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2007 Game Recaps
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at New Mexico (exhibition) - T 0-0 - Fri 24 Aug 2007

Texas and New Mexico played to a 0-0 draw, in an exhibition game that marked the unofficial start of the 2007 season.  Five new players, including four freshmen, started for the Longhorns.

Recap by Texas
Recap by New Mexico

TCU - W 3-1 - Fri 31 Aug, 7 pm

Newcomers Kirsten Birkhold, Brooke Lee, Alisha Ortiz, Erica Campanelli and Courtney Gaines started for the Longhorns, in the official beginning of the season for Texas.  With 18 minutes left in the first half, a rebound off the TCU goalie landed at the feet of Kasey Moore, who blasted it into the goal to give Texas a 1-0 lead.  It seemed like this might not stand up, however, 12 minutes later, when a fast moving lightning storm moved in and forced the game to be suspended.  With less than a half played, the game (and the goal) would not be official.  After an hour and a half delay, after the lightning has passed (but not the rain), the officials did restart the game, with 6:21 left in the half.  Many of the fans had left, but there were still a few, and plenty of crickets to make up for the missing crowd.  The rest of the game was played in steady moderate rain, but nothing different than every game in England anyways.  The English probably don't have the swarm of crickets that filled the underside of the east side stands, though.  Just as the half was ending, with less than 10 seconds left, Stephanie Logterman served in a pass from the right to an open Kelsey Carpenter, who sent it home to give Texas a 2-0 lead.  The teams headed to the locker rooms for the full halftime interval (even though they had just spent the last hour and a half there).  Halfway through the second period, Kelsey Carpenter added another goal to make the score 3-0 for Texas.  With about 5 minutes left, Stephanie Gibson hit a shot off the crossbar, and Texas had a chance on the rebound, but could not convert.  With 3 and half minutes left, TCU foiled the shutout when Dianna Pfenninger dived for a ball at the top of the box, but didn't get to it, leaving TCU with an open net which they converted to make the score 3-1, where it ended.  Rain and crickets, that was the theme of the evening.

A side note:  According to the roster card that Texas handed out, Leslie Imber really wants to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.  I'm with her on that one, I like getting to the highest point of places, and Kilimanjaro is the highest point in all of Africa, so it is on my list too.  Time is short, as the famous Snows of Kilimanjaro (the title of an Ernest Hemmingway story) are disappearing quickly.  The world is getting warmer, and with this the glaciers on the mountain are fading very fast.  They will disappear in my lifetime.  Mount Kilimanjaro will remain, but the snows will be gone.

Recap by Texas
Recap by TCU

Photos by Texas

P.S.  Keep your eye on Bevo's Bargains for discounted admission to games.  Deals vary from game to game, but for this game there was a half price coupon.

UCLA (at Houston, TX) - W 2-1 - Sun 2 Sep, 7 pm

Texas faced the UCLA Bruins, in the first ever match up between the programs, at Robertson Stadium (John O'Quinn Field) at the University of Houston.  UCLA was without forward Kara Lang, who is with the Canadian national team (preparing for the World Cup).  Despite this absence, UCLA had no trouble controlling things early on, doing a much better job maintaining possession, while the Longhorns had trouble completing passes.  UCLA had a couple of very good chances in the first ten minutes, but saves by Dianna Pfenninger and a header off the line by Kasey Moore kept the Bruins off the scoreboard.  As the game progressed, Texas started to pick it up, and get more control of the game.  However, UCLA struck first, just over 31 minutes into the game.  UCLA sent in a dangerous corner kick, which the Texas defense cleared, but for another corner.  On the second try, the Bruins sent a header into the goal to put Texas down 0-1.  In the second half, the Longhorns really turned on the energy and effort, and thus started to win the one-on-one battles, and had the best of the play.  Just past the 52 minute mark, Kelsey Carpenter did some nice work to win the ball, and sent in a nice pass to Alisha Ortiz, who sped into the UCLA penalty area and was tripped up by the UCLA keeper, setting up a penalty shot.  Kasey Moore converted the kick, evening the score at 1-1.  Just 7 minutes later, Texas added a second, off a header by Brooke Lee, her first goal as a Longhorn.  UCLA put on some good pressure late in the game, but Texas was able to run out the clock and hold on to the win.

I thought that Robertson Stadium was a nice place to watch a game, with seats (actual seats, not just bleachers) right up next to the field.  With the track around the Texas home field, you can't sit up close, so it is nice to have that chance.  The close-in seating also provided the additional entertainment value of hearing head coach Chris Petrucelli give advice to the referee on where to position himself to see all the fouls that he missed the last time around. 

