Texas couldn’t have asked for much more from its first two home games of the season.
Coming off a 6-1 blowout of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in its only preseason contest, the Longhorns kicked off the 2013 season in impressive fashion, earning a win and a draw in its first pair of regular-season games this weekend.
Texas opened its 2013 campaign Friday night with a 2-0 victory over Georgia at Mike A. Myers Track and Soccer Stadium.
The Longhorns got off to a quick start after a Georgia foul put Texas in a great position to score. Junior midfielder Sharis Lachappelle took the free kick from just left of the box, propelling it toward the box. From there, sophomore Lindsey Meyer headed the ball toward junior defender Brooke Gilbert, who finished the set piece with a tap in for the third goal of her career.
Meyer, who recorded an assist on the first goal, was just getting started.
The midfielder from Coppell added to the Longhorns’ lead early in the second half. Meyer headed the ball following a corner kick from forward Kelsey Shimmick. The Bulldog’s goalkeeper blocked it right back to Meyer, who tapped in for an easy score and a 2-0 Texas lead.
Texas outshot Georgia 17-7 and sophomore goalkeeper Abby Smith posted her eighth career shutout for the Longhorns.
Sunday marked the second game of the weekend and ended in a 1-1 draw against the University of South Florida at Myers Stadium.
After a slow first half, Texas scored in spectacular fashion early in the second half. A USF foul in the 64th minute gave the Longhorns a free kick from 50 yards out. With the ball being so far from the goal, Texas called on Smith, the goaltender, to take the kick. With everyone expecting her to simply move the ball up, Smith took a shot and scored her first career goal, giving the Longhorns a 1-0 lead.
Texas’ lead did not last long as USF’s Sarah Miller slipped one past Smith five minutes later, evening the score at 1-1.
The game would then go into double overtime before ending in a draw. The physical, defensive-minded match featured 26 fouls.
The team will now head northwest to Oregon for its first road trip of the season. The Longhorns will take on Oregon State in Corvallis on Friday before heading to Eugene to take on the Oregon Ducks on Sunday. Both games are scheduled to start at 2 p.m.
