No. 14 Soccer’s Lapomarda turns in career night in victory

Thursday, September 12

Austin, Texas

7 PM

University of Texas

7-0-1, 0-0-0

Houston Christian

1-4-2, 0-0-0

Houston Christian

Texas

No. 14 Soccer’s Lapomarda turns in career night in victory

09.12.2024 | Soccer

Box Score

Defender Lauren Lapomarda finishes with career-high three points as Texas moves to 7-0-1

By: Chris Allen Brown

AUSTIN, Texas – It's not every match one of a team's defenders records a three-point performance, but Texas' 3-0 win over Houston Christian on Thursday night was that match for Lauren Lapomarda.

Looking for improve on a 1-0 lead on the scoreboard following the seventh goal by Lexi Missimo on the season, Lapomarda sent a pass towards the right edge of the 18-yard box as Amalia Villarreal was looking to get by a defender. Rather than beating her defender on a 1-on-1 opportunity, Villarreal, on the first touch from Lapomarda's pass, sent a cross into the box that Holly Ward put into the back of the net to double Texas' lead less than 15 minutes into the second half.

But the 5-foot-2 defender wasn't done in the box score just yet.

19 minutes later, Lapomarda set a career high with three points after she blasted a loose ball into the upper-left corner of the goal for her first goal of the season and just third over her five-year career. The goal sealed Texas' third consecutive match with at least three goals, while also capping an undefeated non-conference regular season slate for the Longhorns.

cue the @lauren_lapo knee slide 🤌🤘#HookEm | #RunWithTexas pic.twitter.com/iTqYlIboim
— Texas Soccer (@TexasSoccer) September 13, 2024

FROM HEAD COACH ANGELA KELLY

"In our sport, you want the most every category. You want the most possessions, the most shots, the most shots on goal and that's something that we focus on. We had 31 shots with 16 of those hitting the face, so that's over 50 percent. That's fantastic. Out of those 16 shots on goal, we had three goals their goalkeeper had to make nine saves. I thought both of Houston Christian's goalkeepers did well tonight. You have to credit HCU, too. I thought they were really well organized and that's a system of play that can allow your team to be frustrative. I thought we continued to plug away and had a really great response during the second half."

FROM DEFENDER LAUREN LAPOMARDA

"I'm very grateful and proud of how the team performed out there tonight. I'm just thankful I was able to make an impact on the game. The goal kind of happened all so fast. I know if I'm at the top of the box, I'm supposed to shoot it, so I had a chance and I just whipped it. I was actually joking with my center back Breana Thompson and said, 'Watch, we are about to score right here,' and it happened. I'm just really appreciate and happy I was able to help the squad."

MATCH NOTES

With the victory, Texas has now registered an unbeaten non-conference slate during the regular season for the fourth time in program history and first time since the 2018 campaign.
Holly Ward's second-half goal was the first for the Vancouver native since scoring the final goal of Texas' 3-1 victory over BYU in the Big 12 Championship match on Nov. 4, 2023.
Amelia Abbott and Toni Lopez both made their season debut on Thursday night against the Huskies as both came off the bench during the second half to play five and 12 minutes, respectively.
Following Thursday night's result, Texas goalkeeper Mia Justus has now allowed just one goal in 660:00 minutes played at Mike A. Myers Stadium this season.
- Justus, the second-year Longhorn, will enter conference action next week having allowed just four goals while sporting a 0.879 save percentage.
By adding two points — courtesy of a first-half goal — to her season total on Thursday night, Lexi Missimo is now tied with Arkansas' Kate Doyle for the most points scored (17) this season among women's soccer student-athletes in the SEC.
- Both Missimo and Doyle have scored seven goals and been credited with three assists to this point of the season.

UP NEXT

With the non-conference portion of its 2024 regular season now completed, Texas (7-0-1) will open SEC action next when the Longhorns host Alabama at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 19.
- The match will not only be the first SEC contest for the Texas women's soccer program, but also the UT athletic department after the Longhorns moved from the Big 12 to the SEC on July 1, 2024.

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