Soccer remains undefeated with a 1-0 triumph at North Texas

Sunday, August 27

Denton, Texas

1 p.m.

University of Texas

4-0

North Texas

2-2

Texas

North Texas

Soccer remains undefeated with a 1-0 triumph at North Texas

08.27.2017 | Soccer

Box Score

Sophomore forward Cyera Hintzen’s 82nd-minute goal proved to be the match-winner for the 4-0 Horns

DENTON, Texas – With regulation time running short, in a scoreless contest at the Mean Green Soccer Stadium on Sunday afternoon, Texas sophomore forward Cyera Hintzen secured a deflection and tucked home an 82nd-minute goal from 12 yards out to lead the Longhorns past North Texas, 1-0, and improve UT's record to 4-0-0 to open a season for the first time since the 2008 campaign.

Hintzen's goal marked her second match-winner of the season (fourth goal of her career) and came off the second assist of the year from redshirt sophomore forward Mikayla Flores.

For the match, Texas out-shot the Mean Green by a commanding total of 21-7, including 6-3 in shots on goal, and led 14-4 on corner kicks. The Longhorns defense has now allowed just 23 total shots over the first four matches of 2017, an average of only 5.8 shots-per-match.

Right from the start the Longhorns offense was swarming on the North Texas defensive end, earning consecutive corner kicks during the fourth minute of play.

Texas' initial shot of the match came at the 3:46 mark as junior defender Paige Hooper had a ricochet bounce straight out to her in the middle of the pitch, but her 27-yard effort proved well high.

A great feed in from deep out on the left wing by sophomore defender Emma Jett located junior midfielder Katie Glenn racing in towards the left upright. Tightly marked, the Round Rock, native tried a leaping one-timer from seven yards, but her try also traveled high of frame.

North Texas finally managed its first shot of the contest at 9:18 as midfielder Katie Gernsbacher optimistically launched a drive from 30-plus yards out but watched her effort go well over the top.

Active freshman forward Haley Berg got involved for the Horns during the 11th minute, receiving a pass and quickly moving to her left inside the middle of the 18. Unfortunately for UT, her left-footed shot traveled right into the waiting arms of UNT keeper Miranda Schoening.

The Mean Green began gaining more of a foothold in the match about 25 minutes in. A dangerous UNT cross from the right wing into the 18 (29th minute) was quickly cleared out of danger by sliding Texas sophomore defender Atu Mshana.

Both teams continued to serve crosses into the middle throughout the remainder of the opening stanza, but the defenses consistently cleared.

At 40:28, UT junior forward Alexa Adams had a ball ricochet out past her on the left side of the 18. The Lancaster, Calif., product corralled it, turned quickly and fired a shot from 12 yards out that rolled just outside the right post.

Out of the locker room, it was North Texas that had the best of the early action with a trio of shots over the opening three minutes.

The most dangerous came at the 47:24 mark as Mean Green forward Natalie Newell broke into some space inside the left edge of the 18. She fired a shot from 12 yards out that was deflected away on a terrific diving save by UT sophomore net minder Nicole Curry.

Back at the other end, Hintzen forced a stop of her own at 49:07 on a try from just inside the left edge of the 18.

During the 59th minute, North Texas threatened again as consecutive shots by Lauryn Bruffett and Aaliyah Nolan were blocked and saved, respectively.

The Longhorns missed a huge chance at 61:56 as a long free kick from junior defender Chelsea Surpris was weighted perfectly into the box. Waiting in some space in the middle was junior midfielder Kayra Dollas, but her running header went just up and over the top right corner for a goal kick.

Glenn forced another save at 64:29 as her long shot from deep out on the right wing was caught in the goal mouth by UNT keeper Schoening.

Berg came close to getting the Longhorns on the board during the 67th minute. The Celina, Texas, native's quick blast from 15 yards out on the left side was saved by the net minder's outstretched fingers.

The Horns had another outstanding chance go awry at 74:52 as a cross from the right side was deflected out front by UNT's Schoening. The ricochet traveled straight to Graham in clear space about nine yards out, but the Austin, Texas, native's quick one-timed shot popped up and over the crossbar.

Finally at 81:48, the Longhorns found the goal that had been so elusive while taking a 1-0 lead. Off a corner, the ball was played short before Glenn eventually fed a pass in towards the left post. The ball ricocheted off a crowd, that included Flores and the UNT keeper, before bouncing out front. Waiting to pounce was Hintzen, who finished into the right side of the netting from 12 yards out.

Approximately three minutes later, Hintzen nearly grabbed her second for Texas as her shot from the top of the six tickled the twine but was ruled offside.

Down the stretch, the Burnt Orange & White kept UNT from registering any more solid scoring chances while securing their fourth victory of the season.

Texas Post-Match Quotes

Head Coach Angela Kelly

On today's win at North Texas: Credit to North Texas. It was a battle, and we knew it was going to be a battle. I'm really proud of how our team came out on a Sunday. We get really excited to play on Sundays. It was great to get that goal. We created other opportunities throughout the course of the match, and it was good to tuck that one away.

On the first road trip of the season: There are a lot of firsts for a lot of people when going out on the road for the first time. With the numbers of underclassmen we have, this was a great quasi-away trip that was somewhat close to home. Next week, we prepare to fly out to California. There's a level of professionalism you need in being organized with your time. We need to have the mentality to be able to prepare away from home. These are all skill sets that our players are capable of having, and it's been great so far to see them perform both at home and away.

On the fans/alums who showed up in Denton and the Texas soccer family: Another reason why this trip was special was the fact that we have a number of players from the area. It's just heartwarming for me to have our team spend time together like at Nicole Curry's family's house on Saturday. They welcomed us with open arms. I think it's really obvious to our players the family atmosphere that we have here. The new parents are really excited, and all of our returning parents have welcomed them in. It really feels like a cohesive unit with the extended family. Not to mention seeing so many of our alums today. We had Cara Connatser, Julia Dyche, Whitney Jaynes, Kelsey Shimmick, Lindsey Meyer, Sharis Lachappelle…and their parents. We were fortunate to have some of our committed players there as well, so we had a bit of the past, present and future there with us today. That's a span of 10-12 years of the program, so that's really special to me. I just want to say I appreciate all of our alums and everyone out there supporting our program.

Sophomore forward Cyera Hintzen

On her goal in the 82nd minute: Scoring a goal feels good. I think we started off slowly and knew we had to finish strong. I just wanted to hit my shot as hard as I could, to make sure it went in, so that we could get up by a goal and then keep fighting. Being 4-0 feels great. We just have to take it one match at a time from here and keep working hard.