The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Friday, September 15
Austin, Texas
7 p.m.
University of Texas
vs
UTRGV
No. 21 Soccer preview: vs. UTRGV [Sept. 15, 2017]
09.14.2017 | Soccer
The Longhorns look to improve to 8-0 for the first time in program history by hosting the Vaqueros
Soccer Match 8: UTRGV (3-2-2) at No. 21 Texas (7-0-0)
Time: Friday, Sept. 15 – 7 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 in 2017. For more details, please visit this LINK
Tickets: LINK
Promotion: The first 250 fans through the gates will receive a free UT soccer keychain, 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 Tyler Denning (play-by-play) and Kate Markgraf (analyst) on the call. Fans can watch via this LINK.
Radio: None available
Free Kicks:
- As of Sept. 14, there were still seven unbeaten & untied teams left in NCAA Division I soccer: TEXAS, UCLA, Radford, Princeton, Murray State, Tennessee and LSU. The Longhorns can boast the highest opponent winning percentage of any of those seven teams at .580 (27-19-4 opponent record) with Princeton second at .560.
- Already off to the best start in program history, Texas soccer added another honor on Sept. 13 by being voted as the NCAA Division I Women's Soccer "Team of the Week." The Longhorns topped Duke, Princeton and Marquette in a fan vote held through the @NCAASoccer Twitter site.
- Texas' 3-2 (OT) win over Northeastern (Sept. 10) was noteworthy in that it marked the first time the Longhorns had allowed at least two goals in a match and won since beating Dayton back on Aug. 17, 2012, 3-2 (OT). That covered a stretch of 105 total matches between the occurrences, and UT had been 0-25-2 when allowing two or more goals over that span.
- The Longhorns entered all four major rankings this week, coming in at No. 21 in the United Soccer Coaches, No. 22 in Soccer America, No. 25 in Top Drawer Soccer and No. 16 in the HERO Sports power poll (tops in the Big 12 Conference). The ranking is believed to be the first for Texas in any poll since rating No. 22 in the Soccer America listing back on Oct. 29, 2013.
- Texas redshirt freshman Cydney Billups' 99th-minute goal against Northeastern (Sept. 10) was a doozy for both her and the Longhorns. It went down as the Greenwood Village, Colo., native's first career goal, "golden goal" and match-winning score. For Texas, it marked the first "golden goal" overtime winner at home since then-freshman Olivia Brook knocked one home to beat No. 6 Texas Tech back on Sept. 26, 2014, 1-0 (OT).
- With last weekend's wins over No. 25 Colorado and Northeastern, the 2017 Longhorns are off to the best seven-match start in program history at 7-0. The best eight-match opening in school history belongs to the 2008 UT team at 7-0-1. If Texas can beat UTRGV on Friday, the Longhorns would boast their first perfect 8-0 record to open a season in school history.
- After struggling in close matches during the 2016 season (just 2-8 overall in one-goal contests and 0-3-1 in overtime), Texas has gotten off to a promising start in such match-ups in 2017. So far through seven contests, the Longhorns are a perfect 5-0 in one-goal decisions with victories over Rice, Little Rock, North Texas, Sacramento State and Northeastern.
- For the Longhorns, taking a first-half lead seems to be a key to victory this season as Texas has scored eight of its 14 total goals over the opening 45 minutes of action. UT is 5-0 when scoring the match's first goal and 4-0 when leading at the halftime break.
- Texas sophomore goalkeeper Nicole Curry is currently tied for the Big 12 Conference lead in shutouts with four over her first seven career matches played and rates fifth in the league in goals-against-average at 0.56.
- Texas has had plenty of heroines to start the season as five different Longhorns (Cyera Hintzen, Haley Berg, Katie Glenn, Amber Stearns and Cydney Billups) have all registered match-winning goals over the opening seven contests of 2017. During the ENTIRE 2016 campaign, only four different players managed match-winning tallies.
- During the win over No. 25 Colorado, junior forward Alexa Adams tallied her first goal since returning from an ACL injury that ended her 2016 season prematurely, while junior midfielder Katie Glenn registered her second consecutive match-winning goal (previously scored to beat Sacramento State on Sept. 3).
- Texas fans and opponents better keep an eye on the "dynamic duo" of sophomore forward Cyera Hintzen and freshman forward Haley Berg. Former club teammates from 2010-12 with FC Dallas, Hintzen and Berg have combined to score five of Texas' 14 goals, registered six of 16 total assists and amassed 16 of the Longhorns' 44 total points this season.
- Texas' defense is particularly stingy, having allowed more than two goals in a single match ONLY TWICE OVER THE LONGHORNS' LAST 94 MATCHES (both occurrences happened at TCU on Oct. 17, 2014 & Oct. 28, 2016) and only once over the last 49 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).
- 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.
- 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 13 of her last 26 contests dating back to Oct. 9, 2015. The Lancaster, Calif., native has also registered at least two points in a match on 10 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 eight of her last 15 matches dating back to the 2015 campaign. The La Verne, Calif., native has opened her 2017 season with assists against Rice and North Texas.
- 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 has 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), the match-winner to down North Texas (Aug. 27), 1-0, three points in the 3-0 rout of No. 25 Colorado (Sept. 8) and an assist on the "golden goal" to finish off Northeastern (Sept. 10), 3-2 (OT).
- 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 35-17-6 (.655) record in the friendly confines of Myers Stadium and are 30-12-5 (.691) over the last 46 home matches. Texas owns an all-time home record of 132-43-19 (.729) 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 154-55-21 (.715) in all home games.
Players Mentioned
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