EL PASO — Sam Houston dropped a critical 2-1 match to UTEP at University Field Sunday that could have sealed a berth and zeroed in on a top seed to the Conference USA Championships.
The Bearkats (7-7-2, 4-4 CUSA) needed just a tie to earn the one point it will take to lock down one of the four remaining spots in the league's championship tournament in two weeks in Miami which will see the top six regular-season finishers battle for a chance to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
The Miners, who have already been eliminated from postseason contention, took the fight right to Sam Houston, however.
The Bearkats would have liked a redo to the beginning of the opening half as a penalty proved costly, giving UTEP a shot at a free goal. A yellow card in the box resulted in a 1-0 lead just 15 minutes into the match.
UTEP looked like a team near the top of the conference rather than the bottom from there. The Miners added another goal in the 27
th minute.
Sam Houston finally started to get it together and shake off the rust from a week-long layoff toward the end of the opening 45 minutes.
UTEP put a goal kick in play and it was intercepted by the Kats around midfield.
Landri Townsend alertly played the ball up to a wide-open
Tiana Johnson, who easily used her left foot to drill the ball into the top right corner of the net well out of reach of the keeper to cut the lead to 2-1 in the 30
th minute.
The Kats had a chance to tie it early in the second half with a penalty kick in the box of their own. The keeper guessed right on the location of the kick and made the rare save.
Sam Houston had some near misses down the stretch as it could not find a way to get the equalizer.
Now the Bearkats head to Bowling Green, Kentucky to take on WKU in the regular season finale on Friday at 7 p.m. with a trip to Miami on the line.
