SHSU Hosts Defensive Minded UCA Bears On Sunday
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, SHSU Sports Information
After winning their first match on the new turf at Joseph Pritchett Field Friday night, the Sam Houston women’s soccer team faces one of its biggest challenges so far during the 2012 season.
Central Arkansas visits Pritchett at 1 p.m. Sunday, bringing the Southland Conference’s best overall record and top scoring offense to Huntsville.
The Bears have won eight of their 11 matches this season.
UCA and Northwestern State battled to a 0-0 tie in both team’s league opener Saturday night.
Central Arkansas forward Adriana Lucar is the Southland’s leading goal scorer.
She has knocked in 14 goals in 11 games this year. UCA has outscored its opponents 38 goals to eight in non-conference competition.
Sam Houston started Southland play with a 2-0 victory over Nicholls State Friday night.
Tricia Mallory and Kirby Zak scored the goals for the Kats in the second half.
“We’ve been playing great defense all year and it was good to get the offense going with a couple of goals in our conference opener,” Mallory said.
Her goal marked her third this season and the 22nd of her career.
The UCA contest Sunday sets up an interesting matchup between the Southland’s highest scoring offense and one of the league’s top defenses.
Sam Houston has surrendered only 10 goals in 11 matches, posting four shutouts this season.
SHSU Soccer Team Opens Southland Conference Play With Win
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr, SHSU Sports Information
Huntsville – Two of the top four scorers for Sam Houston in its 10-year history of women’s soccer accounted for second half goals to lead the Bearkats to a 2-0 shutout of Nicholls State Friday at Joseph Pritchett Field.
The victory marked SHSU’s first game on the new artificial field turf at Pritchett and put the Kats at 1-0 in Southland Conference play.
Tricia Mallory scored the Bearkats’ first goal on a cross from Amanda Biega from the right side in the 55th minute. Less than three minutes later, Kirby Zak tallied on a long ball from Kayla Anderson.
Mallory now has 22 career goals to her credit to rank No. 2 in SHSU all-time scoring behind Raquel Bueno (27 goals from 2005 to 2008). Zak’s tally marked her 18th career score, tying her with Yoanna Garcia (2004-07) for third place in the record book.
Freshman goalkeeper Kylie Hambleton picked up her third shutout of the season, marking three saves on Nicholls’ eight shots. The Bearkats totaled 14 shots.
“The players really were excited about playing on the new turf here at Pritchett,” head coach Tom Brown said. “We created some good chances in the first half but couldn’t convert. But we had a good attacking mentality and were able to take advantage of some space on the right side. It’s good to pick up the win in our first conference game.”
Sam Houston now stand 4-7 for the season. Nicholls dropped to 5-6.
The Bearkats return to action Sunday at 1 p.m. at Pritchett, hosting Central Arkansas.
Bearkats Massacred Texas Southern 50-6 At BBVA Compass Stadium
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Sam Houston scored early and often as the Bearkats rolled up 549 yards total offense in a 50-6 non-conference win over Texas Southern Thursday at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston.
Quarterback Brian Bell passed for 209 yards and three touchdowns including two scoring plays to Chance Nelson.
The transfer from Texas A&M caught three passes for 127 yards.
The Bearkat defense limited the Tigers to 149 yards total offense.
Linebacker Darius Taylor totaled eight tackles including two quarterback sacks.
The Bearkats took only 50 seconds to score their first points of the game.
Bell found Chance Nelson open behind the Tiger secondary for a 61-yard scoring pass three minutes into the contest.
Dax Swanson’s 12th career interception set up the Kats’ second score.
Trey Diller scored on a 32-yard run after an option pitch by Bell to complete a six play 54-yard drive and put SHSU up 14-0 with 5:18 to go.
Swanson needs one more interception to tie the Sam Houston career interception mark of 13 set by Ronnie Choate in 1955 through 1959.
An interception return by Steven White to the SHSU 14 set up a 16 yard scoring pass from Justice Jones to James Davis to put the Tigers on the scoreboard with 12:11 to go in the second quarter.
Preston Sanders blocked the extra point and Kenneth Jenkins picked up the ball at the 20 and ran it back for a defensive PAT return.
The two points marked the third defensive PAT return by a Bearkat player in school history.
Sam Houston upped the lead to 23-6 with 10:16 to play before half as Bell ended a 65-yard scoring drive with a 22-yard pass to Stephen Williams.
Miguel Antonio added a 19-yard field goal and Bell hit Nelson for a 32-yard pass to make the score at intermission 33-6.
Keshawn Hill scored on a 36-yard run to lift the Bearkats to a 40-6 lead with 3:43 left in the third quarter after a 57-yard lead.
An 18-yard punt return by Trey Diller set up a four-yard touchdown run by Ridgeway Frank.
