Texas soccer enters NCAA tournament as a No. 5 seed, will host round-one match
Texas' wait to find out its fate in the NCAA soccer tournament didn't last long.
Moments into Monday's selection presentation, the Big 12 Tournament champion Longhorns found out they will host a first-round game as a No. 5 seed in the 16-team Tallahassee regional quadrant. Texas faces Southland Conference tournament champion Lamar on Friday (6 p.m., Myers Stadium, LHN).
Texas coach Angela Kelly said her team's recent run through the Big 12 tournament, which included wins over No. 4 Texas Tech and No. 6 BYU, has her team primed for the NCAAs.
“I’m just really excited with our last series of matches," Kelly said. "I think we’ve really matured as a squad over the course of this last month. I’m just really excited for what lies ahead. Obviously in tournament time, which is what we’ve been playing in over the last week, it’s win and advance and never overlook an opponent. Right now, all I can tell you is that I’m focused on Lamar, and that’s all there is to it.”
More: Connection between Lexi Missimo, Trinity Byars power Texas women into new soccer season
Texas (15-4-2) enters Friday’s match against the Cardinals having not only won its first Big 12 postseason tournament championship since 2007 but also its last five consecutive matches. Overall, the Longhorns are unbeaten in nine of their last 10, posting a 4-0-1 record at home during that span.
The Longhorns are led by midfielder Lexi Missimo, who has broken every single-season program record throughout the season and is on the verge of becoming the first 20-goal, 20-assists Division I women’s player since 2019. Trinity Byars has also guided Texas to this point by scoring 17 goals and being credited with 13 assists. In total, the longtime friends have combined to score 114 of UT’s 202 points this season.
Texas goalkeeper Mia Justus was named the Big 12’s most outstanding defensive player following Saturdays 3-1 win over BYU in the Big 12 title game. She has earned 15 wins with eight clean sheets and a 0.99 goals allowed average this season.
Big 12 all-tournament selection Lauren Lapomarda and Abby Allen anchor a defensive backline that limited BYU — the nation’s top-scoring offense — to just a single goal.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas soccer enters NCAA tournament as a No. 5 seed, will host match
