The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Villarreal earns SEC Freshman of the Year, three Longhorns selected to Soccer’s All-SEC Teams
11.03.2024 | Soccer
Lexi Missimo earns fourth career all-conference first team selection, Mia Justus earns third different all-conference honor
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – It didn't take long for opponents around the Southeastern Conference (SEC) to take notice of several Texas Longhorn women's soccer student-athletes' abilities during UT's first season in the league as Lexi Missimo (First Team), Amalia Villarreal (Second Team) and Mia Justus (Third Team) all were selected to an All-SEC Team, the league announced Sunday morning. In addition, Villarreal was named the SEC's Freshman of the Year
Despite Texas moving conferences prior to the 2024 season, Missimo (2021-2024) becomes the third different student-athlete in program history to earn four career all-conference first team honors, joining Kasey Moore (2005-08) and Kelly Wilson (2001-04) who both earned All-Big 12 First Team selections four consecutive seasons. Missimo was a three-time All-Big 12 First Team honoree (2021-23) prior to becoming the first student-athlete in program history to be named to the All-SEC First Team (2024).
Missimo concluded the 2024 regular season by leading the entire SEC with 33 points as a result of 12 goals and nine assists in 18 matches played. During the 10-match conference-only slate, Missimo led all midfielders with 16 points and six assists, while playing all 900 possible minutes against league foes. Her five goals against SEC competition were one shy of tying for the league lead among midfielders. She concluded Texas' first regular season in the SEC by scoring a goal in the last five consecutive matches, being credited with at least one point in the last eight straight and had at least one point in nine of the Longhorns' 10 total league contests. In total, the Southlake, Texas native recorded at least one point in 16 of UT's 18 matches on the season.
With her All-SEC First Team honor, Justus has now earned an all-conference honor in three different conferences throughout her collegiate women's soccer career. During her two seasons at Florida State, the Ohio native was an ACC All-Freshman Team selection in 2021, before being named to the All-Big 12 Second Team during her first season on the Forty Acres in 2023. Justus joins Missimo as the only student-athletes in program history to earn all-conference honors in both the Big 12 and SEC.
The two-time SEC Defensive Player of the Week and SEC Preseason Watchlist selection, Justus became just the second student-athlete in program history with 10-or-more (10) clean sheets during a single season, while her 13 wins between the pipes were tied for the fifth most in the program's single-season history. Against SEC opponents, Justus turned in 90-minute clean sheets against Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Georgia. She also turned in clean sheets against Houston, CSU Bakersfield, Iowa, Central Michigan, Long Beach State and Houston Christian. She set a career high for saves in a single match with 10 against Arkansas, a match that came five days after being credited with eight saves in Baton Rouge, La., at LSU.
Villarreal was nothing short of spectacular as she became the eighth different student-athlete in program history to earn Newcomer/Freshman of the Year honors during their first season of collegiate women's soccer. She joins Katie McBain (2000), Kelly Wilson (2001), Kasey Moore (2005), Cyera Hintzen (2016), Haley Berg (2017), Julia Grosso (2018) and Missimo (2021), who all earned the Big 12's top individual freshman award following their first campaign on the Forty Acres.
Villarreal, a two-time SEC Freshman of the Week honoree, led all freshmen around the league with 14 points in conference-only matches after scoring five goals and being credited with four assists in 775 minutes played throughout 10 SEC matches. She was the only freshman in the conference to score multiple goals and be credited with multiple assists in league action. The Michigan native turned in two matches against SEC foes (Texas A&M, LSU) with both a goal scored and an assist. She also scored goals against Alabama, Florida and Missouri, while being credited with assists against Georgia and Oklahoma.
UP NEXT
Texas (13-3-2, 6-3-1) will enter this week's SEC Soccer Tournament as third seed will play the winner between sixth-seeded Auburn (12-2-4, 4-2-4) and 11th-seeded LSU (8-7-3, 3-5-2) on Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 2 p.m. CT at the Brosnaham Soccer Complex in Pensacola, Fla.
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