August18, 2012
COLLEGES START 2012 SEASON
UT, Baylor, T.Tech, and UNT take wins

by Phil Stephens, Dallas Soccer News Editor

Just a sophomore, Mean Green goalie Jackie Kerstine helped lead UNT to an opening game victory Friday night. photo by Phil Stephens

University of Texas, Baylor, Texas Tech and the University of North Texas took opening game victories Friday in the start of college season. The SMU women took a tumble and TCU earned a tie, while the Texas A&M Maroon/White game was cancelled due to bad weather. Details follow below.

Texas Tech 2, Idaho 1--Texas Tech opened the 2012 season with a 2-1 win over Idaho Friday night at the John Walker Soccer Complex. Sophomore Paige Strahan provided the game-winning goal in the 82nd minute of action to give the Red Raiders the win in front of an announced crowd of 1,117.
"I thought we adjusted nicely tonight," head coach Tom Stone said. "My biggest impression was that when they equalized after we had been all over them for 80 minutes, our team was not going to accept a draw. We just turned up the volume, scored the second goal and it was over."
Texas Tech earned the initial edge by scoring the opening goal less than a minute into the match when freshman Janine Beckie punched a shot into the back of the net just 57 seconds into the match.
With the goal, Beckie became the first Red Raider to score a goal in her Texas Tech debut since Jessica Fuston in 2010.
Beckie finished the match with a game-high eight shots on the night.
The Red Raiders went on to control the first half of the match, outscoring Idaho 10-5 heading into the intermission and eventually outscoring the Vandals 22-7 for the match. Idaho responded late in the second half when Chelsea Small scored on a deflection in front of the net to tie the game at 1-1.
However, it took the Red Raiders less than four minutes to respond with a goal of their own as Strahan gave the Red Raiders the winning goal at the other end to seal the match.




Baylor 1, Rice 0--The Baylor women's soccer team captured a 1-0 victory over Rice Friday on the road at the Rice Soccer Stadium in the season opener for both teams. Junior Alex Klein converted a header in the 39th minute to give the Bears the only goal of the contest.

"I am excited to start the season with a win against a tough opponent," head coach Marci Jobson said. "Now we can recover and focus on playing in our home stadium."
The goal from Klein was just her second career score and her first since October 1, 2010. The scoring chance came on an assist from freshman Katie Daigle, who made a run to the end line and sent a 40-yard cross towards the goal. Klein rose above a group of Rice defenders and redirected the ball to the upper-left corner of the net.Michelle Kloss got the start in goal for Baylor and responded with a shutout and two saves. The redshirt sophomore benefited from a team-wide defensive effort that limited the Owls to eight shots with only two of those coming on goal.

"Our team defense was solid all-around and I was proud of our focus for 90 minutes," Jobson said.
Meanwhile, the Bears had 24 shots and nine on goal throughout the contest.

SMU 0, SAN DIEGO 1- A strong defensive effort was not enough for SMU to come out of its opening weekend with a point. San Diego State defeated SMU, 1-0, at the SDSU Sports Deck on Friday evening.
Regardless of the outcome, which was determined 14 minutes into overtime after a Megan Jurado goal for the Aztecs, Head Coach Chris Petrucelli was proud of the way his team played.
"We fought hard," Petrucelli said. "I have to give them credit. They gave everything they had, we just couldn't finish it off."
The game was deadlocked after the initial 90 minutes, after which Mustangs goalkeeper Lauren Bodden had already tallied eight saves. Overall, the Aztecs outshot the Mustangs, 10-to-2.
SMU was back on its heels much of the game, but the back line showed strength and energy that Petrucelli appreciated, and he thinks that kind of play can mean something as the season progresses.
"If we play with that kind of effort, we'll win a lot of games," Petrucelli said. Both teams were playing their season-openers.

UNT 2, ORU 1 Freshman Karla Pineda scored her first-career goal in double-overtime to push North Texas soccer to a 2-1 overtime win in the regular-season opener over the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles on Fri., August 17.
With the two teams deadlocked at 1-1, senior Michelle Young was sandwiched by two defenders but was able tsqueak a pass to Pineda, who eventually scored the game-winning goal from 25-yards out in the 103rd minute to beat goalkeeper Helen Erb and the Golden Eagles.


"I'm happy with the win but we definitely played like it was our first game tonight," said North Texas head coach John Hedlund. "Give Oral Roberts credit, they battled all night long but in the end it took a freshman to score an amazing goal for us to get the win in double OT."

The Golden Eagles (0-1-0) opened the scoring early in the fifth minute when Shelbi Lousch took a pass from Megan Giles and sent home the first goal of the game from inside the box. The goal surrendered by North Texas was the first time in 13 games dating back to last season against Cal State Fullerton that the Mean Green allowed a first-half goal.

North Texas junior Kelsey Hodges, who was named Preseason Defensive Player of the Year by the Sun Belt Conference, tied the game at 1-1 with a header off a corner kick by junior Tori Adamé in the 21st minute.
"That quick response was very crucial," said Hodges. "We came out a little flat and after being scored on, we stepped up our game and got the goal we needed to boost our confidence."

The assist for Adamé on Hodges' goal is her first assist with the Mean Green after registering no points in 18 games last season.

Sophomore goalkeeper Jackie Kerestine made two saves to pick up her first win in 2012.

