Soccer rolls past Rice in NCAA first round action, 3-0

Friday, November 14

Austin, Texas

5 p.m.

University of Texas

11-7-4

Rice

14-4-3

Team	1	2	Final F
Rice	0	0	0
Texas	1	2	3

Soccer rolls past Rice in NCAA first round action, 3-0

11.14.2014 | Soccer

Box Score

Longhorns advance to face national-seed Notre Dame in next weekend’s second round

NCAA First Round Post-Match Quotes

Photo gallery

AUSTIN, Texas – On Friday night at Mike A. Myers Stadium, Texas soccer made its initial visit to the NCAA Tournament since 2011 count in a major way by rolling past Rice in first round action, 3-0.

UT now moves on to face-off against nationally-seeded Notre Dame next weekend at a time, date and location to be determined following tonight's NCAA action.

Senior midfielder Sharis Lachappelle was credited with the match-winner as the San Antonio, Texas, native scored at the 28:48 mark. Freshman forward Olivia Brook and sophomore midfielder Julia Dyche added second-half scores on their seventh (team-high) and third goals of the campaign, respectively. Senior forward Cierra Grubbs, junior forward Kelsey Shimmick, senior defender Whitney Jaynes and freshman forward Morgan Murphy all dished single assists during the commanding victory. Junior goalkeeper Abby Smith recorded her ninth solo shutout of the year, tying Dianna Pfenninger for Texas' all-time single-season shutout mark.

Texas out-shot Rice by a commanding 21-8 margin, including 9-1 over the second 45 minutes of play. The three-goal margin of victory tied for the second-largest in any NCAA Tournament match in program history, equaling a 3-0 triumph over North Texas at Mike A. Myers Stadium back during the opening round of the 2004 event. The largest margin of victory came in first round play back in 2006 as UT defeated Long Island in Storrs, Conn., 4-0.

"I'm really proud of this program and all the young ladies that are on our squad," Texas head coach Angela Kelly said. "I thought we responded in the second half and scored a goal in the first five minutes, and that was critical. I thought that we were more disciplined in the attack as well in the second half. Credit to Rice, they're a great team, a great program, well coached. They had us on our heels in moments of the match, which is what you're expecting in the first round. I'm really pleased with the outcome and looking forward to next week."

Rice showed it was ready to play over the first few minutes of action as shots at 1:02 and 1:08 from forward Gabriela Iribarne and midfielder Samantha Chalken were blocked out front.

The Longhorns offense soon began to exert pressure of its own with back-to-back corners in the fifth and sixth minutes. On the second set piece, junior midfielder Lindsey Meyer leapt high over the crowd in the middle of the 18, but her subsequent header traveled high of frame.

An old Texas enemy reared its ugly head at the 9:23 mark as the woodwork again came into play for the fifth time over Texas's last four matches. Jaynes turned on the left wing and took a quick shot from outside the 18 that dipped and rattled off the crossbar before being cleared away.

During the 18th-minute, Rice had a solid chance go awry as a feed from the right end line to the middle found midfielder Quinny Truong in some space inside the 18. Unfortunately for the Owls, her left-footed shot traveled well wide left.

After threatening again and again, Texas finally broke through on the scoreboard at 28:48. Off a long throw from the left sideline, Rice failed to clear its lines as the ball wound up at the feet of Jaynes on the left wing. The Plano, Texas, native played a ball across the pitch to Shimmick on the right side. Shimmick's feed into the middle was deflected by Grubbs to Lachappelle standing about nine yards out. The senior midfielder wasted no time in finishing the score from an angle into the lower left corner of the twine.

With Smith having come off her line to pressure the Rice offense after missing on a catch opportunity, the Owls nearly answered back at 40:11. Midfielder Aliza Wolfe launched a shot from the top of the 18 that was headed into goal, but a pair of Longhorns combined to clear the ball out of the net mouth via a team save.

UT almost added another with nine seconds left in the opening frame as a pass by Lachappelle from the left side found junior forward Chantale Campbell in some space on the right. Unfortunately for the Horns, the London, Ontario, Canada, native's shot trickled just wide left of the upright from 12 yards out as the teams headed to the break.

The second 45 minutes were virtually all Texas as the Longhorns out-shot the Owls, 9-1. It took just 2:42 for UT to add to its advantage as a long pass from Jaynes landed perfectly near the top of the six, allowing Brook the chance to finish easily from six yards out to make it 2-0.

With so much pressure by the Burnt Orange & White, it was just a matter of time before the advantage grew. The lead became 3-0 at 65:32 as Dyche blasted home a Murphy feed from 30 yards out in the middle of the pitch.

From there it was just left to see if Texas could finish off the shutout. Rice had a solid chance in the 67th-minute as an Owl player broke in on goal. Jaynes battled valiantly, however, recovering to manage a quick strip of the ball and a sharp pass back to Smith to end the threat.

Rice earned two of its five total corner kicks at the 74:56 and 77:21 mark, and managed one shot as Becca Koval skied a drive high of frame. That proved the Owls last solid opportunity as Texas completed its commanding 3-0 triumph.