Following its win over Lamar University, Texas Soccer advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, where it will play No. 15 Wisconsin on Friday.
The Longhorns won the Big 12 Tournament after going 16-4-2 overall. Going into the tournament, the Longhorns were the No. 4 seed and won the title over ranked teams West Virginia, Texas Tech and Brigham Young University. The tournament win came just after the Longhorns fell short to long-time rival Oklahoma.
“I think there was a (shift) in the game after the unfortunate loss against a rival,” said junior midfielder Lexi Missimo. “I think after that it was kind of like we either have to get our shit together or we are going home.”
Texas solidified its spot in the NCAA tournament with the Big 12 Tournament win. After several upsets and battling some adversity in the season, head coach Angela Kelly is confident in her team’s ability and says they have found their rhythm moving forward.
“We actually grew so much,” Kelly said. “The moments of adversity helped this young team with nobody in the starting lineup graduating or leaving. Everybody’s returning which is really exciting. It had this quasi-young team understanding the works, everything we do and every part of who we are is going to be good.”
Missimo, who recently broke the program’s single-season goals record and leads the team in points, said she doesn’t have any personal goals moving forward in the tournament but is excited to contribute to her team’s success.
“I think this team is peaking at the right time,” Missimo said. “Beating Tech and BYU, who are considered top 10 teams, it just brings a lot of confidence into this team. I’m just excited to see where this team can go.”
Friday’s match will be the third time that the Longhorns face the Wisconsin Badgers, with the overall record of 1-1, with each team winning with home-field advantage. But this will be the first time the teams meet in a neutral setting.
“I think (Wisconsin) is very well coached,” Kelly said. “I think they have some really dangerous players in the attack and their target nine is special, but they are going to be really well-organized defensively. We’re gonna have to work to break them down. They are also tremendous on set pieces, so we are going to be prepared for that.”
Kelly said at the heart of their success in the postseason has been the junior class made up of players like Missimo, Trinity Byars and Ashlyn Miller.
“It’s just the progression of this junior class specifically,” Kelly said. “(They have) really carried what the program is about and what they wanted to do with this program. Now you’re just seeing it come to fruition.”
The Longhorns look to continue their NCAA Tournament journey Friday at 1 p.m. The match against Wisconsin will be played at Florida State University in Tallahassee.
