3 FM in Lincoln, as well as at Huskers.com. Live statistics will be available through the University of Texas website. Fox Sports Net will also carry the first semifinal game live and on tape delay depending on the area, and will carry the championship game on a tape-delay basis only.

 

Where to Find the Game

All of the Huskers’ Big 12 Tournament games will be carried for the first time on KRNU 90.3 and can be found at Huskers.com. 

 

A student team of Chris Liberto and Dave Hunt will call the action throughout the tournament.

 

Live statistics can be found at TexasSports.com, for all of the Big 12 Tournament games.

 

The semifinal game on Friday will be shown on Fox Sports Midwest in Lincoln live at 5 p.m. on Friday, as well as on Sunday at 3 p.m. The championship game will be aired on the same station on a tape-delay basis at noon on Thursday, Nov. 13.

 

The Last Time We Met

Nebraska faced Texas A&M less than two weeks ago in College Station, where the Huskers came out on top 2-1.

 

Kari Hogan and Jenna Cooper both contributed goals against the Aggies to propel the Huskers.

 

Texas A&M was ranked ninth in the country at the time and went on to beat Colorado two days later to give the Buffaloes their only Big 12 loss of the season.

 

The Aggies outshot NU 17-6 for the game and posted nine shots on goal to the Huskers’ three.

 

Carrie Berend scored A&M’s only goal of the game at the 60:33 mark to tie the game at 1-1, before Cooper went on to nail a corner kick just over three minutes later to give the Huskers the win.

 

The Huskers and Aggies also met in the championship game of the 2002 Big 12 Tournament, where NU won 1-0 over the third-ranked team in the country.

 

Cooper also scored the game-winning goal in that game at the 7:08 mark. The Nebraska defense played a stellar game to hold on to the win.

 

Scouting Texas A&M

Texas A&M has collected a 12-4-2 record on the season and finished at 5-3-2 in the Big 12. Since the last time these two teams met, the Aggies have beaten Colorado 2-0 and fallen at Texas 2-1.

 

The Aggies lost a heartbreaker in Austin when they surrendered a 1-0 lead with 37 seconds remaining in regulation.

 

Carrie Berend scored her fourth goal of the season at the 66:05 mark to put the Aggies up a goal, but at the 89:23 mark, Kati McBain pushed forward and notched her first goal of the season for the Longhorns to knot the score at one and send the game to double overtime.

 

With 54 seconds remaining in the second overtime period, an A&M defender was called for a handball, and Texas was awarded a penalty kick that Nikki Thaden converted to give UT its first win in school history over Texas A&M.

 

The Aggies are led by Kristen Strutz, who has 25 points on 10 goals and five assists.

 

Kati Jo Spisak has been solid in the goal for the second year for A&M, posting a 1.76 goals-against average and only allowing 14 goals on the season. 

 

The Last Time Out

The Huskers took a tough loss at Colorado on Friday before taking the rest of the weekend off.

 

Nebraska fell 3-1 to the Buffaloes on a field that was covered in ice and snow.

 

The Huskers got off to a great start when Lindsey Ingram notched her third goal of the season on an assist from Ashley Carter at the 15:24 mark.

 

Two minutes later Jen Thais scored on a long shot to tie the game at 1-1. Freshman Katie Griffin added another goal to put the Buffaloes up 2-1 at halftime.

 

Just over 15 minutes into the second half, the Huskers were called for a foul in the box and Fran Munnelly converted the penalty kick to put the Buffs up 3-1 and seal the game.

 

Up Next

The rest of the Huskers’ season will be contingent on the outcome of the previous game. The game against Texas A&M is critical for Nebraska, as a shot at the Big 12 Tournament title is on the line, as well as a shot at the NCAA Tournament.

 

The Huskers are still in the hunt for an NCAA Tournament bid and a Big 12 Tournament title would give them the conference’s automatic bid. It could also greatly improve their NCAA Tournament seeding.

