Soccer takes “Red River Rivalry” over Oklahoma, 1-0

Friday, September 25

Austin, Texas

7 p.m. CT

University of Texas

1-2-0, 1-2-0

Oklahoma

0-1-0, 0-1-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Oklahoma	0	0	0
Texas	0	1	1

Soccer takes “Red River Rivalry” over Oklahoma, 1-0

09.25.2020 | Soccer

Box Score

Freshman forward Presley Echols scored her first collegiate goal in her Burnt Orange & White debut

AUSTIN, Texas – On Friday night in front of 795 socially-distanced fans at Mike A. Myers Stadium, freshman forward Presley Echols made her collegiate debut count in a major way by scoring her first career goal and match-winner at 62:21 to power Texas (1-2-0) past Oklahoma (0-1-0) in the latest renewal of the "Red River Rivalry," 1-0.

Texas Player Notes

Senior midfielder/forward Haley Berg tallied her first assist of the season and the 17th of her standout career, moving her into a tie for 10th all-time in Texas career history for assists alongside Carol Finch (1995-97). Berg also led the Longhorns with five shots during the win over Oklahoma.
Echols is the first Texas player to score in her collegiate debut since then-freshman Sydney Nobles tickled the twine against Gonzaga in the 2019 season opener.
Echols earned her first collegiate playing time and start against the Sooners (70 minutes), while rookie midfielder Kelsey Hranicky made her first collegiate start for the Longhorns and played 72 minutes.
Senior goalkeeper Savannah Madden made three saves in registering her second career solo shutout.

Team Notes

Texas improved to 16-9-2 all-time against the Sooners, including 9-2-1 at Mike A. Myers Stadium, and 7-2-1 under the guidance of head coach Angela Kelly. The last eight matches in the series have all been settled by one goal or required overtime with UT leading over that stretch, 5-2-1.
The Longhorns are now 26-13 over their last 39 one-goal matches dating back to the start of the 2017 campaign.
All Big 12 teams are playing a conference-only schedule of nine total matches in fall 2020.

The Details

Texas managed the first solid scoring opportunity of the match just 2:40 in as junior midfielder Julia Grosso found some space up the middle of the pitch but drove a 19-yard shot right into the arms of OU goalkeeper Nikki Panas.

With the battle raging back-and-forth, both teams managed a pair of wide efforts from 13:30 through the 28:42 mark as neither squad could locate the target.

It appeared that the Longhorns had found the opener at 34:42. Sophomore forward Teni Akindoju advanced up the left wing into the 18-yard box and crossed middle. The pass appeared to briefly strike the leg of a sliding Panas before being driven into the twine from five yards out by sophomore forward Nobles. Unfortunately for Texas, the linesman on the far side has his flag raised for offside.

Play continued on as back at the other end, Oklahoma midfielder Sakura Yoshida forced the first of Madden's three stops on a shot from distance.

Things picked up after the halftime break as the two teams managed seven shots each over the final 45 minutes.

Echols (50:16) and junior forward Mackenzie McFarland (50:51) both had shots blocked by the OU defense before Berg forced a Panas save at 51:15.

OU's Bri Amos wreaked some havoc of her own in the 53rd and 54th minutes, as the forward drove a pair of shots right into Madden's hands.

Texas eventually broke the scoreless deadlock at the 62:21 mark. It was Berg who started it all by dribbling her way into the right edge of the 18 and crossing a pass into the middle. After pinging around briefly among the crowd out front, the ball eventually ended up at Echols' feet. The Dallas, Texas, native took a quick, right-footed volley and beat Panas into the lower left corner from seven yards out to make it 1-0.

OU had a good chance for an equalizer at 70:33 as Yoshida tried her luck from 14 yards out on the right side only to have her shot drift a couple of yards outside the left post.

Down the stretch, the Longhorns did strong work to burn off much of the clock. The Sooners managed a couple of wide shots over the last 5:55, but that was all as Texas completed the 1-0 victory.