The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
11.06.2023 | Soccer
Texas to play 10th all-time NCAA Tournament match in Austin when Longhorns take on Lamar
AUSTIN, Texas – When Monday afternoon's NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Selection Show began at 3 p.m. CT, there was no if the Texas Longhorns would be participating in this season's NCAA Tournament, it was more when would head coach Angela Kelly and her student-athletes see "Texas" displayed on the television screen.
Like Lexi Missimo in the finals of the 2023 Sprouts Farmers Market Big 12 Soccer Championship on Saturday night, the wait did not last longer than five minutes as Texas was the fifth team revealed in the upper-left quadrant of the four-quadrant bracket that was released in a top left-bottom left-top right-bottom right order.
Texas was chosen as the fifth-seeded program in a 16-team Tallahassee Regional quadrant and will play Lamar, the Southland Conference's postseason tournament champions, at 6 p.m. CT inside Mike A. Myers Stadium on the campus of The University of Texas on Friday, Nov. 10.
"I'm just really excited with our last series of matches. I think we've really matured as a squad over the course of this last month. I'm just really excited for what lies ahead," Kelly said. "Obviously in tournament time, which is what we've been playing in over the last week, it's win and advance and never overlook an opponent. Right now, all I can tell you is that I'm focused on Lamar and that's all there is to it."
Texas (15-4-2) will enter Friday evening's match against the Cardinals having not only won its first Big 12 postseason tournament championship since 2007, but has also won its last five consecutive matches, including posting a clean sheet against No. 4 Texas Tech, 1-0, and knocking off No. 6 BYU, 3-1. Overall, the Longhorns are unbeaten in nine of their last 10 matches, while posting a 4-0-1 record at home during that span.
The Longhorns are led by junior midfielder Lexi Missimo, who has broken every single-season program record throughout the 2023 campaign and is on the verge of becoming the first 20-goal, 20-assist Division I women's soccer student-athlete since 2019. Teammate Trinity Byars has also guided Texas to this point of the season by scoring 17 goals and being credited with 13 assists. In total, the life-long best friends have combined to score 114 of UT's 202 points this season.
Defensively, Texas features junior Mia Justus, who was named the Big 12's Most Outstanding Defensive Player following Saturday night's match against BYU, in between the pipes and has earned 15 wins with eight clean sheets and a 0.99 goals allowed average this season. Big 12 All-Tournament selection Lauren Lapomarda and first-year Longhorn Abby Allen anchor a defensive backline that limited the nation's top-scoring offense — BYU — to just a single goal less than 48 hours ago.
Ticket information for Friday night's match will become available at a later date.
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