 "Photo: Shannon Sibayan")
The No. 13 Texas women's soccer team (1-1, 0-0) kicked off its regular season by hosting a pair of weekend matches against the Clemson Tigers and Michigan Wolverines. After a tough 1-0 loss against Clemson on Friday, the Longhorns rebounded for a decisive 4-1 victory over Michigan on Sunday.
Texas's season opener against No. 12 Clemson offered plenty of opportunities but no results for the offense. After a scoreless 40 minutes, Texas had a late surge of scoring chances at the end of the half, but it was Clemson who capitalized.
Clemson goalie Ashley Phillips made a diving save and quickly moved the ball up the far sideline to Lindsay Browne. Browne dribbled to midfield before delivering a perfect pass to Paige Ledford. Ledford broke past the Texas defense on the far side and put a shot by Texas keeper Dana Hall into the near side of the goal at the 41:26 mark.
Clemson took the 1-0 lead into the second half and did not let go. Stellar defense throughout the game along with nine saves from Phillips shut out the potent Longhorn offense. Texas' best scoring opportunity in the second half happened when Kelly McDonald set up Kelsey Carpenter in the middle of the box. Carpenter took the shot but missed just high over the top right corner of the net.
"[Clemson] just outworked us," Texas head coach Chris Petrucelli said. "They hustled more tonight and won a few more free balls."
After 90 minutes of scoreless ball Friday, it took Texas only 4:19 to knock one by Michigan goalie Megan Tuura.
On the first corner kick of the evening, Nikki Thaden broke into the box and picked the ball from Caitlin Kennedy out of the air with her right foot. Thaden's kick went over the head of Tuura and into the far side of the net to give Texas the early 1-0 advantage.
"It was a great ball from Caitlin, and I saw the back post open," Thaden said. "I was lucky to get my foot on it."
Thaden was one of many Texas players opening fire on the Michigan goal early. She, along with Kelsey Carpenter, fired a team-high five shots during the game to lead an attack that shot 24 times - triple the amount of shots taken by their opponent.
It didn't take long for Michigan to make up the deficit, however. After a missed opportunity by the Longhorns, Michigan netted its first shot of the game at 13:15. Therese Heaton took a pass from Katelin Spencer and lofted the ball just over the outstretched arm of Hall to even the score at 1-1.
The match would remain tied for another 10 minutes before Carpenter earned her first regular season goal at 23:44. Carpenter used her speed all night to get by Michigan defenders, and it finally paid off when she gained an advantage on the far side and bounced a shot off the near post and into the goal.
Texas would strike one more time before the half ended. Nikki Thaden earned her third point of the night when she stole a Michigan pass in the midfield and slipped a perfect ball ahead of the Wolverine defense to a streaking Kelly Wilson. Wilson had only the goalie to beat and put a soft shot inside the far post for Texas' third goal of the game.
"It was real important to get on the board early," Thaden said. "The team was fired up, and we needed to establish ourselves early."
In the second half, Texas put the game farther out of reach. Wilson earned her third point of the game when she passed the ball to Kristen Teter. Teter fed teammate Priscilla Fite who put a shot inside the top corner for a 4-1 Texas lead.
"It was really important for us to rebound tonight," Petrucelli said. "I told the team that our season could be on the line. We needed to get a win against a tough opponent."
Texas will return to action this Friday when it hosts another pair of home matches against Florida International and Loyola.
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