The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
West Virginia
Soccer preview: vs. #17 West Virginia [Sept. 28, 2014]
09.27.2014 | Soccer
Longhorns face Mountaineers looking for consecutive wins over ranked foes for first time since 2010
Match 12: No. 17 West Virginia (7-2-2, 0-0-1 Big 12) at Texas (6-3-2, 1-0-0 Big 12)
Time: Sunday, Sept. 28 – 1 p.m. CT
Location: Austin, Texas (Mike A. Myers Stadium & Soccer Field)
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/texas/wsoc/
Television: The match will be broadcast live on Longhorn Network (accessible through WATCHESPN with certain cable providers) with Pete Pranica (play-by-play) and Monica Gonzalez (analyst) on the call.
Radio: All UT home matches can be heard free via an internet audio stream at: http://texas.leanplayer.com/ - Lincoln Rose will call the action for all Texas home matches.
All-Time Series: Texas and West Virginia have met three times overall with the Mountaineers leading the series, 2-1. UT's lone win came back on Nov. 14, 2004 (W, 2-1), while all three matches have been settled by just one goal. WVU has won both meetings against UT since joining the Big 12 Conference.
Match Promotions:
- Free post-match youth clinic: All children in eighth grade and under are eligible to participate. No pre-registration necessary. Please wear proper soccer attire. Children should bring their own soccer ball and water bottle. (Water is provided.)
Free Kicks:
- The opposing goalkeeper in Sunday's match against West Virginia will look very familiar to Texas head coach Angela Kelly as WVU's Hannah Steadman was a freshman net minder (received no playing time) on Kelly's final roster at Tennessee back in 2011.
- With the upset of No. 6 Texas Tech and Sunday's upcoming match against No. 17 West Virginia, Texas has the chance to do something it hasn't done since 2010. The last time the Burnt Orange & White knocked off consecutive ranked opponents was on Sept. 12 & 20, 2010, as the Longhorns defeated No. 22 William & Mary (4-0) and No. 10 BYU (1-0). That year, the Horns eventually stretched their streak of wins over ranked foes to three with a 1-0 triumph over No. 5 Oklahoma State (Oct. 22, 2010) before suffering a 1-1 (2OT) tie against No. 6 Texas A&M (Oct. 29, 2010).
- Texas' win that handed No. 6 Texas Tech its initial loss of 2014 marked the first victory for the Longhorns over a top-10 team since recording a 1-0 triumph over No. 10 BYU back on Sept. 20, 2010. The sixth-ranked Red Raiders were also the highest-rated opponent UT soccer has defeated since the Burnt Orange & White knocked off No. 5 Oklahoma State on Oct. 24, 2010, 1-0.
- Several Texas players entered the starting line-up as freshmen and have never left. Senior defenders Brooke Gilbert and Julie Arnold have started all 72 possible matches during their four-year careers, while junior midfielder Lindsey Meyer has been penciled in the starting XI in all 51 possible matches during her stay on the Forty Acres.
- The Longhorn program holds an 84-37-15 all-time record against members of the Big 12 Conference and is 1-2-0 against Sunday's opponent West Virginia. UT is 6-2-1 over its last nine league matches, however, one of those two defeats came in a 2013 meeting against the Mountaineers.
- Looking at current records (as of 9/27), Texas has played 11 teams that have combined to post a 63-33-12 overall record (a .639 winning percentage) thus far in 2014. As of Sept. 25, the NCAA rated UT's slate as the 24th-toughest schedule by percentage in Division I. Seven of those 11 teams own winning records, while five of those squads (UCLA, Arizona State, Arkansas, UCF and Texas Tech) have lost two or fewer matches. That tough schedule is reflected in the Longhorns' RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) as UT sits at No. 43 in the initial NCAA RPI release of the campaign (9/22), good for fifth among Big 12 teams.
