The ball bounced off the left post from a shot by freshman forward Trinity Byars, but freshman midfielder Lexi Missimo recovered it. She shuffled to her left, obtaining enough space against her defender to blow past and deliver a shot through the bottom right corner of the goal. 

Missimo became the first Texas Longhorn to record a hat trick since October 2010 in a 7-0 win over UT-Rio Grande Valley on Sunday at Mike A. Myers Stadium. 

Her hat trick was not the most impressive part of her performance, however. Missimo tied a Longhorn record with four goals today.

After an unimpressive offensive performance against Oregon in which they only took 11 shots, the Longhorns got back on track, and then some, in a big way. 

Texas took more shots against UTRGV in each half, with 14 in the first and 15 in the second, than it took all last game. Coach Angela Kelly, however, wanted to see even more.

“I actually thought we didn’t get off enough shots in the first half, to be honest,” Kelly said. 

The Longhorns were only able to score one goal on 14 shots, which was by senior midfielder Julia Grosso with 27 minutes left in the first half. In the second half, the game broke open.

After a scoreless 10 minutes to begin the second, Missimo scored her first goal, a roller through the bottom right corner with her left foot at the 55:48 mark. That was the first of a six-goal barrage over a 15-minute, 51-second span, with Missimo also closing the scoring for Texas at the 71:25 mark. 

Senior Cameron Brooks and freshman Trinity Byars also contributed to the scoring with one goal each. Byars’ goal was her first at the collegiate level.

“She’s a fantastic player,” Kelly said when asked about Byars. “(For) a player like that, we just need the seal to be broken.”

The Longhorns are optimistic about their team, despite how young it is. In spite of starting five freshmen today, the growing pains they’ve faced early this season seem to be an afterthought.

With their record improving to 2-3-2, the team is feeling good.

“We’re even going to a Pitbull concert tonight,” Missimo said.

With two games in four days down, Texas will enjoy a bit of a break before looking to continue today’s success against Samford on Thursday.