The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Fresno State
Soccer shuts out Fresno State 3-0
09.14.2012 | Soccer
Sept. 14, 2012
Box Score | Box Score 
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AUSTIN, Texas - The University of Texas Soccer program returned to Austin with a 3-0 victory over Fresno State Friday evening inside Mike A. Myers Stadium and Soccer Field. Senior Hannah Higgins and freshmen Lindsey Meyer and Kelsey Shimmick provided the offense for the Longhorns in the win.
UT wasted little time getting on the scoreboard as Higgins struck at 2:55. Sophomore Allison Smith fed the ball to a streaking Higgins, who shot into the upper right corner of the net for the goal, her first of the season.
Texas had a chance to add to the lead at 6:08 as freshman defender Ali Schmalz took a shot off a corner kick by sophomore Sharis Lachappelle. Fresno State goalkeeper Katie DeVault came up with the save, however. Two minutes later, at 8:07, senior Kristin Cummins broke in alone on DeVault, who knocked the ball aside and then made a save to keep it a one-goal game.
Fresno State (0-5-3) fired its first shot at 9:20 as Tara Boynton missed wide left. The Bulldogs had another attempt in the 11th minute, but Lauren Lindstrom also went wide left.
Higgins nearly made it a 2-0 advantage off another feed from Smith at 11:29, but the attempt hit the left post and deflected away. One minute later, at 12:48, Schmalz fired off another Lachappelle corner kick and hit the crossbar.
At 16:21, freshman goalkeeper Abby Smith made her first career save on an attempt by Savannah Roberson. It was the Bulldogs' only shot on goal of the opening half.
UT made it a two-goal advantage in the 27th minute as Meyer headed in a corner kick from Higgins at 26:11. Meyer has two goals this season, both on headers off corners, while Higgins' assist was the 12th of her career, just one short of entering Texas' top-10 list.
The Longhorns took the final shot of the half at 34:09 as Allison Smith missed wide right.
Just two minutes into the second half, Shimmick made it a three-goal lead as she scored her first collegiate goal off a Cummins cross.
The Longhorns (3-6-0) had a trio of corner kicks in the 51st and 52nd minutes, but did not register a shot. In the 55th minute, UT fired four shots with Higgins and junior Gabby Zarnegar taking two each. Three were blocked while DeVault made a save on one attempt.
Zarnegar fired again in the 68th minute, but DeVault made the stop. Allison Smith followed with an attempt at 69:51 that went wide right. Freshman Chantale Campbell capped the offensive rush by the Longhorns with a header in the 74th minute that was saved by DeVault.
The Bulldogs took three shots in the final 10 minutes of the contest, but one was blocked, one missed high and Abby Smith made the save on Fanny Johansson's final attempt, enabling Smith to record a shutout in her first collegiate match.
Texas closes the brief home stand on Sunday evening with a 7 p.m. match against Denver (6-1-1).
Post-Match Notes
- Freshman goalkeeper Abby Smith made her Texas debut after spending the first month of the season in Japan with the U.S. U-20 Women's National Team at the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.
- Smith's start makes it seven of Texas' nine freshmen who have started a match this season.
- Smith became the first freshman Texas goalkeeper to record a shutout in her debut since Dianna Pfenninger against SMU on Aug. 26, 2005. Pfenninger played only the second half of the 1-0 victory over the Mustangs.
- Senior Hannah Higgins' goal at 2:55 snapped the Longhorns' scoreless drought at 277:49.
- Higgins' goal was the game-winner. She is the first player other than senior Kristin Cummins to tally a winner for the Longhorns this season.
- Dating back to the 2011 season, Cummins had scored UT's last three game-winning goals.
- Freshman Kelsey Shimmick scored her first career goal at 46:26. It was the first second-half goal for the Longhorns since sophomore Allison Smith scored at 71:27 versus Toledo on Aug. 26.
- Junior midfielder Gabby Zarnegar took a career-high four shots in the contest. Her previous best was three against UTSA on Aug. 27, 2010.
- UT scored three goals in the victory. The program has won 12-straight matches when scoring three or more goals.
- Texas' three goals give the squad an average of 1.67 per home match this season, compared with 0.00 in three road contests.
- During the first half, Texas attempted 10 shots. The team had tallied 12 shots in the previous two games, at BYU and Utah.
- The Longhorns have used nine different starting lineups in nine matches this season.