 

Keeping the Streak Alive

Nebraska will try to extend one of the best streaks in school history against Texas A&M. In 10 years of soccer action, Nebraska has never lost three consecutive games.

 

NU has dropped its last two games to Texas and Colorado and will try to hold off the Aggies to keep the streak alive.

 

The Huskers have never lost a first-round game in the Big 12 Tournament. However, the only team Nebraska has ever lost to in the conference tournament is Texas A&M. The Aggies defeated NU in the semifinals in 2001 and the championship game in 1997.

 

This season the Huskers are a perfect 6-0-0 when they are ahead at halftime. They are also 9-1-1 when they score first. The only game they have lost when they scored the first goal came last week against Colorado.

 

The Polls

 

Nebraska fell out of this week’s NSCAA Top 25 after dropping a 3-1 decision at No. 6 Colorado last week.

 

North Carolina remains No. 1 with a perfect 18-0-0 record and UCLA took over the No. 2 ranking after Notre Dame fell to Michigan, 3-2.

 

Colorado leaped  a spot to No. 5 this week, after defeating the Huskers. Texas A&M dropped from sixth to No. 14 after taking a double overtime loss to Texas. The Longhorns’ win propelled them from No. 24 to No. 12 in this week’s rankings.

 

Kansas remained in the poll at No. 21, after defeating Oklahoma State on Friday night.

 

Big 12 Honorees

Junior Jenna Cooper was named to the All-Big 12 First Team and freshman Jessie Bruch was named to the All-Newcomer Team the conference office announced Tuesday.

 

Cooper has posted 12 points on one goal and 10 assists this season and has led the Nebraska defense to a 1.46 goals-against average.

 

Bruch has played in the midfield and as a forward in her freshman season and was named to the All-Newcomer squad with 15 points on seven goals and one assist this season.

 

Colorado swept the all-conference honors. Fran Munnelly was named the player of the year, while freshman Katie Griffin was the rookie of the year and head coach Bill Hempen was named coach of the year.

 

Big 12 Tournament History

The Nebraska soccer team has been dominant throughout the history of the Big 12 Tournament, attaining a 15-2-0 all-time record and winning five of the seven titles, including crowns in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2002.

 

Texas A&M claimed the titles in 1997 and 2001, defeating NU en route to both championships.

 

The Huskers made a run through the 2002 tournament, defeating Kansas 2-1 in the first round, Texas, 2-1 in overtime in the semifinals, and Texas A&M 1-0 in the championship game.

 

The Big 12 Tournament propelled the Huskers in 2002, as they went on to their seventh consecutive NCAA Sweet 16, where they fell 3-2 to Santa Clara.

 

Christine Latham won tournament offensive MVP honors, while Christy Harms earned defensive MVP honors for the 2002 tournament.

 

Jenna Cooper, Katie Bunkers and Erin Miller were also named to the Big 12 All-Tournament Team.

 

Balanced Attack

Nebraska has been very balanced offensively, as six Huskers have posted double-digit points this season and 13 of the 20 Huskers have contributed at least one point.

 

Freshmen Ashley Carter and Jessie Bruch have led the Huskers with 15 points on the season.

 

Sophomore Kari Hogan is not far behind with 13 points and Jenna Cooper has collected 12 points.

 

 

Freshmen Phenoms

The Husker freshmen entered the season with something to prove. The youngsters were touted as the eighth-best recruiting class in Division I soccer according to Soccer America.

 

They have lived up to their hype and more. Five of the seven NU freshmen have been on the field for the opening kickoff this season and together the five have made 44 starts.

 

Those numbers are pretty impressive, considering two of the top Husker freshmen have only been with Nebraska for seven games this season, because of their play on the Canadian National Team in the Women’s World Cup, and Tanya Dennis has not played since her return because of a concussion.

 

Brittany Timko got her first start in a Husker uniform against Kansas, and has started the last four games.

 

The freshmen have combined for 37 of the Huskers’ 101 points on the season, or 36.6 percent of NU’s scoring.

