Soccer gets Billups “golden goal” to rally past Northeastern, 3-2 (OT)

Sunday, September 10

Austin, Texas

1 p.m.

University of Texas

7-0-0

Northeastern

5-3-0

OT 1

Northeastern

Texas

Soccer gets Billups “golden goal” to rally past Northeastern, 3-2 (OT)

09.10.2017 | Soccer

Box Score Photo gallery

Second-half goals from freshman Emily Strouphauer and junior Katie Glenn rallied the Horns to force OT

AUSTIN, Texas – Texas soccer extended the best start in program history to 7-0 by scoring three goals after halftime and getting redshirt freshman Cydney Billups' "golden goal" at the 98:37 mark on Sunday afternoon at Mike A. Myers Stadium to rally past defending Colonial Athletic Association champion Northeastern (5-3), 3-2 (OT).

At the time of this release, the Burnt Orange & White remain one of just nine undefeated teams in NCAA Division I soccer. UCLA (7-0), Radford (6-0), Princeton (6-0) and Murray State (5-0) have either already played on Sunday or were idle, while LSU (5-0), Yale (6-0), Tennessee (7-0) and Memphis (6-0) play later Sunday evening.

In scoring, Billups managed the first career goal, "golden goal" and match-winning score of her brief career on the Forty Acres and served as Texas' first home overtime winner since now senior Olivia Brook knocked one home to beat No. 6 Texas Tech back on Sept. 26, 2014, 1-0 (OT).

Freshman forward Emily Strouphauer opened Texas' offensive account at 50:32 with the second goal of her career, while junior midfielder Katie Glenn tallied a goal for the third straight contest by knocking home a penalty kick at 55:43. Sophomore defender Emma Jett was credited with her first assist of the season, while Hintzen (team-leading fourth) and Glenn (second) earned assists on Billups' match-ender.

The Longhorns out-shot Northeastern in the match by a commanding 20-7 total, including 10-2 in shots on goal, and dead-locked at 5-5 on corner kicks.

The Huskies came out of the locker room ready to go, applying solid early pressure to Texas to the tune of three corner kicks over the opening five minutes.

It was the Longhorns, however, that would post the match's first shot at 7:13. Hintzen worked her way up the left wing before crossing a ball towards the near post. Glenn made a run and attempted a leaping one-timed effort, but saw it drift just wide and end up in the side netting.

NU's early pressure eventually paid off as the UT backline committed a rare mistake during the 14th minute. A through ball split two defenders as forward Carly Wilhelm made a run up the middle to enter the 18. Judged to have been fouled just a foot outside the box, the Huskies earned a free kick in a dangerous position and midfielder Valentina Soares Gache made Texas pay by beating the wall and depositing a shot to the right of diving sophomore keeper Nicole Curry into the left edge of the twine.

The Longhorns quickly battled back at the other end as junior forward Alexa Adams, Glenn and Hintzen all fired shots that were either blocked or wide.

Texas freshman forward Haley Berg got heavily involved in the proceedings at 20:33 as a quick move into the left edge of the 18 resulted in shot straight into the arms of Northeastern net minder Nathalie Nidetch.

Just 51 seconds later, Berg launched again from just outside the top edge of the 18, forcing Nidetch to make a diving stop to push the shot past the right post.

With the Burnt Orange & White continuing to press for the equalizer, it appeared Texas had gotten it during the 36th minute. Berg managed to find more space on the left wing and delivered a perfect cross that dropped in front of the right post. Flores was waiting there to drive the ball home from six yards out but was judged to have been offside on the play.

Northeastern's net minder continued her incredible play down the stretch of the opening half as Nidetch dove to push a Berg shot wide of the right post at 38:28 before making an amazing 1-v-1 save on Hintzen from point-blank range at 40:49.

Out of the break, Texas wasted no time in finally scoring the equalizer. Off a corner taken by sophomore defender Emma Jett, Strouphauer corralled the feed and beat her defender on a move to the middle. The Round Rock, Texas, native tried her luck on a shot from just outside the 18, and somehow, the ball traveled all the way through the crowd out front untouched before settling into the left side of the twine to make it 1-1.

