Huskers Open Big 12 Championship vs. Texas

The Nebraska soccer team (10-6-3 overall, 4-5-1 Big 12) gets its first taste of postseason play this week when the sixth-seeded Huskers face third-seeded Texas in the first round of the Big 12 Championship in San Antonio, Texas.  The Huskers and Horns will be the last teams to square off in the quarterfinal round, with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff on Wednesday, Nov. 1.

In the 10-year history of the Big 12 Championship, Nebraska has advanced to the semifinals nine times and the championship game six times, where the Huskers have claimed five titles.

Overall, Nebraska boasts a conference-best 17-5 record at the tournament, including a nine-game winning streak from 1998 to 2001.

NU finished sixth overall in the final Big 12 standings, making it one of eight programs to qualify for the league tournament.  Also facing off in quarterfinal action on Wednesday will be No. 1 Texas A&M and No. 8 Baylor at 11 a.m., No. 4 Kansas and No. 5 Colorado at 1:30 p.m. and No. 2 Oklahoma State and No. 7 Oklahoma at 5:30 p.m.

The Huskers and the Horns cap the first day of competition in the 7:30 p.m. time slot with the winner advancing to the semifinals on Friday to face the winner of the Oklahoma State-Oklahoma contest.

The last time Nebraska and Texas met, the Horns posted a 2-1 come-from-behind win at the Nebraska Soccer Field on Oct. 15.  The Huskers own an all-time series record of 9-6-0 over the Longhorns.

The Huskers enter the Big 12 Championship on a two-game winning streak, which includes a shutout win over Oklahoma on Oct. 22 and a 3-2 win over Loyola-Chicago on Oct. 25.  Nebraska scored four goals and added five assists in those two contests, all of which came from Husker underclassmen.  Sophomores Selenia Iacchelli and Jessie Goodell both tallied a goal and an assist for NU in that span, teaming up for the game-winner against the Sooners with Goodell credited on the set up for the Iacchelli goal.

Sophomore Aysha Jamani notched her fourth score of the season against the Ramblers on Oct. 25, while freshman Brittney Lanier netted her second goal of the year on the game-winner for the Huskers.

Absent from the offensive eruption was senior Brittany Timko, who leads Nebraska in points (29), goals (11) and assists (7) on the year.  Timko missed NU's final regular-season contest against Loyola-Chicago while competing with the Canadian National Team in Korea, but will return to join the Huskers for the opening round of the Big 12 Championship on Wednesday.

Also back in the Husker lineup is junior Jessie Bruch, who missed seven league games due to knee injury, before returning for the first half against Loyola-Chicago.
   
Scouting Texas (15-3-1, 8-1-1 Big 12)
With just one loss in league play, Texas has emerged as one of several dominant teams in the Big 12.  The Horns' lone loss of the Big 12 season came against OklahomaState early in the season.  Texas has continued to improve and closed the regular season with a 1-0 win over Big 12 Champion Texas A&M on Oct. 27.

Like Nebraska, Texas is accustomed to tight matches, with just four of its games being decided by more than one goal this season.  An offensively potent team, the Longhorns have netted 42 goals this season, while holding their opponents to just 16.  In fact, Texas has allowed just two goals in its last seven games, one of which came from the Huskers on Oct. 15.

In goal for the Longhorns is sophomore Dianna Pfenninger, who owns a goals-against average of 0.92.  While certainly a solid statistic, Pfenninger has had to make just 50 saves on the year, which ranks second to the last in the conference.  The Texas defense deserves much of the credit for allowing just 16 goals on 70 attempts this season.

Leading the offensive effort for the Horns is junior Kelsey Carpenter, whose 11 goals tie Nebraska's Brittany Timko for second in the Big 12.  It was Carpenter's goal in the 57th minute that lifted the Horns over Nebraska for the 2-1 win on Oct. 15, while the junior forward also added an assist on the game-tying score.

Last Time We Met
Despite playing with the lead for the first time in four games, the Husker soccer team dropped a hard-fought 2-1 decision to Texas at the Nebraska Soccer Field on Oct. 15.