Antonio added a 39-yard field goal with 6:35 to go.
New Network To Televise SHSU’s Homecoming Game
The spotlight on the Sam Houston State Bearkat football team has gotten brighter.
With three television appearances under their belt, it seems as if things cannot get any better.
Well, it just did.
The homecoming game between the Bearkats and McNeese State Cowboys will be televised on Comcast Sports Net Houston on October 20.
The new network is a partnership with the Houston Astros, the Houston Rockets and the NBC Sports Group and is based in the Houston Pavilions.
It is set to launch on October 1 and will have a six state regional coverage area.
“This is a great opportunity for us to add another televised game to our already impressive slate this season,” athletic director Bobby Williams said to SHSU athletics department media.
“We are also very excited to be working with Comcast SportsNet Houston to get this game televised.”
“We met with them last month and they were very excited about getting involved with Sam Houston sports, so we think this will be a very good fit for us.”
The Bearkats are currently No.9 in the Sports Network FCS polls after a 24-20 heartbreaking loss to University of Central Arkansas Bears.
They will be facing a McNeese State team, who are ranked No.21 in the polls and have an all-time series lead at 24-8-1 and have won 151 Southland Conference games, 13 SLC titles and 14 NCAA FCS playoff appearances.
However, the Bearkats defeated the Cowboys 38-14 in Cowboy Stadium, en route to the national championship game in Frisco.
The game will now be at 7 p.m. instead of 2 p.m.
For more information on Comcast SportsNet Houston, visit iwantCSNHouston.com
UCA Upsets No.3 SHSU 24-20
This article is courtesy of Paul Ridings, Associate Athletic Director for Sam Houston State Bearkat athletics.
Conway, Ark. – Quarterback Wyrick Smothers directed Central Arkansas on touchdown drives of 72 and 75 yards in the final five minutes as the Bears upset No. 3 ranked Sam Houston State Saturday afternoon at Estes Stadium.
SHSU had taken a 20-10 lead with 5:24 to play with drives for a touchdown and field goals after UCA tied the contest 10-10 late in the third quarter.
Smothers found Dominique Croom in the left corner of the end zone for a 26-yard touchdown for the winning score with 57 seconds remaining.
In the final minute, the Bearkats drove to the UCA 24 before the Bears intercepted a pass in the end zone on the contest’s final play.
Sam Houston dropped to 1-2 for the season while Central Arkansas upped its record to 3-1. The contest was the Southland Conference opener for both squads.
Following a loss to Baylor last week, the result marks the first time SHSU has lost two consecutive games since 2010. The Kats went 14-1 in 2011, reaching the NCAA Division I national championship game.
Smothers completed 24 of 41 passes for 318 yards and two touchdowns. UCA rolled up 413 yards total offense while Sam Houston totaled 470.
The end of the contest erased another strong performance by Timothy Flanders and Richard Sincere. Flanders rushed 22 times for 125 yards including TD runs of 39 and 11 yards. Sincere rushed for 53 yards including two big runs to set up scores for the Bearkets.
The 100-yard performance by Flanders is the 17th 100-yard game of his career. The two scores move him up to No. 5 in Southland Conference career rushing touchdowns with 39.
Sam Houston scored on its opening drive of the game after a UCA punt. Miguel Antonio put the Kats up 3-0 with 8:21 to play in the first quarter after an 11-play 48-yard drive.
After an exchange of punts, SHSU took two plays to score its first touchdown. Brandon Willkerson rushed 33 yards to the UCA 39 on a reserve. Then Flanders took a pitch from Richard Sincere down the left sideline for a 39-yard score. SHSU led 10-0 with 1:41 to play in the opening quarter.
Sam Houston had another scoring opportunity early in the second quarter after an interception by J. T. Cleveland. But Antonio missed a 24-yard field goal attempt.
Wynrick Smothers put UCA on the board with a 30-yard scoring pass to Terence Bobo, cutting the lead to 10-7 with 10:05 to play in the half.
UCA had three chances to score its second TD late in the third quarter, but the Bearkat defense held and forced the Bears to settle for a 22-yard field goal by Eddie Camara with 2:03 remaining in the third to tie the game 10-10.
Sam Houston answered with an 11-play 80-yard drive to go back in front 17-10. Bell hit Chance Nelson for a 20-yard gain to the UCA 29 and Richard Sincere dashed 19 yards around left end to set up the score. Flanders picked up his second TD of the day with an 11-yard run.
The defense forced a punt and the Kat offense took 5:24 off the clock and added three more points with a 12-play 66-yard drive that ended with Antonio’s 26-yard field goal.
UCA bounced back with an eight-play 75-yard drive that ended with a 17-yard run up the middle by Smothers to cut the margin back to a field goal, 20-17, with 3:18 to go.