No. 12 Soccer’s Byars records program’s fifth haul in return to Dallas

Thursday, August 22

Dallas, Texas

6 PM

University of Texas

3-0-0, 0-0-0

SMU

2-1-0, 0-0-0

Texas

SMU

No. 12 Soccer’s Byars records program’s fifth haul in return to Dallas

08.22.2024 | Soccer

Box Score

Trinity Byars turns in SEC’s first four-goal match of the 2024 campaign

By: Chris Allen Brown

DALLAS, Texas – As hundreds of collegiate women's soccer fans sat in the stands at Washburne Soccer and Track Stadium prior to Texas' 6-3 victory over SMU, everyone pondered how the Longhorn student-athletes from the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex would perform over the next 90 minutes.

That question was put to rest less than 34 minutes into the match as Trinity Byars, a Richardson, Texas native, had already recorded her team-leading fifth career hat trick to give Texas a 3-0 lead. And even when she didn't score the Longhorns' fourth first-half goal at the 38-minute mark, the senior forward was credited with an assist after connecting with Avery Clark in the 18-yard box.

Byars, in less than 45 minutes of match time, had already tied her career high for points (7) in a single match, which she last achieved on Aug. 20, 2023, when Texas knocked off Rice in Austin. Along the way, Byars not only became the first student-athlete in program history to be credited with 50-or-more career goals but became the NCAA's leader in career goals among active women's soccer student-athletes with 51.

But the show wasn't over.

Seven minutes after Amalia Villarreal extended Texas' lead back to 5-2 following two Mustang goals over a 10-minute stretch, Byars capped the night and sealed the Longhorns' third victory on the young season with her career-high fourth goal in the match, becoming just the fifth student-athlete in program history — and first since Lexi Missimo against UTRGV on Sept. 12, 2021 — to be credited with a haul (or four-goal match).

Byars accomplished the four-goal feat on just five shots, all of which were on frame, in 78 minutes of match time.

FROM HEAD COACH ANGELA KELLY

"I thought it was just a tremendous night to bring our senior class back to Dallas. I'm so grateful for them and what they've done for this program. They've definitely taken this program to huge heights, specifically the ones who have all the pressure on them like Lexi Missimo and Trinity Byars. For Trinity Byars to have a first-half hat trick was truly special. I even think there was a couple more that she left out there, but she definitely showed up and responded. I was really pleased when she got that fourth goal and then was able to get her off the pitch to a standing ovation in the closing minutes."

MATCH NOTES

In 63 minutes on the pitch, senior Jilly Shimkin was credited with a match-high three assists, tying her career high set against TCU in Austin on Oct. 23, 2023.
- Shimkin will enter Texas' next match with 22 career assists during her time on the Forty Acres, which ranks her sixth on the program's career assist list.
- Shimkin's three assists on the night marked the most assists by a women's soccer student-athlete in the SEC so far this season.
  - The previous most was two, which eight student-athletes accomplished including Lexi Missimo against the Mustangs.
With 10 minutes remaining in the second half, freshman Amalia Villarreal became the second first-year Longhorn to score a goal this season as the Michigan native took a pass from Ashlyn Miller and sent the ball into the top-left corner of the net from 12 yards out for her first career collegiate goal.
- Villarreal was also credited with her first career assist when the forward and Shimkin connected to find Byars for her second of four goals on the evening.
As a result of her assist on Trinity Byars' first goal of the match, Lexi Missimo has now scored at least one point in all three matches of the 2024 season, joining Byars as the only Longhorns to do so.
Thursday night's victory marked the first time in program history that Texas has beaten SMU in Dallas, Texas.
- The Longhorns entered the match with a 0-2-2 all-time record against the Mustangs in the matches played in Dallas.

UP NEXT

Texas (3-0) will look to extend its current three-match winning streak when the 12th-ranked Longhorns take on No. 24 Iowa (1-0-1) at Mike A. Myers Stadium at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 25.

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