The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Arizona State
Soccer preview: at Arizona State
08.19.2026 | Soccer
Longhorns make first trip to Tempe since 2007
TEXAS VS. ARIZONA STATE
Date: Aug. 20, 2026
Where: Sun Devil Soccer Stadium
Time: 9 p.m. CT / 7 p.m. MT
TV: ESPN+
Live stats: texas.statbroadcast.com
THE MATCHUP — With back-to-back clean sheets to start the Margueritte Bates era, Texas hits the road for a six-day swing in the Valley of the Sun. The Longhorns begin their trip against Arizona State on Thursday, facing the Sun Devils for the second straight season. Texas leads the head-to-head series, 1-0-3, highlighted by a 1-0 win in the lone contest in Tempe on Sept. 7, 2007. Last year, the two sides played to a 1-1 draw. While at UCLA, Bates went 2-0 against Arizona State, outscoring the Sun Devils, 4-0.
BIG-TIME BAYLISS — Senior Bayliss Flynn was named the Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday. Flynn became just the second Texas goalkeeper to record back-to-back clean sheets in her first two starts as a Longhorn in the program's illustrious 33-year history, joining Dana Hall in 2003. In Texas' season-opening shutout win over HCU, the 5-foot-6 netminder directed a Longhorns' defense that held the Huskies to just three shots, including zero attempts on target. Flynn followed her first clean sheet with a six-save performance in a 1-0 victory at Pitt on Sunday. A transfer from Montana, she earns her third career weekly league honor after being tabbed Big Sky Conference Player of the Week twice during the 2024 campaign.
A GOOD NON-CON PITT STOP — Amalia Villarreal delivered from the penalty spot and Bayliss Flynn recorded her second consecutive clean sheet to lead Texas to a 1-0 win over Pitt at Ambrose Urbanic Field on Sunday afternoon. With the match scoreless late in the second half, the Longhorns earned a corner kick in the 74th minute. Villarreal lofted a service toward the back post for Hannah Tate, who flicked the back toward frame. The Panthers' backline blocked Tate's attempt, but following video review, Pitt was whistled for a handball. Villarreal stepped to the spot and converted, burying her attempt into the bottom-left corner to push Texas ahead. Flynn and the Longhorns' defense preserved the shutout victory the rest of the way. The senior total six saves, highlighted by a pair of diving stops in the 48th and 64th minutes, respectively.
HOUNDING THE HUSKIES — In its opener under first-year head coach Margueritte Bates, Texas hammered HCU, 3-0. The Longhorns started its new era in style, as two-time All-SEC Second Team selection Amalia Villarreal found the back of the net in the third minute. Villarreal's 21st career tally was Texas' quickest goal to start a season since Haley Berg's strike 25 second in against Rice on Aug. 18, 2017. Later in the half, Sadie Hoch doubled the Longhorns' lead by curling a shot from 25 yards out into the back right corner of the cage. In the closing minutes, Kennedi Cotter punctuated Bates' Texas debut with her first goal as a Longhorn. Texas finished the match with a 19-3 advantage in shots, including holding the Huskies without an attempt on target. The Longhorns controlled 74 percent of the possession, totaling seven corner kicks in the victory.
A NEW ERA — On Nov. 25, 2025, Margueritte Bates was named just the fifth Longhorns head soccer coach since the program's birth in 1993. Bates arrives on The Forty Acres following an extraordinary four-year tenure at UCLA, where she became the first rookie head coach to win the NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship in 2022. During her time with the Bruins, Bates compiled a 67-13-9 (.803) ledger, the fourth-best mark of any program during that stretch. The two-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year guided UCLA to a pair of conference titles and four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.
