The Texas Longhorns come up with the second tie of their season, finishing 0-0 against the West Virginia Mountaineers in Austin.
The last time Texas played West Virginia was in the Big 12 tournament last season, where the Mountaineers held off the No. 1 Longhorns 1-0 and won the conference championship.
The Longhorns started the match aggressively, pressuring West Virginia’s defense on the Mountaineers’ side of the pitch.
Texas was also the only team to attempt shots deep into the first half, having four shots and one shot on goal in the 20th minute of the game.
Both teams had a sluggish and uncharacteristic start, committing several combined errors. Junior midfielder Lexi Missimo, one of Texas’ star players, racked up a few errors on her attacks.
Although the Longhorns had some good looks, most of their shots ended up high and out of bounds.
Texas’ defense responded well to two West Virginia corner shots near the end of the half, feeding off a turnover by senior defender Lauren Lapomarda and nearly scoring on the opposite side of the pitch.
Despite a no-scoring half, the Longhorns offense had a much stronger presence than the Mountaineers, with eight shots and three shots on goal, compared to West Virginia’s three shots and one shot on goal.
West Virginia was able to come up with an early foul and free kick to start off the second half, but was ultimately unsuccessful as Texas blocked the shot and drove the ball up into Mountaineer territory where West Virginia blocked a Longhorns shot attempt.
Texas built some energy scrambling for the ball only feet away from West Virginia’s goal line. Missimo was able to get the shot off, but it was saved by the Mountaineers’ goalkeeper Kayza Massey (her fifth).
Lapomarda had an impressive tackle to prevent West Virginia from scoring in the 68th minute.
The second half saw several momentum shifts between the two teams. Whenever Texas had a good drive up the field, West Virginia’s defense would be waiting at their goal to defend the shot attempts.
Lapomarda would make a sharp pass to junior forward Trinity Byars for the best look at a score of the night for Texas, but Byars’ kick would eventually bounce off the top crossbar and out of bounds.
After a strong drive by West Virginia in the final seconds of the game, both teams would walk off the field scoreless.
Missimo led the Longhorns with eight shots (more than all of West Virginia’s shots totaled) and five shots on goal, playing the full 90 minutes of the match.
Texas as a team had 19 shots, nine on goal and five corners. Junior goalkeeper Mia Justus finished with seven shots faced and two saves.
Texas (7-3-2) will move to 1-2-1 in Big 12 conference play, where they will take on Kansas on Sunday, Oct. 1 in Lawrence, Kansas.
