The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Friday, August 25
Austin, Texas
7 p.m.
University of Texas
vs
Little Rock
Soccer preview: vs. Little Rock & North Texas [Aug. 25 & 27, 2017]
08.24.2017 | Soccer
The Longhorns look to improve upon an unbeaten start to 2017 by hosting the Trojans and traveling to face the Mean Green
Texas Game Notes vs. Little Rock & North Texas
Soccer Matches 3 & 4: Little Rock (1-1-0) at Texas (2-0-0); Texas (2-0-0) at North Texas (1-1-0)
Schedule:
Fri., Aug. 25 Little Rock at TEXAS 7 p.m. CT – Longhorn Network
Sun., Aug. 27 TEXAS at North Texas 1 p.m. CT – Conference USA TV ($$)
Locations: Friday - Austin, Texas (Mike A. Myers Stadium & Soccer Field); Sunday – Denton, Texas (Mean Green Soccer Stadium)
TEXAS CLEAR BAG POLICY: Please note that there is a new Clear Bag Policy in effect for fans when attending Texas Athletic events starting in 2017. For more details, please visit this LINK
Tickets: Friday – LINK; Sunday – LINK
Promotion: Friday – The first 400 fans through the gates will receive a free Texas soccer scarf, courtesy of Texas Athletics.
Live Stats: Friday – LINK; Sunday – LINK
Television: Friday's match will be broadcast live on Longhorn Network (accessible through WATCHESPN with certain cable providers) with Glenn Davis (play-by-play) and Kate Markgraf (analyst) on the call. Sunday's match at North Texas will be available via Conference USA TV for a subscription fee ($$) via this LINK.
Free Kicks:
- There will be a familiar face on the North Texas side of the pitch on Sunday as former Longhorns player Katie Gernsbacher is now a senior midfielder for the Mean Green. Gernsbacher was on the roster at Texas for two seasons over 2013-14, earning time in 24 total matches (four career starts) while managing two assists.
- Of the four goals that Texas' offense has scored over the opening two matches of the 2017 season, THREE (75%) of them have come from freshmen or transfers. Rookie midfielder Haley Berg got things started with a goal just 25 seconds into the season opener against Rice, while both junior midfielder transfer Amber Stearns and freshman midfielder/forward Emily Strouphauer got their first career Texas goals to power the Horns past Western Kentucky, 2-0.
- Texas sophomore defender Atu Mshana is quite literally always on the pitch as part of the Longhorns defensive backline. The Garland, Texas, native has started all 20 possible matches of her collegiate career and been on the field for all 1,848 possible minutes dating back to the start of the 2016 campaign.
- Under the guidance of head coach Angela Kelly, since the start of the 2012 campaign, the Longhorns have scored a goal during the first 10 minutes of a match on 17 different occasions. In those contests, Texas holds a stellar 13-4 record, proving how important it often can be to get an early tone-setting score.
- With last weekend's victories, the Longhorns have now started the season at 2-0-0 for the first time since 2010. UT actually opened the 2014 campaign unbeaten over its first six contests (4-0-2) but tied its season-opener against Arizona State in Honolulu, Hawai'i, 2-2 (2OT). The last time Texas started a year at either 3-0 or 4-0 was back in 2008, when the Longhorns opened with five consecutive wins before tying Arizona State (0-0, 2OT).
- With her goal just 25 seconds into the season-opening, 2-1 victory over Rice (Aug. 18), freshman midfielder Haley Berg became the first Longhorns player to score in her first collegiate match since now senior forward Olivia Brook knocked home a goal during the 44th minute of her debut in a 2-2 (2OT) tie versus Arizona State in Honolulu, Hawai'i, back on Aug. 22, 2014.
- Texas and Little Rock will be meeting for the fourth time in program history on Friday night, with the Longhorns holding a 2-0-1 overall series lead. UT and the Trojans tied 0-0 (2OT), during the last meeting in Austin back on Sept. 20, 2015, despite Texas out-shooting the visitors, 29-6. The Horns are 3-1 all-time against Sunday's opponent North Texas, having won the last three meetings in the series. Texas lost in its only previous road match-up against the Mean Green in Denton, 2-1 (2OT), back on Oct. 31, 1999.
- Texas' defense is particularly stingy, having allowed more than two goals in a single match ONLY TWICE OVER THE LONGHORNS' LAST 89 MATCHES (both occurrences happened at TCU on Oct. 17, 2014 & Oct. 28, 2016) and only once over the last 44 matches. In fact, an opponent has scored more than two goals in a contest only five times since head coach Angela Kelly took over the program (three times during her first season on the Forty Acres in 2012).
- 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 21 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 this weekend's action having tallied points in seven of her last 10 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 idea behind the creation of the acronym was head coach Angela Kelly, and the plan is for each new Texas soccer team to come up with words to fill out the letters each season.
- 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 32-17-6 (.636) record in the friendly confines of Myers Stadium and are 27-12-5 (.670) over the last 43 home matches. Texas owns an all-time home record of 129-43-19 (.725) 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 151-55-21 (.711) in all home games.
Players Mentioned
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