HOUSTON — The Rice soccer team rallied for a pair of second half goals to claim a 2-1 season opening victory at home over visiting McNeese Sunday afternoon at Holloway Field in Houston.

McNeese was quick on the attack and scored in the opening minute of the contest. Rice regrouped on defense and turned up the pressure on the offensive side, but the 1-0 margin held to the intermission.

Senior forward Haley Kostyshyn was inserted into the lineup to start the second half and soon tallied the equalizer. True freshman Catarina Albuquerque played the ball to Kostyshyn in front of the McNeese goal and the Owl veteran headed a shot attempt to the back of the net to tie the contest in the 55th minute.

Kostyshyn's tenth career goal provided a needed spark. Less than four minutes later Rice freshman Mikala Furuto chased down a ball bounding towards the sideline well outside the 18 on the left wing. McNeese still had a plenty of time to find its defensive shape as Furuto was 25-30 yards from the goal and is only a freshman in her first official Division I game. Furuto, however, opportunistically proceeded to launch a rocket shot that found the inside netting on the right side. Her first career goal, on the first shot attempt of her collegiate career, put Rice in front 2-1 in the 59th minute. The rookie from Littleton, Colorado, became only the tenth Owl in program history to score a goal in her first Rice game.

Rice finished with a 17-6 lead in shots, including an 11-3 advantage in the second half. The Owls also held a 5-2 edge in corner kicks. Owl goalkeeper Bella Killgore finished the day with a pair of saves, but the junior from Houston also led all players with four shots while coming forward to take free kicks in a new innovation for the Blue & Gray.

The Owls have won the season-opener for the second year in a row, but the team's homestand thru Feb. 21 is far from over. Rice next hosts UTSA at Holloway Field on Thursday (Feb. 11). Start time vs. the Roadrunners is set for 4 pm, but the game will only serve as a regular season match and not a Conference USA league outing. Owl head coach Brian Lee shared his thoughts on the match in the above video.

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