The Longhorns needed just 5:11 more of match time to grab their first lead of the afternoon as an Adams shot from 19 yards out was judged to have struck a Northeastern defender's hand inside the box. With Texas awarded a penalty kick, Glenn stepped up for UT and calmly knocked it home for a 2-1 advantage.

The back-and-forth affair continued as the Huskies answered right back at 58:34 as a cross from the left wing to the back post was driven in from six yards out by sliding midfielder Hannah Lopiccolo.

Northeastern came within inches of re-taking the lead in the 69th minute as a bending effort from Nicole Gorman struck the right post and ricocheted out into the middle of the 18.

The woodwork also thwarted Texas later in the contest as a Hintzen effort from the top right corner of the 18 rattled off the cross bar before being cleared out of danger.

With both teams forced into overtime for the first time in 2017, it was the Longhorns who would manage the first offensive opportunity by earning a corner at 96:47.

The end would come just 1:50 later as a Glenn shot from distance ricocheted off a crowd near the right post. The deflection bounced right to Billups who calmly brought an end to the proceedings on a shot from eight yards out.

Texas Post-Match Quotes

Head Coach Angela Kelly

On the overtime victory: Northeastern is a tremendous team. That's a quality squad. It took every ounce of us to win that match today. I just want to credit them. They're very well coached, and their fortitude and perseverance. It's never easy on a Sunday. We get excited about Sundays. This is a battle of roles, and we're just really proud of our squad. You have to get the ball on their end and keep the ball on their end. Cyd had a great finish, but we organized well just to be able to get into the danger area. It's always fun to win that way because that's a memory for the players. For the rest of their lives, they're going to remember that. So to be able to see that excitement and energy is just really fantastic.

On conceding the first goal: We started a little slow today. Or conversely, Northeastern started very quick. They have personalities up top, and they were a handful all day. That's the game, and it was just a great strike. It's funny, in the match those are two of the exact same situations, going either way. I'm pleased with Katie's composure on the PK. I think that's the first PK that we've had here in about four years. Katie's been one of the people who have been striking the ball very well in training. She didn't hesitate. She just stepped to the ball. Just fantastic.

On adjusting the lineup after the first goal: We just didn't like that we were sitting back. We don't ever want to be a team that sits back on their heels. To their credit, Northeastern was running at us. We organized our shape a little better, and there you have it. I'm just pleased with the performance. Emily Strouphauer's goal, the first goal, was fantastic. Lex [Alexa] left the ball and dummied that to front the goalkeeper. There are lots of little details that go into the organization that maybe aren't spoken about, but that organization in the box was great. The finish was just as we teach them, and it was just a great win and a great weekend.

On future adjustments: What I'm going to address is how exciting it was that we had this kind of challenge. We rose to the challenge, and we grew. At halftime I told the girls that I was excited. I was excited that we were going to learn something about ourselves in this match. The next 45 minutes or so were going to teach us. What was our lesson going to be? Because we were in control of what that lesson was going to be. I thought we started the second half well. We were able to get a goal and build momentum. It's just a credit to the players and a great team win.

Texas Player Quotes

On her game-winning goal:

Cydney Billups: It was just really exciting, and I don't think that I could have done it without the support of my teammates. I was just lucky to clean up everything that happened at the top of the goal. Katie's ball just came right to me, and we're all just really excited.

On her penalty kick:

Katie Glenn: I was just looking to put it in the back of the net. We practice PKs in practice. I was just trying to get it in the back of the net and get our team on the board.

On the team message heading into overtime:

Glenn: We had just worked so hard up until this point. We're weren't just going to give up this game because we were tired, and it was overtime. We just needed to push through. We're fit enough. We're strong enough. We just pushed through and got the goal.

On the team mentality:

Glenn: I think everyone stayed positive and focused. Our key was to remain plugged in the entire game. We just wanted to get goals and get back on top to win the game.