In the contest, redshirt freshman Shannon Dickerson staked NU to a 1-0 lead when she scored in the 14th minute.  But Dickerson’s goal did not hold up, as Texas found the equalizer in the 34th minute and the game-winner in the 57th minute to give the Longhorns their fourth consecutive win.

Brittany Timko teamed up with Dickerson to put the Huskers on the board first at 13:27. Timko sent a free ball into the middle of the box, where Dickerson deflected it past UT goalkeeper Dianna Pfenninger for the goal.

Dickerson’s goal was the first of her career and highlighted a dominating opening 20 minutes for the Huskers. Play evened out for the rest of the first period before Texas tied the game at 33:06.

On the far sideline, NU freshman defender Anna Caniglia tried to shield a Texas player in an attempt to win a throw-in. Texas was able to keep the ball in play and Kelsey Carpenter sent a ball into the box that deflected into the goal for Caitlin Kennedy’s second goal of the season.

Great passing kept the ball deep in Husker territory in the second half, before Kennedy found Carpenter streaking through the box for the game-winning score.

NU vs. the Big 12 Field
Nebraska went 2-4-1 in 2006 against the other seven teams that qualified for the Big 12 Championship. Although the Huskers didn’t fare as well as they would have hoped, history is on their side, as NU owns a 70-27-4 all-time record against the field, including an 12-4 mark at the Big 12 Championship. Below is a breakdown of how NU has fared against the championship field this season, all-time and all-time at the Big 12 Championship.

Opponent

2006

All-Time

All-Time Big 12 Championship

Baylor

W, 2-1

12-3-0

3-0

Colorado

T, 0-0 (2OT)

7-2-2

0-0

Kansas

L, 0-1

12-2-2

3-0

Oklahoma

W, 1-0

9-2-0

0-0

Oklahoma State

L, 0-2

9-2-0

0-0

Texas

L, 1-2

8-7-0

1-1

Texas A&M

L, 0-2

13-9-0

5-3

Total

2-4-1

70-27-4

12-4

 

Nebraska at the Big 12 Championship
Nebraska has enjoyed great success at the Big 12 Championship, which dates back to 1996. In the 10-year history of the championship, NU has:

Advanced to the semifinals nine timesu
Advancedu to the championship game six times
Captured the title a league-leading fiveu times
Compiled a league-best 17-5 all-time recordu

A year-by-year look at the Huskers’ Big 12 Championship success is listed below:

Year

Record

Result

Last Game (Result)

1996

 2-0

Champion

Texas A&M (W, 1-0 2OT)

1997

1-1

Runner-Up

Texas A&M (L, 1-3)

1998

  2-0 

Champion

Missouri (W, 4-0)

1999

3-0

Champion  

Missouri (W, 2-1)

2000

3-0

Champion

Texas A&M (W, 4-1)

2001

 1-1 

Semifinals

Texas A&M (L, 2-3)

2002

3-0

 Champion

 Texas A&M (W, 1-0)

2003

  1-1

Semifinals

Missouri (L, 2-3)

2004

  0-1

First Round

Texas (L, 0-2)

2005

 1-1

Semifinals

Texas A&M (L, 2-4)

 

Big 12 Championship Records
The Nebraska soccer team boasts a 17-5 all-time record at the Big 12 Championship. The Huskers’ 17 wins lead the league, while NU’s .773 winning percentage also tops the conference. Below is a breakdown of the all-time Big 12 Championship records of each of the eight teams competing in San Antonio this week:

Team

Record (Winning Percentage)

Nebraska

17-5-0 (.773)

Texas A&M

17-5-1 (.761)

Oklahoma State

3-2-0 (.600)

Texas

7-10-0 (.412)

Baylor

4-6-0 (.400)

Colorado 

4-7-0 (.364)

Kansas

2-6-0 (.250)

Oklahoma

1-4-0 (.200)

 

Numbers on the Huskers’ Side
Although Nebraska finished the regular season with a 10-6-3 record, the Huskers could easily have a much better record. NU has only been shutout three times in 19 games this season, giving Nebraska a 10-3-3 record in games where it has scored at least one goal.

While 10-3-3 is a solid record in those matches, it could be even better as Nebraska had at least a one-goal lead in each of those 16 games. On the season, Nebraska has led in every game that the Huskers have scored at least one goal.

