Soccer Watch

The Texas Longhorns had their best weekend of the season, shutting out Texas Tech Friday night, 2-0, to move out of the Big 12 cellar, and then playing nationally-top-ranked West Virginia dead-even Sunday before giving up a goal with 10 minutes to play. That puts the Horns in good shape to extend their season at least another week; they need a tie in the regular season finale at TCU this Friday, Oct. 28, or a Tech loss against Oklahoma, to qualify for the Big 12 tourney, starting Wednesday, Nov. 2. ... Senior goalie Paige Brown, with nine saves in two games, was named Big 12 defensive player of the week. ... The St. Edward's women (12-1-1) clinched the Heartland Conference regular-season title Saturday with an overtime win at Lubbock Christian; they finish the regular season hosting archrival St. Mary's at 1pm Saturday, then will host the conference tournament Thu. and Sat., Nov. 3 & 5. The Hilltopper men fell to 13-2-1 with a 0-1 loss to Midwestern State, and dropped from third to 15th in the DII national rankings.

The MLS playoffs have already started by the time you read this, with two of the four first-round games Wednesday night, and the other two Thursday. Then comes a quadruple-header on Sunday, with all four conference semifinal first legs kicking off at 2pm, 4pm, 6pm, and 8:30pm on ESPN 2 and FS1. ... It was FC Dallas in and Portland out in the final games of the CONCACAF Champions League group stage last week; Dallas also clinched the Supporters Shield for the best regular season record, to go with their U.S. Open Cup trophy from earlier in the season. ... The European Champions League group stage continues Tue.-Wed., Nov. 1-2 (continuing through Dec. 6-7), with a number of televised games each day at 1:45pm.