North Texas (1-0-0) hasn't lost a season-opening game since 2005 when it lost 2-0 to Eastern Illinois, and is now 5-1-1 all-time against Oral Roberts.
North Texas returns to action on Sun., August 19, on the road against the Missouri State Bears.


Texas Univeristy 3, Dayton 2The University of Texas Soccer team prevailed over Dayton 3-2 during overtime Friday night in the season opener at Mike A. Myers Stadium and Soccer Field. Senior Kristin Cummins scored two of the three goals for the Longhorns, including the game-winner during the 99th minute.

Texas first-year head coach Angela Kelly has led her teams to victories in her past six season openers.

Dayton was first to get on the board just 2:17 into the first half. Colleen Williams found the back of the UT net with an assist by Alexis Garcia following a Flyer corner kick.

The Longhorns did not allow the lead to last long and tied up the match during the 11th minute. Cummins was able to strike unassisted from 30 yards out and score her first goal of the season to knot the match 1-1. Dayton keeper Katherine Boone attempted a clear, but Cummins knocked the ball down and sent it past Boone to knot the contest.

After aggressive, possession-oriented play, UT took the lead for the first time with a goal by freshman Sydney Shutter at 80:38. Cummins earned the assist on the tally with a pass from across the box, and Shutter found the empty net to score her first collegiate goal.

Dayton's Juliana Libertin forced extra minutes, knotting the match during the 87th minute.

Cummins scored her second goal of the night and secured the win for UT at 98:50. With an accurate crossover feed from senior Hannah Higgins, Cummins sent the ball from the left corner near the end line and the shot curved just inside the outside post.

UT had a total of 21 shots against Dayton with six by Cummins. Sophomore goalkeeper Ava Vogel, making her first career start, had one save as Dayton racked up 10 shots, four by Libertin. Boone finished with four saves.

Texas returns to action on Sunday in Fayetteville, Ark., for a 1 p.m. match against the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Texas Head Coach Angela Kelly  applauded Cummins, saying, “It is fantastic leadership. Through her career she has shown she is willing to battle. She certainly took the team under her wings this evening. She hit the crossbar five minutes earlier [before scoring the winner]. I am very pleased. I would much rather teach off a win than a loss.”


Seven of Texas' 11 starters for tonight's match were making their first or second career starts. Freshman Lindsey Meyer, freshman Ali Schmalz, sophomore Cierra Grubbs, sophomore Ava Vogel, sophomore Sharis Lachappelle and senior Kara Hoffman earned their initial starts while sophomore  Allison Smith made her second.

Senior Kristin Cummins tallied her second career multiple-goal game (3 at Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Oct. 1, 2010). She is one of just 16 Longhorns to have more than one multiple-goal game in her career. Cummins has recorded three of Texas' last four goals dating back to the 2011 season. She scored against Texas Tech in the Big 12 Championship quarterfinals and two of the team's three in tonight's season opener. 

Cummins' first goal broke a scoreless string of 287:29 for UT as it was shut out in consecutive matches against Oklahoma State and South Carolina to end the 2011 campaign.



Texas A&M Maroon/White game cancelledBad rainy weather cancelled the annual Maroon/White game scheduled Friday night. Instead, the 14th-ranked Aggies will focus on opening the season next weekend when they travel to California for a pair of matches, at UC Irvine and San Diego.


TCU 1, New Mexico 1---The TCU women's soccer team began its 2012 campaign with a 1-1 draw against New Mexico Friday night at the UNM Soccer Complex.
The match went through the 90 minutes of regulation before a lightning delay held off the start of overtime. After 62 minute delay, the match was called, and a tie was settled upon.

"I was impressed with how we defended as a group for most of the game," head coach Eric Bell, in his first match in charge of the Horned Frogs, said. "We were able to score, which is always a positive. We did a good job limiting the opportunities that New Mexico had. It is a good start for us. We would have liked to win, but it's a good starting point."

After 68 minutes of scoreless soccer, TCU drew a corner kick. Freshman Makenzie Koch delivered a ball to the back post where Kelly Johnson was waiting to put it in the back of the net, giving the Horned Frogs a 1-0 lead over the two-time defending Mountain West champions.

"It was a great ball from Koch," Bell noted. "It was a nice driven ball, and Kelly was able to find herself on the end of it. It was something we have worked on.  It was a lot of Kelly's grit and attitude that scored the goal."

The Lobos were aggressive in response and nine minutes later their work was rewarded with an equalizing goal as Rachel Montoya found Liz Nare with a cross and she buried it past Frogs keeper Vittoria Arnold to tie the match at one.

While the Lobos held a 9-to-7 edge in the shots department, the Horned Frogs were able to put five shots on the New Mexico goal, compared to the four shots on goal by UNM.

New Mexico was in control of the match in the early parts of the match, with the Lobos' Elba Holguin forcing Arnold into a save in the 11th minute. The Horned Frogs reacted well as Maddy Courvoisier and Monica Alvarado forced UNM keeper Kelli Cornell into saves halfway through the first period.

The Horned Frogs came out for the second half in an aggressive mood as Sarah Schweiss put consecutive shots on goal within the first five minutes of the half, but Cornell was there to deny both.

"If we stay nice and organized we give ourselves a chance to win," Bell concluded. "It is now about concentration and attention to detail that will help us get those wins."

The Horned Frogs return home next weekend for its season opener at Garvey-Rosenthal Stadium. As part of the TCU Invitational, the Frogs will take on Montana next Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Stephen F. Austin Sunday at 1:30 p.m.