No. 21 Soccer preview: at No. 25 SMU [NCAA First Round]

NCAA FIRST ROUND: #21 Texas (11-4-6, 6-0-3 Big 12) at #25 SMU (11-4-2, 4-2-2 AAC)

Time: Sunday, Nov. 14 – 1 p.m. CT

Location: Dallas, Texas (Washburn Soccer Stadium)

Tickets: LINK

TV: The match will be web-streamed live on ESPN+ and can be accessed for a subscription fee through this LINK.

Live Stats: LINK

Free Kicks:

SMU leads Texas in the all-time series between the two teams, 5-1-2, including 1-0-2 in meetings in Dallas. The two programs have faced off in the NCAA First Round on two previous occasions with the Longhorns dropping both contests by a 2-1 count during the 2001 & 2002 NCAA First Rounds held in College Station, Texas.

Texas is heading to the NCAA Tournament for the 15th time in program history (8-14-2 overall record, .375) and for the fifth time under the guidance of head coach Angela Kelly. UT is 6-8-0 all-time in NCAA First Round matches, having lost its last two such contests in 2018 & 2019.

Prior to taking over at SMU, Mustangs head coach Chris Petrucelli helmed the Texas soccer program from 1999-2011. During his stay on the Forty Acres, he led the Longhorns to the 2001 Big 12 regular-season title, to a pair of Big 12 Tournament titles (2006, 2007) and to 10 NCAA Tournaments.

The Longhorns put a program-record five players on the 2021 Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team as freshman midfielder Lexi Missimo, freshman forward Trinity Byars, senior forward Mackenzie McFarland, senior midfielder Julia Grosso and freshman defender EmJ Cox all earned league accolades as part of a 12-member squad.

Texas posted a PROGRAM-RECORD 14-MATCH UNBEATEN RUN from Sept. 12-Nov. 4, breaking the old mark previously held by the 2006 & 2017 Longhorns. During their skein, the Longhorns outscored opponents by a total of 31-8, fired off an average of 17.6 shots-per-match and registered nine shutouts. Eight different Texas players scored goals over that stretch led by the "Run BMG" trio of Byars (12 goals), Missimo (seven goals) and Grosso (four goals) as well as senior forward Mackenzie McFarland (four goals). Fifth-year senior goalkeeper Savannah Madden managed a 0.54 GAA & an .875 save percentage while making 56 saves in 1334:26 of match action.

Rookie standouts Lexi Missimo and Trinity Byars have been threatening some longstanding Texas freshman single-season records. With her 14th assist during the Big 12 Championship Final against No. 9 TCU, Missimo broke Kati McBain's freshman mark of 13 assists from the 2000 season, while Byars needs one more goal and four more points to equal Kelly Wilson's 13-goal, 38-point output as a rookie back in 2001.

The release of the annual Big 12 Conference awards on Nov. 2 contained a lot of Burnt Orange. Lexi Missimo earned Texas' seventh all-time (and fourth over the last six years) nod as the Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year and joined Trinity Byars and Julia Grosso on the All-Big 12 First Team. Savannah Madden, EmJ Cox and Emma Regan received All-Big 12 Second Team honors, while Cox, Byars and Missimo were each named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team. The six total honorees marked the most in a single season for the Texas program since 2006.

Lexi Missimo now owns an impressive 12 career goals, 16 career assists and 40 career points over her first 24 collegiate matches. She became the fastest Longhorns player to reach 10 goals in program history (12 matches), breaking former Longhorns All-American Kelly Wilson's (2001) record by one match. Trinity Byars is right on her teammate's heels with 12 goals and 10 assists for 34 points over her first 21 career matches.

The Longhorns have won 42 consecutive matches in which they scored two-or-more goals in a contest dating back to the start of the 2017 season. The last time Texas failed to win when tickling the twine on two occasions was in a 3-2 defeat at TCU back on Oct. 28, 2016.

UT is 35-4-3 since the start of the 2018 season when scoring first in a match & is 10-1-2 in such contests in 2021.

The University of Texas at Austin Athletics