 

Jessie Bruch and Ashley Carter lead the Huskers in scoring this season with 15 points each. Bruch has posted seven goals and one assist, while Carter has six goals and three assists.

 

NU vs. Ranked Opponents

Nebraska’s win against ninth-ranked Texas A&M was the Huskers’ second win this season over an opponent that was in the NSCAA Top 25 at game time.

 

Before the win over the Aggies, the last time NU defeated a ranked opponent was against No. 18 Oklahoma on Oct. 10.

 

On the season, Nebraska is 2-3-0 against teams that are ranked in the top 25. The Huskers fell to No. 10 Duke and No. 1 North Carolina in the second week of the season and again to No. 6 Colorado.

 

Before the Oklahoma game, Nebraska had not beaten a ranked team since defeating No. 5 Texas and No. 3 Texas A&M in back-to-back games in the 2002 Big 12 Tournament.

 

Defense Standing Strong

The Husker defense has played well as the season has progressed, even without key senior defender Christy Harms.

 

The NU back line has posted a 1.46 goals-against average on the season and has held the opposing offense to just 241 shots in 18 games. That is almost 100 less than the NU offense has posted.

 

The Nebraska goalkeepers have only had to make 94 saves on the season, for a 0.77 save percentage.

 

The Huskers have only allowed the opponent to score more than two goals in a game four times this season and have only given up more than one goal six times this year.

 

Nebraska has posted four shutouts this season.

 

 

On the Sideline

Former Nebraska forward Christine Latham has rejoined the Huskers for the remainder of the season on the NU bench as a student-assistant coach.

 

Latham holds the Nebraska school records in points (167), goals (67), game-winning goals (23), multiple-goal games (17), shots (400) as well as several others.

 

Head Coach John Walker

In his 10th season at the helm of the Nebraska program, John Walker has accumulated staggering numbers, including a 170-41-8 record and a .795 winning percentage that ranks second among all Division I active coaches.

 

Walker led the Huskers to the NCAA postseason in 1996 and has finished in the top 15 nationally for the last seven seasons.

 

He has taken NU to the NCAA Sweet 16 in each of the last seven seasons, including two trips to the Elite Eight.

 

The Kingston, Ontario, native posted his best season in scarlet and cream in 1999, when the Huskers finished with a 22-1-2 final record. Under Walker, NU has won three Big 12 regular-season titles and five of the seven Big 12 Tournament championships.

 

Nationally Ranked

Jenna Cooper is among the top 15 athletes in the country in assists per game. Cooper is tied at 13th among Division I players in games through Oct. 26, 2003, with 10 assists and 0.59 assists per game on the season.

 

As of Oct. 26, Kari Hogan was tied for second in the country in single-game assists with four assists against Iowa State on Sept. 26. She is also tied for 26th in assists per game with 0.53.

 

The Numbers

Nebraska is one of only four teams (and the only Big 12 team) to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in each of the past seven seasons.

 

Since the Big 12 was formed in 1996, the Huskers have claimed five of the seven conference tournament championships, winning in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2002.  Nebraska also won regular-season titles in 1996, 1999 and 2000.

 

In eight seasons of Big 12 action, the Huskers have produced an overall conference record of 65-12-2, for a league-best winning percentage of .835.

 

Through the past six seasons, the Huskers have a combined record of 27-4-3 against the ACC, SEC, Big Ten and Pac-10 conferences.  Nebraska is 4-2-2 vs. the ACC, 9-0-1 vs. the Big Ten, 8-1 vs. the SEC, and 6-1 against the Pac-10.

 

Around the Big 12 Conference

Colorado secured the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 Tournament and will play No. 8 Missouri to open the 2003 tournament.

 

Texas finished second in league play and will take on No. 7 Oklahoma State in the third game on Thursday, while No. 3 Kansas and No. 6 Oklahoma will face off in the final game of the opening day of the tournament.