Recap by Texas
Recap by UCLA

UCLA has a new assistant head coach in Shannon MacMillan, former US National Team star, who has said that one of her happiest moments in life happened at the Texas soccer stadium, when Portland and Coach Clive Charles won their first NCAA championship.


Shannon MacMillan stretching before a 2002 Algarve Cup game in Portugal.  MacMillan scored all but one of the USA goals in the tournament.  The exception was by Kelly Wilson, in her first game with the full national team.

Robertson Stadium Facility Info    Driving Directions according to the Dynamo
My driving directions:  From I-45 in central Houston, exit Scott Street, around exit 44 or 45.  Go south on Scott about half a mile to the stadium, then left on Holman.  There was lots of parking around the stadium, which is where both the Houston Dynamo and the UH football team play.

at Arizona State - W 1-0 - Fri 7 Sep, 9 pm CT

Texas wins 1-0, off a goal by Niki Arlitt, seeing her first minutes on the field for the Longhorns, with an assist by Brooke Lee.  From the looks of the live stats, it seemed like Arizona State had the better of much of the game, especially early, but Texas gets the win.

Recap by Texas
Recap by Arizona State

at Arizona - L 0-2 - Sun 9 Sep, 9 pm CT

Texas falls to Arizona, 0-2, to finish the seasons' longest road trip.  The Longhorns outshot Arizona 9-3, but fell short in the statistic that mattered.  This seems kind of the reverse of how the Arizona State game played out, where ASU had the edge in stats but lost.

Arizona wins a booby prize for one of the lamest college soccer websites, as it will not even work at all if you don't have Flash installed, which is really annoying.

Recap by Texas
Recap by Arizona

UTSA - W 6-0 - Fri 14 Sep, 7 pm

Texas met UTSA, in the first official match between the two programs.  (The two had played a couple of exhibition games.)  The Longhorns controlled possession of the ball in the first half, and had plenty of chances to create scoring opportunities, but they had trouble converting.  With 28:44 left in the half, Kasey Moore sent in a goal from a corner kick, making the score 1-0 for Texas.  That was the only goal of the half, despite Texas having the lead in shots, of 29 (9 on frame) vs. 0 shots for UTSA.  In the second half, however, the Longhorns started to put shots into the net.  Five minutes into the second half, Kelsey Carpenter sped behind the UTSA defense for a 1-v-1 with the goalie, and sent a ground ball into the net.  Just a minute later, Niki Arlitt sent a shot towards the net, a UTSA player got to it to deflect it, but the deflection went into the goal, making the score 3-0 for Texas.  Another minute later, Kelsey Carpenter fired in a shot from the top of the box to make the score 4-0.  With about 15 minutes left in the game, Brooke Lee took a long shot that bounced off the crossbar, then down into the net, to make the score 5-0.  About 5 minutes later, Emily Anderson added another, the last for Texas, a shot to the far post from the right side of the field, making the final score of 6-0 for the Longhorns.

Recap by Texas
Recap by UTSA

Photos by Texas

LSU - T 2-2 - Tue 18 Sep, 7 pm

Fifteen minutes into the game, Niki Arlitt scored for Texas, with a shot from the far left that slipped just inside the far post.  Just five minutes later, however, a defensive giveaway by Texas gave LSU an opportunity that they did not miss, and the Tigers evened the score at 1-1.  Texas had several good chances in the rest of the first half, but the LSU defense was able to keep the ball out of the net.  Ten minutes into the second half, Kelsey Carpenter scored for Texas, giving the Longhorns a 2-1 lead, but it was short-lived.  Three minutes later, the Tigers capitalized on a bobbled save by the Texas keeper, and scored to tie the game at 2-2.  Texas had a lackluster second half for the most part, but they did have some chances very late, most dramatically when Kelsey Carpenter went down in the LSU penalty area with 4 seconds left, but she did not earn a call from the ref, and the game went to overtime.  The Longhorns brought back some intensity in the two overtime periods, and had a number of good scoring chances, but nothing slipped past the LSU keeper, and the game ended tied at 2-2.

For some reason, LSU seems to play a lot of games on Tuesday.  Jordan Godbolt was facing her sister, Veronica Godbolt, who plays for LSU, wearing #20, but neither of them entered the match.

Recap by Texas
Recap by Daily Texan
Recap by LSU

Photos by Texas
Photos by Austin American-Statesman

Houston - W 4-0 - Fri 21 Sep, 7 pm

Texas got on the scoreboard quickly, just over a minute into the game, with a goal by Kasey Moore.  Near the end of the half, Texas added another, as Kirsten Birkhold sent a pass from Stephanie Logterman into the Cougar goal.  Niki Arlitt added two goals in the second half, to make the final score 4-0 for Texas.

