The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas A&M
Soccer plays to 0-0 draw against No. 8 Texas A&M in Big 12 opener
09.26.2008 | Soccer
Sept. 26, 2008
Box Score 
AUSTIN, Texas -- The No. 7 University of Texas soccer team battled through a tough 110 minutes to draw 0-0 with No. 8 Texas A&M in front of a record crowd of 5,585 at Mike A. Myers Stadium Friday night in both squads' Big 12 Conference opener. The Longhorns are now 7-0-2 on the season, their best start in program history, and keep their 22-match home unbeaten streak alive with the tie.
With tonight's tie, both teams earned a half-point for their respective schools in the annual State Farm Lone Star Showdown. This marks the fifth year of the Showdown, the all-sports athletic competition between Texas and Texas A&M. In order to win the Showdown, a school must acquire 10.0 points during the year.
UT brought the pressure early in the match, firing three shots over the first 10 minutes that were all blocked by the Aggie backline. Senior Kasey Moore provided two close looks in the first half when she connected on two corner kicks but sent both headers just over the cross bar.
Just 10 minutes later, senior defender Jill Gilbeau beat the Aggies' left back and dribbled in from the corner to blast a shot to the near post. A&M keeper Kelly Dyer deflected onto Lucy Keith in the middle of the six-yard box, who wasn't able to connect for a clean shot.
UT's offensive attack picked up in the second period with the Longhorns firing 10 shots to A&M's three.
Moore had two more chances to give Texas the advantage in the 57th minute after her free kick was blocked by the A&M wall. She collected the deflection and her subsequent shot was saved by Dyer.
Gilbeau and freshman Courtney Goodson sparked an offensive surge over the last 10 minutes of regulation, combining for five shots. A&M's Whitney Hooper almost put the game away in the final minute of regulation but sent her shot too high forcing overtime.
Each team fired one shot in the first set of extra minutes but neither was successful, sending the game to another 10-minute period. UT had legitimate looks off two Courtney Gaines corner kicks but Dyer came off her line to pull the ball out of the air, denying the Longhorn attack.
In the final two minutes, Texas had its best look of the night when Goodson found space in the right side of the box and fired the ball just wide of the near post. A&M rallied after the missed opportunity, as Hooper slipped through the Texas defense and was one-on-one with keeper Dianna Pfenninger in the waning 30 seconds. Pfenninger timed her challenge perfectly, smothering Hooper's shot.
Friday's tie marked the first time in the 14-year history of the rivalry that the teams have ever played to a draw. Gilbeau led all Longhorns with a career-high four shots on goal.
Texas takes conference play on the road as they travel to Nebraska on Oct. 3 for a 4:30 p.m. Central match in Lincoln.
MATCH NOTES
- Texas is now 7-0-2 on the season, its best start in program history.
- The Longhorns are 3-0-2 in overtime matches this season.
- Senior defender Jill Gilbeau collected career-highs in shots (5) and shots on goal (4).
- A&M holds the series advantage 5-15-1 and the tie was the first in the 14-year history of the series.
- The tie marks the first time that UT has opened Big 12 play with a tie and the first time since 2000 that it has opened league play in overtime (Colorado, 9/22/00)
- Texas keeps its 22-game home unbeaten streak alive with the tie.
- The Longhorns collected their fifth shutout of the season.
POSTMATCH QUOTES
HEAD COACH Chris Petrucelli
On overall performance: We played well. I think there are two parts to the game, how you play and how you score. We didn't score well, but I'd definitely say we played well.
On offense: We tried to get the ball to our forwards more and we made some great things happen. We just couldn't get the goal.
On atmosphere tonight: It was a great atmosphere and I really wish we could have got a goal for them. The crowd was wonderful. They made themselves heard, and, combined with the team's performance, they really made it a fun night.
SENIOR DEFENDER Jill Gilbeau
On whether the game lived up to her expectations: It absolutely did. It was the perfect rivalry game.
On emotions during match: There are a lot of emotions going on in each game. Tonight I think those emotions were especially felt by the returning players and were introduced to some of the freshmen.
On outcome: We all wanted to win, but even though we didn't, I think it was a really great experience for some of the freshmen, and I think we made some really big improvements in our game tonight that will be useful to build off of in the future.
On the defense: They played great. Even though we didn't score any goals, we came close and created so many opportunities. Our defense was really what helped us to get into those positions. They backed us up, played an amazing game, and that is a major reason why we were able to get the results we did tonight.
SENIOR DEFENDER Kasey Moore
On the environment: It was definitely exciting. The crowd just brought a whole other element to the game. It was great to see everyone come out and support us.
On the team's defensive effort: I think we did well defensively. A&M is great up top. They have speed, play hard, and are going to give a lot of trouble this year to other teams in the conference. But we didn't give them too many goal scoring opportunities.
On Dianna's performance: Dianna [Pfenninger] comes up big all the time. She is the heart of the team. Without her, I don't think we would be as successful as we have been.
On possibility of playing A&M again: I always want another shot at A&M. They are a great team and it is always a lot of fun to play against them.
FRESHMAN FORWARD Courtney Goodson
On the atmosphere: It was great. It was the best environment you could play in. I wasn't expecting anything this intense but now I know how it really is.
On their overall performance: We just didn't capitalize the way we could of in front of the goal. But I'm still very pleased with our performance.
