A look back on 2012 Texas Soccer

Nov. 21, 2012

2012 In Pictures

AUSTIN, Texas - In the first year under head coach Angela Kelly, the Texas Soccer program achieved a variety of milestones, including winning its 100th contest at Mike A. Myers Stadium and Soccer Field, making its 10th overall, second consecutive and seventh in the last nine years, appearance in the Big 12 Championship semifinals and ending the league regular season in fourth place, its best finish since 2007.

Below is a closer look at some of the highlights from the 2012 season.

Back To The Big 12 Championship Semifinals
Texas made the program's 10th overall, second consecutive and seventh in the last nine years, appearance in the Big 12 Championship semifinals after topping Oklahoma 3-0 in the quarterfinals. The Longhorns are the only current member of the Big 12 Conference to have qualified for the league tournament each year of the event's existence.

Smith Ties The Texas Shutout Record
In the semifinal contest of the Big 12 Championship, Texas played to a 0-0 double-overtime tie against TCU before the Horned Frogs advanced on penalty kicks. With the shutout, freshman goalkeeper Abby Smith recorded her seventh blanking of the season, tying Jamie Strong's (1994) Texas rookie record.

Smith was also able to establish the UT freshman record for goals-against average at 0.63, besting Alex Gagarin's 0.89 GAA in 2001.

Three Against The Sooners
Texas' three goals against Oklahoma in the quarterfinal match marked the fourth time in program history the Longhorns had tallied three or more goals during a Big 12 Championship contest (W, 6-0 vs. Iowa State/2001; W, 4-1 vs. Iowa State/2002; W, 3-2 (2OT) vs. Kansas/2004).

Shimmick Adds Her Name To A Short List
Freshman Kelsey Shimmick certainly played a role in the offensive success against OU, becoming the fourth Texas player to score two or more goals during a Big 12 Championship match. She joined Kelly Wilson (Nov. 3, 2004/Nebraska), Lauren Field (Nov. 7, 2002/Iowa State) and Kelly McDonald (Nov. 7, 2002/Iowa State and Nov. 8, 2001/Iowa State) as the only UT student-athletes to accomplish the feat. McDonald, in 2001, is the only other UT freshman to score two or more goals in a league tournament game.

Higgins Moves Up The Career Record Charts
Senior Hannah Higgins recorded her fifth assist of the campaign on Shimmick's first goal against Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship quarterfinals. Higgins' five assists gave her 14 in her career.

Earlier in the season, Higgins also moved into the UT record book with her sixth career game-winning goal, tallying the winner against No. 22 Oklahoma State.

Two On All-Tournament Team
Following the heroics, Shimmick was named to the Big 12 All-Tournament Team, along with sophomore defender Brooke Gilbert. The two honorees for the Longhorns were their most since 2007.

A Trio Of All-Big 12 Team Honorees
For the third-straight season, Texas had three or more All-Big 12 selections as senior Kristin Cummins received first-team honors at the utility position while Smith and sophomore midfielder Sharis Lachappelle were second-team choices. Cummins became the first UT player to receive first-team honors since Stephanie Logterman, Kasey Moore and Dianna Pfenninger in 2008.

And Four On The All-Big 12 Newcomer Team
Smith and Lachappelle were named to the league's all-newcomer squad and were joined by freshman defender Ali Schmalz and freshman Lindsey Meyer, who earned the nod at the utility position. Smith was one of three unanimous selections. The four picks were the most for any program in the conference, and tied the 2001 Texas team for the most in Longhorns history.

Plus Nine On The Academic All-Big 12 Teams
Texas had nine student-athletes named to the 2012 Academic All-Big 12 Teams. It marks the second-straight campaign the Longhorns had nine honorees. Sophomores Julie Arnold, Gilbert, Cierra Grubbs and Allison Smith, juniors Brenda Saucedo and Gabby Zarnegar and seniors Cummins and Kara Hoffman were first-team selections while Higgins earned second-team honors. The eight first-team picks were the most for UT since eight in 2007.

