After back-to-back away games, Texas returned home to Mike A. Meyers Stadium and defeated Iowa State 2-1 on Sunday.
Following wins at Kansas and Central Florida, the Longhorns wanted to come out and keep the winning streak going. Texas recently dropped from the NCAA Top 25 rankings and had much to prove in its first match back at home.
At the start of the match, the team came out playing flat-footed. Texas’s lack of possession led to a Cyclone goal early on in the first half when senior midfielder Mira Emma had a shot in the low right corner of the goal off of an assist by teammate and senior forward Salome Prat.
The goal of the Cyclones lit a spark in the Longhorns, and they started to create some opportunities. But, the Iowa State offense still posed a threat despite Texas waking up a bit.
Sophomore defender Breanna Thompson got beat a few times on the right side of the defense when head coach Angela Kelly made a switch. Veteran senior defender Lauren Lapomarda moved to the right side in place of Thompson.
After the change, Texas was transitioning to offense at a faster pace. With about 10 minutes left in the first half, Lapomorda found herself with time outside of the box and took a shot from a distance off of her left foot. The shot found its way to the top left corner of the goal for the defender’s second goal of the season.
“You know there’s different ways to beat the bunker,” said Kelly. “Long-range shots is one of them. Coming from somebody (Lapomorda) who is not the usual is awesome. It was a great goal.”
The Longhorns managed to tie the game up late in the first half. The first half ended with a great play by freshman defender Carly Montgomery, who sprinted back to make a diving save.
The game went into the half tied 1-1.
At the start of the second half, the Longhorns looked much quicker and hungrier to score. Midfielders Ashlyn Miller and Lexi Missimo created several opportunities down the middle for the Longhorns, who ended the game with 15 shots on goal.
In the second half, Texas was able to capitalize on Iowa State’s mistakes, something it was unable to do in the first half. Junior forward Holly Ward went straight down the left side toward the goal and drew a foul at free-kick range.
At the 15-minute mark, Texas won the ball off of an Iowa State defensive error and went straight to goal. Junior midfielder Jilly Shimkin took the free-kick shot to the bottom left corner of the goal and barely missed.
Capitalizing on her team’s chances, outstanding junior forward Trinity Byars took a shot that deflected off the hand of an Iowa State defender in the box. With 27 minutes left, Texas created new life for itself.
The Longhorns were awarded what they needed most: a goal-scoring opportunity.
Missimo stepped up to take the penalty. Her ball was placed perfectly in the left bottom corner of the goal for her 17th goal of the season.
“We always take it one game at a time,” Kelly said after about the first home Big 12 win of the season. “I don’t ever try to compound things. We try not to make the same mistake twice. I think we’re getting a little bit better at that.”
The Longhorns kept its winning streak alive with three straight wins and its first win at home since Sept. 7.
