Texas soccer breaks school records, lights up scoreboard against Texas Southern

Nick Hargroue, Sports Reporter

In one of the most dominating games that will take place this year, Texas soccer broke two school records and filled up the stat sheet in an 8-0 thumping of Texas Southern on Thursday.

Sophomore forward Trinity Byars was the star of the show at Mike A. Myers Stadium, recording her second career hat trick and 16th in school history. Byars wasn’t the only Longhorn to contribute either, with five total Longhorns joining the score column.

“We’ve been working really hard in practice to get ready for this season,” Byars said. “So just seeing it actually play out on the field and in the games is really important; it just feels good.” 


The Longhorns broke a school record for the most shots in a game with 54, as well as the most shots on goal with 28, and tied a school record with 17 corner kicks. The Tigers couldn’t catch a break all game, never quite finding their rhythm against a relentless Texas attack.

“To just dominate in all the phases, without getting sloppy — that’s what I’m most impressed with,” head coach Angela Kelly said.

Sophomore midfielder Lexi Missimo dished out assists all night with three for the game, while senior defensive midfielders Emily Jane Cox and Emma Regan each had one goal apiece in the starting lineup. 

For the substitutes, sophomore forward Holly Ward and senior forward Teni Akindoju each scored as well, supplementing an already steamrolling Texas offense. The ball was spread all around the pitch Thursday, with ten total assists on eight goals making for a complete team performance.

Texas monopolized the time of possession with a 69-31% margin, the Tigers rarely crossing midfield to pose any threat to graduate student goalkeeper Savannah Madden. While Madden usually takes a beating in goal, constantly fending off well-placed shots from the opponent, Thursday’s game was a nice break for her as Texas Southern only managed two shots over the course of 90 minutes.

“(We’ve) got (sophomore goalkeeper) Megan Hogate in for her first match, and that’s fantastic,” Kelly said. “Savannah Madden obviously (had) a shut out, and so I think that’s a great part of our game.”

While the dominant victory came against a winless Texas Southern squad, the result is a nice confidence booster for the team going into conference play against a TCU team that won the Big 12 title last year. Kelly, however, had a different outlook on the team’s standout performance.

“This is what we look for each match,” Kelly said. “Obviously we’ll have to be playing tougher opponents, but in (all) phases, we expect that, … we push for that.”

The Longhorns hope to carry the momentum from tonight into next week. Texas plays again Sunday against Central Florida for its last home game before a two-game road trip to start off conference play next Thursday.