Thursday, June 28

Houston Aces vs. HAR FC

7:00 PM CDT – San Jacinto College (Houston, TX)

Thursday night is the first of two meetings between the Houston Aces and HAR FC, as the sides will face off again in Week IX. With both teams beginning the second half of their 2018 season schedules, this will be a crucial match with plenty at stake in terms of postseason hopes. After a bright start to the season with a win over ASA El Paso, HAR FC have dropped three straight matches and anything less than three points will end their hopes for a spot at the UWS Championship Weekend. HAR FC did find their way onto the scoresheet last weekend after being shutout in back-to-back weeks by North Texas. Sabrina Munguia tallied her third goal of the season in a 2-1 loss to FC Austin Elite and the team will hope that seeing the ball hit the back of the net for the first time in a few matches will give them the motivation to get after it and attack at will against the Aces.

Houston’s goal for this week is quite simple: win two matches and seal a spot at the UWS National Championship Weekend. After falling short in the last two years playing in the West Conference, the Aces have played inspired, attacking soccer since the opening kickoff of their first match. They have weapons all over the field with three different players, Rachel Owens, Julie Gavorski and most recently Gisela Arrieta, netting hat tricks this season. After this match they will travel to FC Austin Elite, who will be brimming with confidence after a two-win weekend in Week VII, but if the Aces form from the previous four weeks carries into this week, they should have no problem clinching the Conference title with two matches to spare.

Saturday, June 30

FC Austin Elite vs. Houston Aces

7:00 PM CDT – Elite Field (Round Rock, TX)

After the Aces’ first match of the weekend against HAR FC, they will trek up to Round Rock to take on FC Austin Elite on Saturday night. In the teams’ previous meeting back on June 16, the Aces ran right through FCA at home in winning 7-0, buoyed by a hat trick from Julie Gavorski. But this will be the first double-match weekend that the Aces will face this weekend so it will be interesting to see how they can adapt, especially with playing the second match on the road.

FC Austin Elite are coming off of a big momentum-building week where they nabbed six points during Week VII play and have set themselves up nicely to try and make a run at the Aces. Sure, they will have to put that 7-0 loss against Houston in their previous meeting behind them. But they posted two convincing wins last week, one of those coming against another potential threat for the top spot in North Texas, and will be playing in front of their home crowd for the third time this season, winning both of their previous home games. Christina Arteaga continued her fine season up front by upping her season goal-total to four last week and Jayme Woodfill netted a brace against North Texas, so keep an eye on those two to be the threats going forward for the hosts.

ASA El Paso vs. North Texas Image

6:00 PM MDT – Americas H.S. (El Paso, TX)

Out in West Texas, ASA El Paso will host North Texas on Saturday before making the return trip to take on the Image next weekend. While ASA did fall to the Aces in Week VII play, they also became the first team to break through the Aces perfect defensive record and score, as they got a second half tally from Lauren Marenco. So expect David Lopez’s team to build off that coming into this week and try to set the tone against NTX. 

After sweeping HAR FC in back-to-back weekends prior to Week VII, the loss at home to FC Austin Elite was a little bit of a step back for North Texas. Now with the team needing to win out and get some serious help to keep their postseason hopes alive, we could see a bit of desperation from the Image this weekend. Which in those situations, you learn a lot about a teams’ makeup and inner desire. So Head Coach Joe Soliz will hope that his side responds in the right way and creates chances early and often. They will want to re-open the scoring accounts for both Mackenzie Scovill and Valiree Morris, who both saw their two-match goal scoring streaks get snapped last weekend. But both have good qualities in front of goal and if they can get service from their teammates, NTX will be in business on Saturday.

About United Women's Soccer:

UWS is a national women’s soccer league sanctioned by U.S. Soccer. UWS is a professionally operated league created for teams that meet high minimum standards. The season runs from May until the end of July, culminating in a National Championship match. The UWS player pool is comprised of college players, aspiring & former professionals and international stars. You can follow UWS on social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Media can contact the UWS Communications office by e-mail at UWSPress@gmail.com. You can visit the league’s official website at UWSSoccer.com. Interested team applicants can contact League Commissioner Joe Ferrara, Jr. by e-mail at Joe@UWSSoccer.com.