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Rice Soccer: Outgoing seniors leave big roles to fill

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The outgoing senior class steered Rice soccer through a year of transition, setting the Owls up for a future of sustained success under Brian Lee.

The Rice soccer senior class did so much more for the program than fill out the roster. Those women served as the clue for a group of players in the midst of a coaching transition. No matter how talented a team in any sport, change at the top can be challenging to navigate. The Owls didn’t seem to miss a beat. Head coach Brian Lee credits the seniors for making that possible.

“Lianne [Mananquil], Erin [Mikeska], Maya [Hoyer] and Louise [Stephens] are four of the strongest leaders I’ve ever coached in 25 years of doing this,” Lee said, acknowledging how challenging they will be to replace next season.

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Mananquil, Stephens and Mikeska each finished in the top four in points for the Owls this season. Hoyer was part of an effective tagteam with Bella Killgore at goal keeper. Using two keepers might not be Lee’s default going forward, but he couldn’t remove Hoyer or Killgore from the field entirely. “I felt like we had two goal keepers who would have started for at least 10 or 12 of the 14 SEC teams,” he declared.

Fortunately, the Owls will have Killgore to lean on at keeper next season. Up front, the next senior class will be waiting to take up the mantle. Haley Kostyshyn and Mijke Roelfsema are both coming off tremendous seasons. Lee also highlighted the growth of Trinity King who’s role grew as the 2019 season progressed.

Those are strong pieces. Lee hopes they can rise to the occasion. In his eyes, the outgoing senior class “made our transition for our entire staff so much easier…  They were a dream. If every class at Rice is like those kids I’m going to have a great rest of my coaching career.”

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Brian Lee remains confident move to Rice soccer will bear fruit

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Rice soccer has a new head coach with big plans. How Brian Lee’s own expectations hope to drive the Owls’ program to new heights.

One year ago Brian Lee made a career-altering decision. After leading LSU to six NCAA Tournaments and four division titles he decided to accept the Rice soccer head coaching job. Trading the SEC for Conference USA wasn’t solely a leap of faith. Lee describes it as a calculated decision.

“A theory I’ve always had about college women’s soccer is the very best jobs are at the prestigious academic institutions,” he reasoned. “Because of the demographics of our recruiting base and the lack of a professional league of note makes the elite academic schools the ones the kids want to go play at.”

Lee pointed to programs like Georgetown and Stanford. Both are academic powerhouses that have become mainstays at the highest levels of the sport. From admissions requirements to scheduling capabilities, there’s no reason Rice can’t mirror how those programs have been built. At least, that’s the theory.

Lee believed in that premise so much he moved on from a decade-long stint in Baton Rouge to build a new legacy at South Main.  The Owls went 10-6-3 in Lee’s first season, losing in the conference tournament to North Texas on their own field after tying the Mean Green in Houston the week prior.

The solid start was achieved, primarily, with players he inherited. The team won’t fully have his imprint for another two seasons. Women’s college soccer typically takes commitments two to three years out from their arrival on campus.

Rice made one new addition to the roster in Lee’s first season, signing Boston College transfer Mijke Roelfsema. She was instrumental to the Owls’ success this season, buying into the program Lee was striving to create.

The Roost Podcast: Listen now to our Extended Offseason Interview Series

More and more of Lee’s handpicked recruits will be added in the seasons to come. Already equipped with what he believes is a talented roster, his own expectations continue to rise. “The program, really over the course of history, has been at the very least, solid,” he said. Lee then went on to issue his own expectation.

“The top end of what we can develop the program into over the next three, four, five years is very high. I think we’re headed to having a Top 20 program.” He knows that’s a tall order, but he also knows how to get there.

In one season, Lee turned a seven-win team into a 10-win team. He’s continuing to recruit and develop talent. As he expected when he took the job, things are headed in the right direction.

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Top 10 moments from Rice Athletics in 2019

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2019 was an incredible year for Rice Athletics. It’s hard to boil down the success into a single list, but here are some of the most impactful moments of the year.

10. Baseball run-rules TCU at Shriner’s College Classic

Baseball’s first season under Matt Bragga was filled with ups and downs. The absolute shellacking the Owls’ laid on TCU at Minute Maid Park stands out as a high point. A perennial Omaha-bound squad, TCU looked stunned when the Rice exploded for nine runs in the final two innings. Cade Edwards blasted a dagger into the Crawford Boxes, ending the game in seven innings.

