Goals scored by junior forward Trinity Byars and junior midfielder Lexi Missimo secured Texas soccer’s spot in the semifinals of the Big 12 Championships. Fourth-seeded Texas defeated fifth-seeded West Virginia 3-1 on Monday morning at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
“I thought we had a pretty effective first half and came out of the gates fast, which is what we wanted to do,” head coach Angela Kelly said. “Lexi and Trinity had two world-class goals. Avery (Clark) got in and immediately found Trinity, who drew the penalty kick that Lexi converted. Today felt good, but we, obviously, knew (West Virginia) was going to throw numbers at us and it was going to be a tough second half. I thought we played well.”
Missimo’s brace made her the first Division I women’s soccer student athlete to reach 20 goals and 20 assists in one season since Stanford’s Catarina Macario in 2019, and the first in Big 12 Conference history.
The Big 12 Midfielder of the Year was involved in all three Texas goals of the game. Missimo opened the scoreboard hitting the top right of the goal in the ninth minute of the game, followed by an assist to Byars, the Big 12 Forward of the Year, who put Texas two goals ahead. Missimo scored her record breaking goal in a penalty kick awarded after a foul.
Ten minutes into the second half, West Virginia’s junior forward Dilary Heredia-Beltran put the ball in the back of the net for the Mountaineers, but her efforts weren’t enough to get her team through the first round.
There would have been a much larger goal difference if it wasn’t for West Virginia’s fifth year goalkeeper Kayza Massey, responsible for five saves throughout the game.
“I think we came into today’s match looking for revenge,” Missimo said. “Because we tied (West Virginia) last time out, so we just wanted to score early and get the win and move onto the semifinals.”
Byars and Missimo were unanimously selected to the All-Big 12 first team ahead of the tournament, but despite the title, the duo still knows there’s more work to do.
“I would say there’s still room to grow,” Byars said. “We are really excited to play the next match. We are really focused on the next match and nothing else.”
