The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Sunday, October 23
Austin, Texas
5 p.m.
University of Texas
vs
#1 West Virginia
Soccer preview: vs. #1 West Virginia [Oct. 23, 2016]
10.22.2016 | Soccer
The Longhorns welcome in the top-ranked Mountaineers for a high-profile Big 12 match-up at Myers Stadium
Texas Game Notes vs. #1 West Virginia
Regular Season Match #17: #1 West Virginia (14-1-1, 6-0-0 Big 12) at Texas (8-7-1, 1-4-1 Big 12)
Time: vs. #1 West Virginia – Sun., Oct. 23 – 5 p.m. CT
Location: Austin, Texas (Mike A. Myers Stadium & Soccer Field)
Tickets: LINK
Live Stats: LINK
Television: The match will be broadcast live on FOX Sports Southwest with Dave Barnett (play-by-play) and Jessica Stamp (analyst) on the call.
Radio: Lincoln Rose will call the action for Texas soccer via an internet audio stream that can be heard for free here: LINK
Free Kicks:
- Following its 2-0 win over Texas Tech on Friday, the Longhorns now sit seventh in the race for eight total berths in the annual Big 12 Championship in Kansas City, Mo., over Nov. 2-6. UT owns four points to rate ahead of eighth-place Texas Tech (three points) and last place TCU (one point). Texas closes the season with #1 West Virginia and TCU, Texas Tech with TCU and Oklahoma and the Horned Frogs with Texas Tech and Texas. Depending on how things go, the potential is there for next Friday's Texas-TCU match-up in Fort Worth to serve as a win-and-you're-in scenario for the eighth and final slot in KC. The tiebreakers for seeding are head-to-head results, then goal differential in the eight Big 12 matches only, then goals scored in the eight Big 12 matches only.
- The youth movement for Texas soccer is definitely underway as freshmen and sophomores have made a tremendous impact on the pitch for the Horns in 2016. In all, those two classes have combined to total 15 of UT's 26 goals (58%), 11 of the 20 assists (55%) and 41 of 72 total points (57%). Freshman and sophomore players have also accounted for 86 total starts this season out of a possible 176 available starting nods (49%).
- Whichever team scores two goals usually wins matches between Texas and its opponents in 2016. UT is a perfect 7-0-0 when scoring two or more times this season and 0-4-0 when allowing two or more goals.
- Texas enters this afternoon's contest against top-ranked West Virginia with a 0-5-0 record all-time against No. 1-rated teams and a 0-3-0 mark at home. Four of those five match-ups have been settled by just a single goal, however, with the last contest against a No. 1 squad occurring back on Sept. 19, 2014, as UT was dealt a 1-0 loss by No. 1 UCLA at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
- The Longhorns are just 1-4-1 all-time against today's opponent West Virginia with the only Longhorns win coming in the series opener back on Nov. 14, 2004, in Austin, 2-1. Since WVU joined the Big 12 Conference, UT is 0-4-1 with the tie resulting in a penalty kick shootout during the 2014 Big 12 Championship semifinals (WVU won on penalties, 6-5).
- Texas is coming off a vital, 2-0 shutout win over rival Texas Tech on Friday night that helped bolster its hopes of qualifying for the annual Big 12 Championship over Nov. 2-6 in Kansas City, Mo. Senior forward Jasmine Hart led the offensive attack with her second career two-goal match (first was as a freshman against Air Force back on Sept. 13, 2013), while freshman defender Emma Jett registered a pair of assists, sophomore midfielder Katie Glenn dished a helper and senior goalkeeper Paige Brown made six saves in recording her fourth career shutout.
- Fans should expect to see a lot of corner kicks during Sunday's match as West Virginia and Texas currently rank 1-2 in the Big 12 Conference in that category.. The Mountaineers lead the way with 116 corners (7.25-per-match), while the Longhorns are the only other league school to reach the century mark with 100 (6.25-per-match).
- The difference between home and road offensive effectiveness this season for Texas is fairly striking. UT's offense is averaging 1.9 goals and 17.6 shots-per-match at home this season, while totaling just 1.0 goals and 13.4 shots-per-match on the road. Conversely, the Longhorns defense is allowing just 0.7 goals and 10.2 shots-per-match at home while giving up 1.4 goals and 15.2 shots-per-match on the road.
- The injury bug continues to strike the Texas soccer program at a truly alarming rate in 2016. Already playing without last season's second leading scorer, as redshirt sophomore forward Mikayla Flores suffered an ACL tear in her left knee just 22 minutes into the season-opener against Seattle, the Longhorns also lost UT's 2015 & 2016 leading scorer in sophomore forward Alexa Adams for the rest of the 2016 campaign. The Lancaster, Calif., native went down 42 minutes into the 2-1 (2OT) loss to Oklahoma State on Sept. 30 with an ACL tear in her left knee. Among other players to miss significant time because of nagging injuries this season are Monique Iannella, Morgan Murphy, Nakia Graham, Cyera Hintzen and Kayra Dollas, all extremely valuable contributors who have registered either goals or assists in 2016.
- Texas' defense is particularly stingy, having not allowed more than two goals in a single match since allowing three during a 3-1 loss at TCU back on Oct. 17, 2014, a stretch of 42 consecutive contests. In fact, an opponent has only scored more than two goals in a contest four times since head coach Angela Kelly took over the program (three times in her first season on the Forty Acres in 2012) and ONLY ONCE OVER THE LONGHORNS' LAST 85 MATCHES!
Players Mentioned
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GK
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F
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M
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M/F
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F
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F
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D
/ Soccer
D
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M
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