The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Nebraska
Soccer falls to Nebraska
10.08.2004 | Soccer
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Facing a pair of three-goal deficits, the Longhorns scored two of the game's final three goals and out shot the Huskers by a 7-4 margin in the second half, but it was not enough as Nebraska (10-3, 4-0 Big 12) held on for a narrow 4-3 win over Texas (7-5, 3-3 Big 12) in front of a crowd of 1,008 at Abbott Sports Complex on Friday, Oct. 8.
Just over three minutes into the opening half of play, Kelly McDonald (Littleton, Colo.) took a feed from Kelly Wilson (Odessa, Texas) and found the back of the Nebraska net for her second goal in as many matches to stake Texas to an early 1-0 lead. Five minutes later, the Huskers answered with a pair of scores within 43 seconds of one another as junior forward Nikki Baker set up Brooke Bradenberg for a goal and then scored herself off an assist from goalkeeper Katie Wright to pull Nebraska in front by score of 2-1.
While the Huskers would strike next behind a Brittany Timko goal at 27:05, the Longhorns began to mount a charge 50 seconds later as Caitlin Kennedy (Euless, Texas) netted her fourth goal of the year off an assist from Amy Burlingham (Costa Mesa, Calif.) to pull the Horns back within one at 3-2 heading into halftime.
In the second period, Texas maintained its attack on the Nebraska defense by out shooting the Huskers by a 7-4 margin, but NU stemmed the tide by regaining a three-goal lead on an unassisted Baker goal at 60:33. Unwilling to let up, the Longhorns answered in the 75th minute as Wilson tallied her team-leading ninth goal of the year to make it a 4-3 match with 15-plus minutes remaining. While UT continued to press for the equalizer, Wright, who made five saves on the evening, and the Nebraska defense withstood a flurry of Texas chances in the waning moments to improve the Huskers conference record to 4-0 on the year with the victory. The win improved Wright's record to 10-3 overall, while UT goalkeeper Alex Gagarin (Austin, Texas) incurred the loss in her first start of the year despite posting six saves on the night.
Headlining the Texas offense on the night was Wilson, who with her three-point performance not only upped her team-leading scoring total to 27 points, but also notched at least two points in a game for the seventh time this season. Nebraska, meanwhile, had its attack led by Baker, who tallied six points in the game behind two goals, including the eventual game-winner, and a pair of assists.
Up next, the Horns travel to Boulder, Colo., for a 1 p.m. Central match against the Colorado Buffaloes on Sunday, Oct. 10.
