UTB-TSC Capsules: Scorpions to face Belhaven on the road
The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College will travel 800 miles to Jackson, Miss. to face Belhaven University (Miss.) in one of 15 NAIA national championship opening round games Saturday.
Time for the game is yet to be determined.
The game will be the third meeting between the two schools but the first one in Jackson, as the first two were at neutral sites. UTB-TSC lost 2-1 on Aug. 27, 2010, in Hattiesburg, Miss., home of William Carey University. The Scorpions tied the Blazers at 3 on Sept. 19, 2009, at Mobile, Ala., the only non-victory for the Scorpions during a memorable 2009 season.
Belhaven (15-4), is one of four teams in the strong 13-team Southern States Athletic Conference to be in the 31-team tournament field. The Blazers, who lost to Southern Polytechnic (Ga.) 3-0 in the SSAC tournament semifinals, were 9-3 in conference play. They were ranked No. 18 in the final NAIA coaches top 25 poll Sunday.
In the poll, UTB-TSC did not receive any votes.
Winners of the 15 opening round games Saturday advance to the NAIA men’s soccer national championship Nov. 27 through Dec. 3 in Orange Beach, Ala. The University of Mobile (Ala.), the host school for the tournament, gets an automatic berth in the final 16.
Since the inception of the revised NAIA championship format in 2008, UTB-TSC has qualified three straight years.
In 2008, the Scorpions traveled to Mobile, Ala. to face the University of Mobile and lost 3-0. The Scorpions played host to Biola University (Calif.) in 2009 and tied the game 2-2, but lost on penalty kicks 4-3. In 2010, the Scorpions played host to Science & Arts University of Oklahoma and lost 3-0.
UTB-TSC’s streak of four consecutive Red River Athletic Conference championships came to an end Saturday in Cedar Hill, as Huston-Tillotson University reclaimed the RRAC crown with a 1-0 victory.
In the first championship in 2007, the NAIA format was a regional type, and UTB-TSC lost in the regional finals that year on the road to Oklahoma City.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
Scorpions to play at University of Mobile (Ala.)
The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College will travel 830 miles to face The University of Mobile (Ala.) in one of 16 NAIA national championship opening round games Saturday.
Time for the game is yet to be determined.
The Rams (17-3-1) won the tough Southern States Athletic Conference regular season championship, but lost to Lee University 2-0 in the tournament championship game. Mobile is ranked No. 5 in the final NAIA coaches top 25 poll Sunday. Lee is No. 2.
It will be a rematch of the season opener between the Scorpions and Rams. The two teams met Aug. 25 in Hattiesburg, Miss., the home of William Carey University, and finished in a 0-0 tie after two overtimes.
In the final poll released Sunday, UTB-TSC was the next team outside the poll, receiving the equivalent of a No. 26 ranking.
Winners of the 16 opening round games Saturday advance to the NAIA women’s soccer national championship from Nov. 27 through Dec. 3 in Decatur, Ala.
UTB-TSC won the Red River Athletic Conference championship for the third time in five years Saturday in Fort Worth, when the Scorpions blanked Northwood University 3-0. All of the conference titles have been in odd-numbered years — 2007, 2009, 2011.
The Scorpions have one NAIA national championship opening round appearance. In 2009, UTB-TSC played host to Southern Nazarene University (Okla.) and lost 4-1. Earlier this year, Southern Nazarene forfeited that win to UTB/TSC, along with other victories, because of an ineligible player.
UTB-TSC (17-2-1) has won 15 straight games.
The two teams are similar in statistics. UTB-TSC has scored 77 goals in 20 games, while Mobile has scored 61 in 21. The Scorpions have registered 12 shutouts, and the Rams have posted 11.