9. Football signs 17 in early signing period

The Owls haven’t had a top-five class in Conference USA since 2013, but are well on their way with the first installments of the 2020 Rice Football recruiting class. Rice entered the early signing period in the top four classes in the conference and has a few more weeks to add to the total. Dynamic athletes like Sean Fresch, Andrew Mason, Plae Wyatt and Mike Leone are going to help raise the floor, and the ceiling, for this program.

8.  Soccer goes 6-3-1 in C-USA play

The first year under a new head coach is filled with uncertainty, but Rice soccer and Brian Lee had a tremendous 2019 season. Rice won 10 games for the fifth time in six years and lost just one conference game, a feat the program achieved only one other time this decade.

7. Blaze Alldredge named first-team All-Conference USA

From junior college to the top of Conference USA, Blaze Alldredge’s story is incredible. He was the leader of a Rice defense that went from one of the conference’s worst to one of its’ best and is expected to return Alldredge and the majority of its key contributors in 2020. Neither Alldredge or this defense will fly under the radar next year.

6. Anthony Rendon wins World Series

In a moment bittersweet for native Houstonians, former Rice baseball great Anthony Rendon won the World Series in his hometown. The Washington Nationals’ third baseman had eight hits in the series, including a pair of game-changing home runs. He celebrated by signing a 7-year, $245 million contract with the Los Angels Angels during the offseason.

5. Women’s basketball makes NCAA Tournament

Rice Women’s basketball looked every bit the part in their first NCAA Tournament appearance of the decade. The Owls pushed Marquette to the wire, faltering late. The duo of Erica Ogwumike and Nancy Mulkey gave opponents nightmares and both are back for another shot in 2020.

4. Volleyball upsets No. 3 Texas

Rice volleyball delivered their biggest win in program history in front of a record crowd at Tudor Fieldhouse. It took five all five sets, but the home team delivered an upset for the ages, downing then-No. 3 Texas before celebrations broke out all over the arena. It’s hard to find an individual win more impressive than this one across all of Rice Athletics in 2019.

3. Women’s Basketball and Volleyball ranked for the first time ever

The upswing in Rice Athletics could be encapsulated in the first-time rankings of the women’s basketball and volleyball programs. Both teams had stellar seasons that warranted national attention. Not only did they both receive those honors, but they changed the perception of Rice on the national stage. Rice is no longer just any other school, it’s an elite institution with high-caliber athletes that can win big.

2. Football closes with three straight wins

There were rumblings of improvement, but an 0-9 start had Rice football in a tough spot. They knew they needed to start winning — and they’d come close several times — but getting over the hump proved to be a tougher task than expected. Once Rice got the taste of victory, they didn’t look back. The football team closed the year with three straight wins, the first time Rice has ended the year that well since 2013 when they won the conference title.

1. Women’s Basketball goes undefeated C-USA

No matter the sport or the conference, going undefeated is really hard to do. Rice women’s basketball did just that, blowing out the majority of their conference opponents in dazzling fashion on their way to a conference championship. Including the conference tournament, the Owls went a perfect 19-0 against Conference opponents.

Honorable Mentions…

How about you? Which of these moments did you enjoy the most? Which events should be added to the list?

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Rice Soccer: Lianne Mananquil named to 2019 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List

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Rice soccer’s own Lianne Manaquil has been named to the 2019 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch list for the most outstanding player in women’s collegiate soccer.

It’s been a busy offseason for Rice Soccer. The Owls hired Brian Lee from LSU to be their new head coach. He brought assistant Travis Curson with him to South Main.

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Since then, Lee has been diligently working to improve the program including the recently announced addition of Boston College transfer Mijke Roelfsema. With things already going well, Rice received further reason to be optimistic about the upcoming season on Thursday.

Senior midfielder Lianne Manaquil was among 61 players named to the watch list for the 2019 MAC Hermann Trophy, awarded annually to the most outstanding player from the men’s and women’s college soccer. This comes on top of Manaquil’s 2018 honors which included being named the Conference USA Midfielder of the Year.

The recognition is a tremendous honor for Manaquil and a positive for Rice Soccer as a whole. Coach Lee released a statement soon afterward, overflowing with praise for Manaquil and her accomplishments:

We are excited for Lianne and she is richly deserving of this preseason recognition. She is one of the top players I have ever coached and an even better person. Lianne is one of college soccer’s most dynamic playmakers, however she hasn’t reached her full potential quite yet. If her individual and our team growth continues on this path, it is easy to envision she and her teammates having a memorable season this fall.

Rice Soccer returns to action on August 13 at 7:00 p.m. in an exhibition against TCU. The regular season begins on the road against Oral Roberts on August 22. The Owls host Houston in their regular season opener on August 25 at 7 p.m.

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