Bruch’s Return Bolsters Lineup
Junior Jessie Bruch made an appearance in the Huskers’ 3-2 win over Loyola-Chicago to close out the regular season. Although she played sparingly against the Ramblers, the contest marked Bruch’s first game action since an Oct. 8 match against Texas Tech. Bruch is expected to be available for the Big 12 Championship and the Huskers are glad to have her back.  Nebraska is 9-1-2 this season with Bruch in the lineup and just 1-5-1 without her.

Huskers Notch 10th Win
Nebraska picked up its 10th win of the season with a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Loyola-Chicago on Oct. 25. The victory kept alive Nebraska’s streak of winning at least 10 games every season since the program began in 1994.

Would You Like Some Assistance?
Over its last two contests, Nebraska has tallied six assists on four goals, including assists from five different players in NU's 3-2 win over Loyola-Chicago to finish the regular season. 

All five assists against the Ramblers came from Nebraska's freshmen and sophomore classes, with goalkeeper Jamie Klages getting into the action with an assist on a goal by Aysha Jamani in the first half.  Other Huskers recording assists in the game were freshmen Carly Peetz and Anna Caniglia, redshirt freshman Shannon Dickerson and sophomore Selenia Iacchelli.  Caniglia and Dickerson both notched the first assists of their careers on a go-ahead goal from freshman Brittney Lanier.

With Caniglia's assist, all four members of Nebraska's starting defense have now tallied assists this season.  Sophomore Lindsay Poehling earned an assist against Drake earlier this year, while both senior Tanya Dennis and Peetz boast a pair of assists on the season.

Jet-Setting
Senior Brittany Timko continued to pull double-duty last week as she took advantage of a free weekend in Nebraska's schedule to join the Canadian National Team in South Korea for the inaugural Women's Peace Queen Cup.  Timko joined the Canadian team for the first portion of the two-week tournament with contests against Italy on Oct. 28 and South Korea on Oct. 30, before returning to the United States on Oct. 31 in time for the first round of the Big 12 Tournament in San Antonio, Texas.

The Peace Queen Cup is the last stop for the Canadian National team before the 2006 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup, where it will strive to gain a direct berth into the 2007 Women's World Cup.

Reigning Big 12 Player of the Year at it Again
Two-time Big 12 Player of the Year Brittany Timko is up to her old antics once again. 

After leading the Big 12 in assists in 2005 en route to her second consecutive player-of-the-year award, Timko has come out in her senior season and is again competing to lead the conference in points, goals and assists.  Timko's seven assists are tied for second with OklahomaState's Yolanda Odenyo, while her 29 points falls just behind Colorado's Nikki Marshall (31).  Timko is also tied for second in goals (11) with Texas's Kelsey Carpenter.

At one time or another this season, Timko has led in each of these categories as well as several others, including a stretch where she led in all three. Should Timko regain her lead in goals, assists and points, she would become the only player in the history of the Big 12 to lead the conference in all three categories in a season.

Even if Timko is able to lead the Big 12 solely in points, she would become the fifth Husker to do so and the first since Christine Latham in 2001.

Timko also leads the Big 12 in points per game (1.71), while ranking second in goals per game (0.65).

Timko on the Big 12 All-Time Charts
Single-Season
Assists: 1st (21, 2005)
Assists Per Game: 1st (0.91, 2005)

Career
Points Per Game: 6th (1.82)
Assists: 4th (42)
Assists Per Game: 3rd (0.62)
 
Huskers Score Fastest Overtime Goal
Sophomore Aysha Jamani ripped a shot into the back of the net just 51 seconds into the first overtime period on Oct. 6 to lift the Huskers to a 2-1 victory over Baylor. Jamani’s goal marked the fastest overtime goal in school history, eclipsing the previous record of 55 seconds by Christine Latham against Texas on Nov. 8, 2002.

Timko Leads Huskers
Senior Brittany Timko leads the team with 11 goals and seven assists. Timko owns a seven-goal lead over junior Jessie Bruch and sophomore Aysha Jamani as well as a three-assist lead over sophomore Jamani for the team highs in those categories. Timko appears poised to lead the team in both goals and assists for a third straight season.

