The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
5-3-0
North Texas
5-3-1
Soccer picks up a 1-0 victory over in-state foe North Texas
09.16.2016 | Soccer
A Mean Green “own goal” at the 32:19 mark proves the difference in UT’s triumph
AUSTIN, Texas – A 33rd minute "own goal" provided the winning margin for Texas soccer (5-3-0) on Friday night at Mike A. Myers Stadium as the Longhorns defeated in-state foe North Texas (5-3-1), 1-0.
On the decisive first-half play inside Texas' offensive third, a North Texas defensive clearance bounced out to the top of the 18-yard box. UT junior Morgan Murphy had the ball drop at her feet before firing off a quick shot. The midfielder's effort ricocheted off the foot of North Texas' Tori Phillips, popped up to the defender's left and spun back dangerously towards the goal. UNT keeper Brooke Bradley raced out in an attempt to corral the ball but collided with pressuring Texas sophomore midfielder Katie Glenn. A last ditch effort on a dive to avert the "own goal" by a Mean Green player proved too late as the Horns secured a lead they would never relinquish.
For the match, Texas managed an 11-9 advantage in total shots, a 3-2 lead in shots on frame and a 3-0 discrepancy in corner kicks. Senior goalkeeper Paige Brown made two saves in registering her third victory and second career shutout.
Neither team could establish an early foothold in the match as both squads made offensive forays into the opposition's territory but couldn't register any shots.
The first effort for either team came at 12:37 as former Longhorns player and current UNT forward Marchelle Davis fired well wide left of frame from distance.
Off one of many lengthy free kick chances for the Mean Green over the opening 20-plus minutes, North Texas midfielder Anna Flobeck flicked a header just wide left at 14:09.
With the match becoming more physical by the minute, the Longhorns offense finally started settling in midway through the opening stanza. Freshman forward Cyera Hintzen got UT on the board shot-wise with a wide right 12-yard effort in the 29th minute.
Just 1:07 later it was Texas senior forward Jasmine Hart's turn to shoot, but her roller from 14 yards out on the left side of the 18 trickled just a few feet wide right of the post.
Finally in the 33rd minute, the breakthrough came as Murphy's shot into the middle of the 18 ignited the decisive "own goal" off Phillips' foot to grant the Horns the 1-0 advantage.
Perhaps the best chance of the match for North Texas came late in the opening half following a defensive turnover. UNT's Hailey Sutton intercepted a bad pass across the middle and broke into the top of the 18 with a potential 1-v-1 situation against the keeper developing. Texas freshman defender Atu Mshana raced back and managed enough of a challenge on Sutton that an eventual shot at 40:01 traveled just wide of the top right corner for a goal kick.
Out of the halftime break, things opened up over the first 15 minutes. Texas sophomore forward Alexa Adams drilled a shot wide left of frame at 55:11 and later forced a Bradley stop at the left post at 56:37.
Hintzen did some strong work for the Horns during the 59th minute, finding some space on the right wing before unleashing a left-footed effort that ventured just wide of the left post.
UNT answered back with a pair of opportunities of its own as Davis launched a try wide left (59:12) and Flobeck had a header blocked (63:07).
With approximately 9:30 to go, North Texas had a promising four-on-three situation develop on the break. Unfortunately for the Mean Green, a cross into the middle from the right side traveled all the way through the crowd out front with no shots taken.
UNT defender Dominique James forced Brown back into action at 82:42 as a quick turnaround try from 12 yards out ventured straight into the net minder's waiting arms.
The Longhorns almost doubled their lead with 4:50 left as a quick Adams chip from nine yards out on the left wing traveled just up and over the bar.
From there, Texas took the ball to the corner as often as possible, running out the last few ticks of the clock to secure its fifth victory of the campaign.
Texas Post-Match Quotes – vs. North Texas (Sept. 16)
Texas Head Coach Angela Kelly
On having shots on goal early on and what that did for the team: Well I think North Texas is an organized squad. I mean credit to John (Hedlund), and he's been there for a very long time, and they're a very well coached program. They were hard to break down, and I think in instances in the first half we found a rhythm. I think overall we're just really excited for the win, I mean that's ultimately…It's not always pretty, and you understand that. We would have like to have settled it a little bit quicker and settled it a little bit sooner but in the end, Katie Glenn, another physical risk. I mean I think she's probably one of the shortest people on our team, and she scored two or three goals with her head already. So she's having a great start to her season, and we're just really excited for her.
On playing Cal Santa Barbara this weekend: UCSB, Paul Stumpf, the head coach there, has been there for a long time, and he does a tremendous job. We had a tough battle against them last year. We're going to have to get the ball on the floor and settle it a lot quicker, because UCSB is a very good team.
Texas junior midfielder Morgan Murphy
On overcoming a slow start on offense: We had a pretty slow start, but we really picked up in getting that goal. It really helped our momentum. We stuck to our game plan, and we put pressure on them. They're a good team, and we expected that. We stuck to what we were going to do… we said that we're going to keep pressing the ball, and we're going to try and find an outlet. We ended up doing that, and that's why we had success. We would like to score more and do more on offense, but ultimately a win is a win, and we got a shutout as well. Our defense is strong, and everyone on the field did their job.
On the own goal: Everyone ahead of the ball did a really good job of creating chaos, and it came out. I knew I had to hit it one-time and stay over it. It's unfortunate for them for things like that to happen but fortunate for us. We're obviously happy that it went in the goal, and that definitely gave us momentum and an offensive mindset moving forward.
On facing undefeated UC Santa Barbara on Sunday: We're excited to get to play them again. We played them last year and we didn't get the result we hoped for, so we're grateful for this win tonight but we're already focused for Sunday.
Texas senior goalkeeper Paige Brown
On tonight's performance: For every game, a win is a win, and we just have to keep moving forward. Getting another one under the belt with the girls, we just keep connecting and building our relationship on the field, so we just take it one game at a time and move forward.
On transitioning to her new team at Texas: I'm definitely glad I came in for a semester in the spring. It gave me a head start and that connection. Ever since the preseason, our connection has just kind of skyrocketed.
Team Stats
TEAM
North Texas defender #24 attempted to cl
32:19
