The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
No. 17 Soccer dominates All-Big 12 awards
11.01.2022 | Soccer, Longhorn Foundation
The Longhorns secured Offensive Player (Byars), Defensive Player (Cox) and Coach of the Year (Kelly) honors
AUSTIN, Texas – Tuesday's release of the annual Big 12 Conference soccer awards was highlighted by a lot of Burnt Orange & White as No. 17 Texas soccer (14-1-4) secured three of the league's five major individual awards while five players also reaped All-Big 12 Conference honors.
Head coach Angela Kelly picked up the program's first Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year accolade since 2001, sophomore midfielder Trinity Byars earned Texas' second Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year trophy over the last five seasons (Cyera Hintzen – 2018) and sophomore defender EmJ Cox nabbed the Longhorns' third all-time selection as the Big 12 Conference Defensive Player of the Year (Kasey Moore – 2007, 2008).
Byars (unanimous) and Cox also joined sophomore midfielder Lexi Missimo as members of the All-Big 12 Conference First Team, while fifth-year senior midfielder Emma Regan and sophomore midfielder Jilly Shimkin reaped All-Big 12 Conference Second Team selections.
With five players included on the all-league squads, Texas soccer now owns a combined 83 All-Big 12 inclusions in program history.
It's been a historic 2022 campaign for Byars as the Richardson, Texas, native has gone full attack-mode on the Longhorns single-season record book. The only player in NCAA Division I to currently rank in the national top 13 for goals (fifth – 16), assists (13th – nine) and points (second – 41), Byars has already equaled former Longhorns All-American Kelly Wilson's 2004 single-season goal scoring record and needs just six more points to break Wilson's single-season point mark from 2004 (46 points – 16 goals, 14 assists).
Along the way, Byars has registered at least one point in 15-of-18 matches played, is currently riding a school record-tying, nine-match point-scoring streak dating back to Sept. 25 at Texas Tech and has now scored a goal in five consecutive contests (one from tying her own record of six straight matches from Sept. 12-30, 2021) heading into Thursday's Big 12 Championship semifinal against West Virginia. She has managed three multi-goal efforts during the 2022 season, including braces against Florida and Texas Tech as well as the program's 16th all-time hat trick during an 8-0 rout of Texas Southern. Byars has continued to demonstrate the clutch gene by scoring six match-winning goals to rate in a tie for second in all of NCAA Division I. Included was a 62nd minute goal at Oklahoma State that completed a 2-1 triumph and clinched the program's first Big 12 Conference regular-season title since 2001.
On the pitch for all 1,710 possible minutes as the linchpin of a Texas backline that has posted eight shutouts, while limiting opponents to a miniscule 0.79 goals-per-match mark, Cox has also broken out offensively during 2022 with seven goals (tied for seventh Big 12) and three assists for 17 total points (tied for eighth Big 12). The Dallas, Texas native has proven to be incredibly efficient from an offensive standpoint by scoring on 50 percent of her total shots on goal (seven goals on 14 shots on frame) and is tied for third in the Big 12 with three match-winning scores. Entering Thursday's Big 12 Championship semifinal match-up against West Virginia, Cox has scored in consecutive matches (against Oklahoma and Kansas State) for the second time this year. Arguably her biggest goal of the year came back on Sept. 4 at Gonzaga as her 74th minute score completed Texas' furious second-half comeback from a 2-0 deficit to a 3-2 victory.
On the way to earning her second consecutive All-Big 12 First Team selection, Missimo has scored six goals and dished a Big 12-leading 14 assists for 26 points despite missing almost six full league contests because of injury. The 14 assists currently rank second in all of NCAA Division I and have equaled the school single-season record shared by Missimo (2021) and former Texas All-American Kelly Wilson (2004). Off to another strong start prior to suffering an injury early in the first half at No. 12 TCU (Sept. 22), the Southlake, Texas, native has since returned with a vengeance by registering a goal and six assists over her last four contests. Overall, Missimo has tallied at least one point in 11-of-14 matches played this season and is currently riding a streak of four consecutive matches with a point dating back to Oct. 20 at Iowa State. This past Sunday during Texas' Big 12 Championship quarterfinal against Kansas State, Missimo scored a 34th minute goal and dished a key assist on the match-winner as the Longhorns routed the Wildcats, 4-0.
As one of the unquestioned team leaders, Regan has earned her third career All-Big 12 selection in 2022 after scoring a career-high three goals and dishing an assist for seven points while playing 1,676 of 1,710 possible minutes. In her role as a holding midfielder, the Burnaby, British Columbia, native helped guide a Texas defensive unit that's registered eight shutouts while allowing just 0.79 goals-per-match. Regan opened her 2022 offensive efforts by scoring a huge 25th minute goal during a 3-2 victory over Florida (Sept. 28) and followed that up with single scores against both Texas Southern (Sept. 15) and Oklahoma (Oct. 27). Currently riding a streak of 77 consecutive starts dating back to 2018, Regan has moved into the Longhorns career top 10 for matches played (tied seventh – 87) and starts (fifth – 86).
In her first year wearing the Burnt Orange & White after transferring from Penn State, Shimkin has wasted no time making a name for herself on the Forty Acres, starting all 19 matches while scoring six goals (tied for ninth Big 12) and dishing seven assists (tied for third Big 12) for 19 total points (fifth Big 12). The Rockville Centre, N.Y., native has scored at least one point in 10 contests and recorded multi-point efforts in matches against Lipscomb, UTRGV, Kansas State, Kansas, West Virginia and Oklahoma State. In helping guide Texas to its first-ever win at West Virginia (Oct. 13), Shimkin scored a clutch penalty kick and dished an assist on Byars' 58th minute match-winner as the Longhorns prevailed, 2-1. During the Oct. 23 contest on the road at Oklahoma State, Shimkin opened the scoring at 29:58 to help the Longhorns secure both their first win in Stillwater in 20 years and a share of the program's first Big 12 Conference regular-season title since 2001.