Timko led NU with 15 goals and 13 assists in her first full season at Nebraska in 2004 and again led the team with 11 goals and a Big-12 record 21 assists last year. Before Timko arrived in Lincoln, no player in school history had ever led the team in both goals and assists in the same season.

Timko has also led the team in points the previous two seasons and again leads the team with 29 points this year.  She has 17 more points than Jamani. Timko appears headed to join fellow Canadian All-American Christine Latham as the only Huskers in school history to lead NU in points in three consecutive seasons.

Corner Kickin'
Nebraska, which has historically enjoyed a tremendous advantage in corner kicks, is out-cornering teams by an impressive margin.

In 19 games, the Huskers have earned 142 corner kicks to just 71 by their opponents, a testament to the endline work by both the NU offense and defense.  Nebraska is especially potent in the first half, taking 73 corners in the opening 45 minutes, while that number dips to 59 in the second period. 

On Sept. 15 alone, Nebraska took a season-best 16 corners, which set a Nebraska Soccer Field record.  The previous record of 15 was set against UAB on Aug. 28, 2005.

Nebraska is second in the Big 12 Conference in corners (134) behind Texas A&M (141).

Starting Fast
NU also enjoys a 169-88 advantage in shots in the opening period, while that margin shrinks to a 146-125 NU advantage in the second half.  

While explosive first-half play continues to be a calling card for the Huskers, much of Nebraska's recent success has come as a direct result of second-half persistence.  Against Baylor and Texas Tech, the Huskers scored three of their four goals in the second period, while enjoying a 29-12 margin in shots.  Nebraska also used a persistent second-half effort to notch its 10th win of the season against Loyola-Chicago, finding the go-ahead goal in the 79th minute of play.

Timko Reaches 40/40
Senior Brittany Timko produced three goals and one assist Oct 6-8.  With her performance, Timko increased her career totals to 41 goals and 41 assists.

Timko joined Meghan Anderson (48 goals, 50 assists) as the only players in school history to record both 40 goals and 40 assists in a career. Timko also joined Anderson as the only players in the 11-year history of the Big 12 Conference to join the 40/40 club, as well as becoming just the 35th player in NCAA history and only the third player to play her entire career in the 21st century to reach the marks.

Timko Plays a Major Hand in Husker Offense
Since her sophomore season at NU in 2004, senior Brittany Timko has been a catalyst for the Husker offense.  Anyone who watches Nebraska play can see Timko's impact, while the statistics back up her pivotal role in the Huskers' goal-scoring ability.

The statistics of goals and assists measure a player's contribution to a team's scoring.  But, by looking at these two statistics in tandem and comparing them against the total number of goals in a season, one can calculate how often a player was involved in a team goal.  The formula for this percentage is as follows:

Goals + Assists/Team's Total Goals = Percentage of goals involving that player

From the start of the 2004 season to the present, Nebraska has scored 116 goals in games in which Timko has played.  In those games, she either found the back of the net herself or assisted on 78 of those goals (68 percent).  Statistically speaking, Timko has had a hand in slightly better than two out of every three Husker goals scored in the past three years.

Through Timko's 17 games in 2006, she has garnered 11 goals and seven assists, involving her in 18 of Nebraska's 31 goals (58 percent).

Timko Joins Husker Elite at 100-Point Mark
Senior Brittany Timko recorded six points in Nebraska's 3-2 win over North Texas on Sept. 8 to reach a total of 103 points in her career with the Huskers.  Timko is now one of just six players in NU history to ever reach 100 points or more.

The Coquitlam, British Columbia, native earned her six points on three goals against the Mean Green, earning her fourth career hat trick.  She is now one hat trick away from tying Kim Engesser for the school record of five.
 
Injury Update 
Nebraska made it through the regular season relatively healthy after an unfortunate preseason that included four season-ending injuries.

Sophomore Lauren Isenhower was listed as a redshirt before the Huskers even reached training camp due to a knee injury she suffered while competing with Nebraska in Europe this past summer.  Junior Meghan Hungerford also suffered a season-ending injury before the season began as she fractured her ankle during summer camps.