Moving Up In The Big 12
UT ended the Big 12 Conference regular season with a 4-4-0 record. It was the most league wins for the program since tallying four in 2010. The fourth seed to the league tournament was also the program's highest since placing second in 2007.

Not Much For The Foes
The Longhorns tied for the Big 12 lead in fewest goals allowed during regular-season league games with five and placed second in goals against average. The five surrendered were UT's fewest during a Big 12 campaign since allowing five in 2008.

A Perennial League Power
Texas' victory over Kansas on Oct. 14 was its 97th regular-season win over a Big 12 foe. UT leads all current members of the conference in league wins and trails only Texas A&M's 121 and Nebraska's 98 in Big 12 history.

Rank	School	Wins
1.	Texas	97
2.	Kansas	69
	Baylor	69
4.	Oklahoma State	65
5.	Iowa State	49
6.	Oklahoma	47
7.	Texas Tech	45
8.	West Virginia	7
9.	TCU	1

A 3-0 Start To Big 12 Play
The Longhorns topped No. 22 Oklahoma State 1-0 on Oct. 5 making them 3-0-0 to begin the league season. It was the first time since 2002, and only the third time in program history, Texas was 3-0-0 through its first three Big 12 Conference games.

The triumph was also the program's first victory over a ranked foe since downing No. 5 Oklahoma State on Oct. 22, 2010.

Two Receive National Honors
After the victory over the Cowgirls, Abby Smith and Gilbert were placed on national teams of the week. Smith was tabbed as the Oct. 12 Soccer America goalkeeper of the week in addition to the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week while Gilbert was named a Week 8 CollegeSoccer360.com Primetime Performer.

Making Their Presence Felt
Freshmen Meyer and Abby Smith earned places on the TopDrawerSoccer.comTop 100 Freshmen list. Meyer, a midfielder, checked in 39th while goalkeeper Smith was 40th. The organization also provided an updated ranking of its top 100 upperclassmen, and Cummins checked in 65th.

Starting Off Right
The Longhorns defeated Iowa State 4-0 on Sept. 21 to open the Big 12 Conference season. The four-goal margin of victory was the most by the program in a league match since downing Oklahoma 4-0 on Oct. 18, 2008. The shutout by Abby Smith allowed her to become the first Texas goalkeeper to post a blanking in a Big 12 season opener since Pfenninger against Texas A&M on Sept. 26, 2008, in a 0-0 draw.

Texas followed by shutting out Oklahoma on Sept. 23, marking the first time since Oct. 10 and 15, 2010, the Longhorns had shut out consecutive Big 12 Conference opponents. The pair of wins also gave the program its first league weekend sweep since topping Missouri and Iowa State on Oct. 15 and 17, 2010. After the two shutouts, Abby Smith was subsequently named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Sept. 25.

Meyer Scores Two At ISU
Meyer scored twice at Iowa State to become the first rookie, and one of seven players total, to have two goals against a Big 12 opponent during the 2012 regular season. Her four points were also tied for the second most by a player in a league regular-season match during the year.

Gaining 100 At Home
UT downed Fresno State 3-0 on Sept. 14 to claim the program's 100th victory inside Mike A. Myers Stadium and Soccer Field.

Winning The Opener ... Again
Texas won its season opener for the fourth time in the last six years with a 3-2 overtime victory over Dayton on Aug. 17.

With Cummins Recording The Winner
After scoring two goals and assisting on another in Texas' season-opening 3-2 overtime victory over Dayton, Cummins was named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com and Soccer America teams of the week. The Lewisville, Texas, product tied the contest at one with a goal at 10:28. She then assisted on freshman Sydney Shutter's initial career score, which put the Longhorns up 2-1 at 80:38. Dayton sent the match into overtime, but Cummins scored the golden goal at 98:50.

Cummins added another game-winning goal against Toledo to give her five in her career.

The University of Texas at Austin Athletics