Nov. 5, 2008

The UTEP soccer team fought hard but came up just short against Colorado College in the quarterfinals of the 2008 Conference USA tournament, falling 1-0 on the campus of Rice University Wednesday afternoon. In a defensive battle with the Miners fighting to the very end, it was a tally from the Tigers’ Ericka Baer in the 81st minute which proved to be the difference.

The Miners (13-7-1) registered five nets on goal and took 11 shots overall, but could not find a way to light up the scoreboard. The Tigers (13-6-2) registered four shots on target, including only one in the opening period.

The setback brings an end to what was yet another outstanding campaign for the Orange and Blue. UTEP won 13 games, marking the school-record seventh straight season with at least 10-plus victories. Head coach Kevin Cross secured his 100th career triumph, and his charges were regionally-ranked for the program-best fifth successive year.

The Miners boasted the league’s leader in assists (Cara Nordin, 11), goals (Tameka Sumter, 10), points (Sumter, 23) and save percentage (Sara Kaltwasser, .945), and attracted a conference-best 7,589 fans to their 13 home matches.

Sumter and Chelsea Winbush earned all-conference honors, staking spots on the first and second teams, respectively. It marked the second straight year that the Miners placed a pair of players on the prestigious teams (Jami Tullius, 2007 first team & Sumer 2007 second team).

Furthermore, UTEP has now been represented on the all-league first squads in consecutive campaigns for the first time since a four-year stretch (1996-1999) during the early stages of the program.

Nordin and Melissa Delisets were selected to the Academic All-Conference team, showing that academics remain a priority for Cross' charges.