Then came the loss of senior defender Abby Penas, who was expected to be a major contributor for the NU defense in her final season at Nebraska.  However, Penas suffered a knee injury in the Huskers' exhibition match with Louisville on Aug. 19, and is out for the rest of the season.

Freshman Jackie Walsh will likely apply for a medical hardship after undergoing foot surgery.

Two players who began the season injured have now recovered and seen game time.  Redshirt freshman Shannon Dickerson sat out the first week of the season with a leg injury before returning for Nebraska's 2-2 double overtime tie with Wisconsin Sept. 1.

Since then, sophomore Ali Lokanc has also returned to the lineup after rehabilitating a broken leg she suffered early in 2005.  Lokanc saw her first game action late in the first half against North Texas on Sept. 8 and has since saw consistent game time for the Huskers.

While the Huskers have enjoyed a relatively injury-free season, a few minor injuries popped up following the opening weekend of Big 12 play.

Junior Jessie Bruch suffered a slight knee injury against Missouri on Sept. 22, sidelining her for three league games.  However, Bruch returned in Nebraska's 2-1 overtime win over Baylor last Friday to record  three shots, including one on goal.  However, Bruch was back on the injured list for Nebraska's 0-2 loss to Texas A&M on Oct. 13 and her return to the pitch is still undecided.

Sophomore Jessie Goodell also experienced a knee injury in Nebraska's loss to IowaState on Sept. 24.  Goodell did not play against Colorado or Kansas, but returned in Nebraska's win over Baylor.

Timko Lands on Watch List
Nebraska senior Brittany Timko earned her second nomination to the Hermann Watch List this season as announced by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.  Timko is one of 25 nominees compiled by a panel of coaches from the NSCAA.

The Missouri Athletic Club’s Hermann Trophy honors the top male and female Division I college soccer players in the United States. The award represents the highest level of individual achievement in the sport. Over the years, the award has honored some of the biggest names in U.S. soccer. Kristine Lilly, Mia Hamm, Shannon MacMillan, Claudio Reyna, Alexi Lalas and Tony Meola are just a few of the players who won the award prior to achieving success on the international stage.

An NSCAA All-American, Timko earned her first nomination as a junior in 2005 and went on to finish among 15 semifinalists for the award.  A list of this year’s 15 Hermann Award semifinalists will be released in early November, with three finalists chosen later that month.  The finalists will be invited to St. Louis, Mo., on Dec. 2 for the announcement of the winner, as selected through voting by the members of the NSCAA, at the NCAA Men’s College Cup.  The winner will receive the prestigious crystal soccer ball trophy later that evening.

Big Time in the Big 12
Since joining the conference in 1996, the Nebraska soccer program has always been considered one of the teams to beat in the Big 12.  Over the last 12 seasons, the Huskers have laid claim to eight Big 12 titles and five Big 12 Tournament championships.  Only Texas A&M, which topped the Huskers with its ninth Big 12 title in 2005, has earned a comparable level of success in the league.

Apart from its postseason success, Nebraska also owns a number of Big 12 team season records including most shots (656 in 2000), points (316 in 1999), goals (108 in 1999), goals per game (4.32 in 1999), assists (108 in 2000) and shutouts (16 in 2000).

Individually, Nebraska also reigns supreme, capturing a league-best 39 first-team All-Big 12 picks to Texas A&M's 28.  Recently, NU senior Brittany Timko also joined the Big 12 record books as she notched a conference-record 21 assists in 2005 to topple the previous record of 17, which was set in 2003 by OklahomaState's Nikki Wojtowicz.

NCAA Tournament Titans
For the Nebraska soccer program, the NCAA tournament isn't a goal, it's a tradition.  The Huskers have been a staple in collegiate women's soccer's biggest competition for the past 10 consecutive seasons, including eight runs into the Sweet 16 and two into the Elite Eight.

NU's success, coupled with the enthusiasm and support of the Lincoln community and Husker soccer fans, have made Nebraska one of the NCAA's favorite postseason tournament sites.  Lincoln has been host to opening-round action on seven occasions from 1996 to 2005.  Even when the Huskers made the move to the Nebraska Soccer Field in 2005, the trend continued as the venue was once again chosen to host the opening round between Nebraska, Creighton, Iowa State and eventual national champion Portland.