No. 22 Soccer preview: at Florida

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – On the heels on a rivalry victory over Texas A&M on Sunday night, The University of Texas women's soccer program will look to carry its momentum to the East Coast, where the Longhorns will square off against the Florida Gators in Gainesville, Fla., at 6 p.m. CT / 7 p.m. ET on SEC Network+.

TELEVISION: Kyle Crooks and Matthew Stubbington will serve as the play-by-play commentator and analyst, respectively, for Friday night's SEC Network+ broadcast.

SERIES HISTORY

Friday's match will mark the first time Florida and Texas have played each other on a soccer pitch since Aug. 28, 2022, when the Longhorns knocked off the Gators, 3-2, in Austin.
- The 2022 matchup was the back end of a home-and-home series between the two women's soccer programs after Texas traveled to Gainesville, Fla., to play Florida on Aug. 22, 2021.
  - That match resulted in a 1-1 tie after the teams played through two overtime periods.
There are only seven active Longhorn women's soccer student-athletes who have played at least one career collegiate soccer match against Florida: Lexi Missimo, Holly Ward, Trinity Byars, EmJ Cox, Lauren Lapomarda, Ashlyn Miller and Jilly Shimkin.
- Byars (two goals, one assist), Missimo (two assists) and Lapomarda (one assists) are the only current Longhorn women's soccer student-athletes to score a goal or be credited with an assist against the Gators.

KICKING OFF

Texas, when it takes the pitch at Donald R. Dizney Stadium on Friday night, will be looking for its first-ever win Gainesville, Fla.
- The Longhorns traveled to the Sunshine State for this weekend's match against Florida with a 0-1-1 all-time record in Gainesville.
  - UT dropped a one-goal contest (1-0) to Ole Miss in the opening round of the 2003 NCAA Tournament on Nov. 14, 2003.
  - Eighteen years later, Texas returned to Gainesville and played to a 110-minute, 1-1 tie against Florida on Aug. 22, 2021.
When Lauren Lapomarda appears in Friday evening's contest, the fifth-year senior will tie the program's record for most career matches played in with 91.
- Emily Anderson (2006-09), Kasey Moore (1005-08) and Amy Burlingham (2003-06) are all currently tied for the record.
- Of those 90 career matches played in entering this weekend's match, Lapomarda has started 85 career matches, which is the sixth most by any student-athlete in program history.
  - Moore (2005-08) currently holds the record with 91 career starts.
- Hannah Waesch (92) and Madison Haugen (90) have also appeared in 90-or-more career collegiate women's soccer matches, but 56 of Waesch's matches occurred over a three-year career (2020-23) at Auburn while 78 of Haugen's happened during a four-year career (2020-24) at Georgia.
Entering Friday's matchup, Texas senior goalkeeper Mia Justus is tied for the fifth-most clean sheets in the program's single-season history with eight.
- If Justus manages to keep the Gator offense off the scoreboard, the Ohio native will become the first student-athlete in program history with multiple seasons of nine-or-more clean sheets after having nine in her first season on the Forty Acres in 2023.
- Nicole Curry (2017) currently holds the program's single-season clean sheet record with 11.
  - Curry (11) is also the only student-athlete in program history to have 10-or-more clean sheets in a single season.
With two more assists, Lexi Missimo will reach the 60-career assist mark, not only becoming the first student-athlete in program history to reach the milestone but also the first Division I women's soccer student-athlete to do so since Notre Dame's Kerri Hanks (73) did so over a four-year career from 2005-08.
- Missimo would become just the 12th Division I student-athlete to be credited with 60-or-more assists throughout a women's soccer career.

FOLLOW US

For the latest information on the team, follow @TexasSoccer on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. General athletic news can also be found at @TexasLonghorns on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

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Players Mentioned

Trinity Byars

EmJ Cox

Madison Haugen

Mia Justus

Lauren Lapomarda

Ashlyn Miller

Lexi Missimo

Jilly Shimkin

Hannah Waesch

Holly Ward

The University of Texas at Austin Athletics