Baylor
Rice Track/Soccer Stadium
7:00 PM

Marquette
Milwaukee, Wisc.
7:30 PM

UW-Milwaukee
Milwaukee, Wisc.
12:00 PM

Stephen F Austin
Nacogdoches
7:00 PM

TCU
Rice Track/Soccer Stadium
6:00 PM

Aug. 17, 2006

IRVING, Texas - On the eve of Rice's home exhibition game against Northwestern State on Friday, Aug. 18, at 7 pm, the Owls were picked to be one of the top teams in Conference USA by league's head coaches and junior defender Beth Martin was tabbed as the C-USA preseason defender of the year, the conference office announced from its headquarters in Irving on Thursday.

The C-USA coaches picked Rice to finish third in the league's new-look 2006 soccer lineup (which includes first-year member Colorado College as a replacement for Tulane). SMU was picked to win the regular season with Central Florida second. The Owls were slotted ahead of Memphis (fourth) while UTEP and Colorado College rounded out the top six, respectively.

A year ago Martin was part of Rice's stellar back-line crew that led the conference with the second fewest shots and fewest goals allowed in C-USA. She is one of two Owls on the individual preseason honors list. The junior from Austin, who earned all-league accolades a year ago, is joined by her teammate Caitlin Robbins. Robbins was among the C-USA leaders in a host of offensive categories including goals (14), game-winning goals (five), points (35) and assists (seven).

Robbins and Martin lead the Blue and Gray into its final exhibition game of the season on Friday night at the Rice Track/Soccer Stadium. The Owls host Southland Conference power Northwestern State at 7 pm. There is no charge for admission to the contest. Rice officially opens the season on Aug. 25 (Friday) on the road against TCU. The Owls play their home-opener two days later against Mississippi State on Aug. 25 at 1 pm.

2006 C-USA WOMEN'S SOCCER
PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
1. SMU
2. UCF
3. Rice Owls
4. Memphis
5. UTEP
6. Colorado College
7. UAB
8. Houston
9. East Carolina
10. Tulsa
11. Marshall
12. Southern Miss


2006 C-USA PRESEASON AWARDS

C-USA PRESEASON OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Sophia Mundy, Sr., F/MF, Houston (Katy, Texas)

C-USA PRESEASON DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Beth Martin, Jr., D, Rice (Austin, Texas)

PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE USA TEAM
Sophia Mundy, Sr., F/MF, Houston (Katy, Texas)
Shoko Mikami, Sr., F, Memphis (Chiba, Japan)
Beth Martin, Jr., D, Rice (Austin, Texas)
Caitlin Robbins, So., F, Rice (Houston, Texas)
Kimber Bailey, Jr., F/MF, SMU (Garland, Texas)
Ashley Gunter, So., GK, SMU (Lancaster, Pa.)
Carley Phillips, So., D, SMU (Plano, Texas)
Jill Porto, Jr., MF, UAB (Woodbridge, Va.)
Roberta Pelarigo, Jr., F/MF, UCF (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Brittany Popoff, Jr., GK, UTEP (Westbank, B.C.)
Jami Tullius, Jr., F, UTEP (El Paso, Texas)