Texas soccer team upsets top-seeded Texas Tech 1-0, reaches Big 12 championship match
Avenging a bitter loss earlier in the season, Texas knocked off top-seeded Texas Tech 1-0 in a Big 12 soccer tournament semifinal Wednesday to reach Saturday’s championship match against BYU.
The win at Myers Stadium means this is the second time in three seasons that Texas (14-4-2) will go on to play for a championship in the league’s postseason tournament. Head coach Angela Kelly also led the Longhorns to the 2021 title game.
Texas, the No. 4 seed, will try to win its second Big 12 tournament and first since 2007 against BYU, the No. 2 seed, which beat Central Florida 4-1 in Wednesday’s other semifinal. The match will be played at the Round Rock Multipurpose Complex.
More: Lexi Missimo, Trinity Byars lead Texas women into Big 12 soccer tournament
The Longhorns controlled the tempo for most of the match but didn’t break though until four minutes into the second half when forward Trinity Byars tracked down a brilliant through ball from defender Lauren Lapomarda and outpaced a pair of Tech defenders into the 18-yard box before lashing a left-footed shot into the bottom right corner of the goal.
🤘🤘🤘@lauren_lapo | @trinitybyars pic.twitter.com/6BKEp8yOcU
— Texas Soccer (@TexasSoccer) November 1, 2023
“There was an open shot, so I took it,” said Byars, who also broke her teammate Lexi Missimo’s school record for most career points scored (14) by a Texas player in the Big 12 tournament. “Luckily, I made it. I’m just excited to make it to the championship match.”
More: Connection between Lexi Missimo, Trinity Byars power Texas women into new soccer season
Missimo set the record at 13 after a five-point outing in the Longhorns’ 3-1 win over West Virginia in the tournament’s quarterfinals Monday.
Texas' win eased the pain of a 2-1 loss to Texas Tech on Sept. 21, when the Red Raiders scored in the last minute to nab the victory at Myers Stadium. Wednesday's game also was the first shutout for the Longhorns since a scoreless draw with West Virginia eight matches ago.
“It feels good, especially when the defense does all the work, and you don’t have to do too much,” UT keeper Mia Justus said. “I thought it was a good performance by our defense all around.”
Kelly agreed with her keeper, saying the Longhorns’ “gritty performance” on a cool night gave her team a deserved win.
“I thought we could have had some more (goals) like in the first half, when we hit the crossbar several times,” she said. “We get another day. I’m just really proud of the grit and determination everyone showed today.”
Saturday's title match
Texas vs. BYU, 7 p.m., Round Rock Multipurpose Complex, ESPN+
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas soccer upsets Texas Tech, reaches Big 12 title match against BYU
