The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Sunday, August 20
Austin, Texas
2 p.m.
University of Texas
vs
Western Kentucky
Soccer preview: vs. Western Kentucky [Aug. 20, 2017]
08.19.2017 | Soccer
The Longhorns look to improve to 2-0 to open a season for the first time since 2010
Texas Game Notes vs. Western Kentucky
Soccer Match 2: Western Kentucky (1-0-0) at Texas (1-0-0)
Time: Sunday, Aug. 20 – 2 p.m. CT
Location: Austin, Texas (Mike A. Myers Stadium & Soccer Field)
TEXAS CLEAR BAG POLICY: Please note that there is a new Clear Bag Policy in effect for fans when attending Texas Athletic events starting in 2017. For more details, please visit this LINK
Tickets: LINK
Promotion: The first 250 fans through the gates will receive free UT sunglasses, courtesy of Texas Athletics.
Live Stats: LINK
Television: The match will be broadcast live on Longhorn Network (accessible through WATCHESPN with certain cable providers) with Glenn Davis (play-by-play) and Kate Markgraf (analyst) on the call.
Radio: None available
Free Kicks:
- In facing Western Kentucky on Sunday, Texas will be looking to register its first perfect 2-0 start since the 2010 campaign and for just the ninth time in program history. UT also opened a season with victories in its opening two contests back in 2010, 2008, 2007, 2005, 2002, 1999, 1996 & 1995.
- Texas and Western Kentucky will be meeting for the first time in program history on Sunday at Mike A. Myers Stadium. The Longhorns are 12-4 all-time against current members of Conference USA.
- Texas freshman midfielder/forward Haley Berg wasted no time showcasing the ability that had coaches across the country looking to lock up her commitment as an eighth grader by scoring her first career collegiate goal JUST 25 SECONDS into her UT debut during the season-opening, 2-1 victory over Rice. Amazingly, it wasn't the fastest goal to start a match in Longhorns history as Jill Cook scored against Vanderbilt in just 10 seconds back during the 1995 campaign.
- Redshirt freshman forward Cydney Billups managed to make an impression in her Texas playing debut, assisting on Cyera Hintzen's match-winning goal at 36:07 to beat Rice, 2-1. The Greenwood Village, Colo., native was forced to miss the entire 2016 season with injuries.
- Junior forward Alexa Adams is always a threat to put up at least one point for the Longhorns offense, having totaled at least one point in 12 of her last 20 contests dating back to Oct. 9, 2015. The Lancaster, Calif., native has also registered at least two points in a match on nine different occasions with a high of four points in consecutive tilts at Iowa State (Oct. 9, 2015) and TCU (Oct. 11, 2015) back during her freshman season.
- Much like her teammate Adams, redshirt sophomore forward Mikayla Flores puts up points by the bunch, entering Sunday's action having tallied points in seven of her last nine matches dating back to the 2015 campaign. The La Verne, Calif., native opened her 2017 season with an assist in the opening victory over Rice.
- Texas sophomore forward Cyera Hintzen was chosen as one of 11 players on the annual Preseason All-Big 12 Team, the league office announced. The Garland, Texas, native is coming off a 2016 campaign that saw her tally two goals on the way to earning the program's fourth all-time selection as the Big 12 Freshman of the Year. She was one of just three sophomores to make the preseason squad. Hintzen wasted no time making her impression felt in 2017 with the match-winning goal and an assist during the 2-1 season-opening victory over Rice (Aug. 18).
- If the Longhorns needed any preseason motivational material, they certainly got it in the form of the Big 12 Preseason Poll. The league's coaches picked UT to finish eighth out of 10 teams, garnering 32 total points to trail five-time defending champion West Virginia (nine first-place votes/81 points), Kansas (one first-place vote/71), Oklahoma (57), Texas Tech (55), Baylor (47), Oklahoma State (38) and TCU (37). Iowa State (23) and Kansas State (9) rounded out the 10-team listing.
- This year, the team has adopted the acronym RAMPED as the guideline for the 2017 campaign. The letters represent the words Respect, Accountability, Mentality, Pursuit of Excellence, Energy and Discipline, all facets of a championship team.
- The Longhorns are coming off an 8-9-1 season that saw the squad finish ninth in the Big 12 regular-season standings and miss the postseason. UT lost five valuable seniors off that squad including midfielder Julia Dyche (led the team in assists in 2016, played in 65 straight matches), defender Isabelle Kerr (played 1,666 of 1,668 minutes in the back last season), forward Jasmine Hart (second on the team with four goals and nine points in 2016) and goalkeeper Paige Brown (started 15 matches in goal with four shutouts, 49 saves and a 1.09 GAA).
- Texas had a tough time in close matches last season, posting just a 2-8 overall mark in one-goal contests, a 0-5 record in one-goal Big 12 tilts and a 0-3-1 mark in overtime matches. In fact, the Longhorns trailed for just 133:12 of 853 total minutes in league action (only 16 percent of the time) (trailed just 47:37 over seven combined league matches if you take out the road match at Iowa State) and went 1-6-1.
- Dorothy once said there's no place like home. The Texas soccer squad takes that line from "The Wizard of Oz" to heart as in five-plus seasons under coach Angela Kelly, the Longhorns have posted a 31-17-6 (.630) record in the friendly confines of Myers Stadium and are 26-12-5 (.663) over the last 43 home matches. Texas owns an all-time home record of 128-43-19 (.724) in now the 19th year (1999-present) at Mike A. Myers Stadium and Soccer Field. In the 20+-year history of Texas Soccer, the Horns have registered an overall record of 150-55-21 (.710) in all home games.
Players Mentioned
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