No. 9 Soccer’s Missimo scores three goals in 30 minutes

Sunday, August 27

Austin, TX

7 PM

University of Texas

3-1-0, 0-0-0

Iona

1-3-0, 0-0-0

Iona

Texas

No. 9 Soccer’s Missimo scores three goals in 30 minutes

08.27.2023 | Soccer

Box Score

The Southlake, Texas native propels Longhorns to third win with offensive outburst.

By: Chris Allen Brown

AUSTIN, TX – Nearly two years after recording her first career collegiate haul during her true freshman season, Lexi Missimo turned in her first career collegiate hat trick during Texas' 6-0 victory over Iona on Sunday night. Missimo joins Trinity Byars as the only Longhorn women's soccer student-athletes to accomplish the feat during the 2023 season.

Following a 0-0 first half, Missimo pushed the Longhorns out in front after putting a Byars cross from just outside the 6-yard box into the back of the net for her first goal since recording a brace against LSU on Aug. 20, 2023. Less than three minutes later, Byars, again, found Missimo on a cross into the box that the Southlake native headed passed the Gaels goalkeeper.

Over the next 13 minutes Texas put two more goals on the scoreboard as Jilly Shimkin added her second goal of the season by sending a direct free kick from 20 yards out over two Iona defenders and into the back of the net. Moments later, Byars was on the receiving end of Missimo's 36th career assist and chipped in her sixth goal on the year.

Missmo capped her three-goal evening after Longhorn goalkeeper Mia Justus sent a goal kick sailing over a majority of the pitch and rolled to Missimo, who broke away from multiple Iona defenders and sent the ball into the back of the net.

With the match clock trickling down under three minutes, Liz Worden capitalized on a scoring opportunity after Avery Clark gentle flicked a pass inside the attacking third towards the sophomore forward, who put away the ball.

FROM HEAD COACH ANGELA KELLY

"(Tonight,) I think (Lexi Missimo) just did what she does every match: she finds half-spaces, turns and is the facilitatory for all her teammates. And it's her job to get in the box and finish the chances that she's gifted with. I thought she did that extremely well (tonight). I thought she did that well the other tonight, too, but some nights it's just not going to drop. But the most important thing is to have the perversive to keep going and Lexi is doing a great job of resetting before every match."

FROM JUNIOR MIDFIELDER LEXI MISSIMO

"Trinity (Byars) gave me two dimes on the six, so those weren't hard to put away. And, on the last one, I'm pretty sure it was just a ball (from Mia Justus) over the top and I just happened to be at the right place at the right time. It always feels good to put a shot in the net for Texas soccer, so knowing I got three tonight just makes me feel great."

MATCH NOTES

With Lexi Missimo's hat trick Sunday evening, it marks the first time the Texas women's soccer program has had multiple hat tricks during the same season since 2000, when Abby Gutowski and Kati McBain accomplished the feat.
- The seven-day stretch between Missimo and Byars' hat trick is the shortest timespan in program history that a Texas women's soccer student-athlete has scored exactly three goals in two different matches.
With Sunday night's result, it marks the first time in program history the Longhorns have had multiple 6-0 results in the same season since 2004, when the Longhorns knocked off Tulane (6-0) on Sept. 17 and Missouri (6-0) on Oct. 17.
- Since the program's first season in 1994, Texas has recorded 11 different 6-0 victories with two coming in the first four regular season matches of the 2023 season.
With her assist on Trinity Byars' second-half goal, Lexi Missimo has tied the program's record for consecutive matches with an assist (4).
- Missimo also becomes the first student-athlete in Texas women's soccer history to have accomplished the feat multiple times (2) after doing so during a 10-day span from Oct. 20 to Oct. 30 in 2022.
Lexi Missimo has tied Trinity Byars for the most points scored by a Longhorn women's soccer student-athlete (7) this season.
- Missimo and Byars have both turned in three-goal, one-assist performances this season.

UP NEXT

After bouncing back from Thursday night's loss with a six-goal victory on Sunday, Texas (3-1-0) will look to win back-to-back regular season matches for the second time this season when the Longhorns square off against UTRGV (1-2-0) at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 31.
- The Vaqueros had a Saturday evening match at Houston Christian canceled after dropping a Thursday night match, 2-0, to UIW.

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