At halftime, Texas honored quite a number of former players, I don't have the whole list, UT never published it, but it included Lerrin Biggers, Amy Burlingham, Carol Finch, Julie Gailey, Kati McBain, Kelly McDonald, Kelly Wilson, Kati McBain as well as plenty more who I don't remember now.

Recap by Texas
Recap by Houston

Photos by Texas

Stephen F. Austin - W 4-0 - Sun 23 Sep, 7 pm

Niki Arlitt started this game out well, just over 10 minutes into the game, she nicely settled a long pass and fired it into the net for a 1-0 lead.  Five minutes later, Arlitt added a second goal, on a pass from Kelsey Carpenter.  Just before the end of the half, with 1 second left, Texas added a third goal from a free kick just outside the corner of the penalty box.  Texas had a halftime lead in shots of 15-0 to go along with their 3-0 lead in goals.  About halfway through the second half, Courtney Gaines added a fourth goal for Texas, and this score held to the end.

Recap by Texas
Recap by Daily Texan
Recap by SFA

Photos by Texas

Wright State - W 2-1 - Fri 28 Sep, 7 pm

Wright State got a good start, scoring a goal 15 minutes into the first half, on a breakaway against the run of play.  After this (and even before), the Raiders were playing very defensively, trying to make their goal stick.  They held on for the rest of the first half, but 10 minutes into the second, Kelsey Carpenter scored from a cross from Alisha Ortiz.  Four minutes later, Niki Arlitt added a second goal for Texas, assisted by Carpenter, and this held to make a 2-1 win for Texas.

Recap by Texas
Recap by Wright State

Photos by Texas

Texas Tech - W 1-0 - Sun 30 Sep, 7 pm

Texas opened the Big 12 season with a 1-0 win against Texas Tech.  About halfway through the second half, Niki Arlitt sent a cross past the Tech goal, which Caitlin Kennedy picked up just in front of the net, and finished, for the goal.  On a side note, the Texas Tech coaching staff includes the Longhorns' all-time leading point scorer, in Kelly Schmedes (nee' Wilson). 

Recap by Texas
Recap by Texas Tech

Photos by Texas

at Iowa State - T 1-1 - Fri 5 Oct, 7 pm

Texas and Iowa State tied 1-1, in a game at Ames, IA.  Iowa State scored first, about halfway through the first half, but Courtney Gaines answered about 10 minutes later, with a corner kick that went into the goal.  The Longhorns were not able to add another, despite a lot of chances, and had to settle for the tie.

Recap by Texas
Recap by Iowa State

Nebraska - W 2-1 (OT) - Sun 7 Oct, 1 pm

Texas returned home to face Nebraska, in the first 1 pm game of the season.  With the mid-day start, the conditions were hot, of course.  (If you ask me, Austin should never host any games at 1 pm.)  Alisha Ortiz scored first, late in the first half, her first career goal for the Longhorns.  After that, the Texas intensity flagged, partially from the heat, and a goal by Nebraska evened the score, and regulation ended with a 1-1 tie.  The Longhorns put on the gas in overtime, and less than a minute into the extra period, Courtney Gaines poached a goal, off a rebound from a blocked shot, to give Texas the 2-1 win.

Recap by Texas
Recap by Nebraska

Photos by Texas

at Texas A&M - L 0-2 - Fri 12 Oct, 7:30 pm

The Longhorns started out the game looking great, they were doing a very nice job of short possession passing.  However, six minutes into the game, the Aggies took advantage of a couple of missed chances to clear the ball away from the Texas penalty area, and A&M sent in a low shot that slipped past the Texas keeper and just inside the far post, putting the Longhorns down 0-1.  About thirty minutes into the half, an A&M player received a straight red card, a call that looked to be a bit harsh, and forced the Aggies to play down a player.  However, this seemed to fire up the Aggies more than it allowed Texas to take control of the play.  Despite having an extra player for the last 60 minutes or so, Texas never really looked like they were up a player.  About thirty minutes into the second half, an Aggie attacker got past Texas keeper Dianna Pfenninger.  The ref called a foul on Dianna, thus earning the Aggies a penalty kick.  In the process, Dianna got slashed up, an injury requiring stitches, and she had to leave the game, and would not return, and Steph Connors took charge of the Texas goal.  Steph didn't have much of a chance defending the PK, as Ashlee Pistorius sent the kick just inside the post to give A&M a two goal lead.  The Longhorns did manage to create a few good chances in the second half, but the A&M keeper was up to defending all of those.  Meanwhile, Steph Connors did a good job collecting dangerous balls in the Texas penalty area, although she was not credited with any official saves.  The Aggies were up two goals, and down a player, so they didn't need to pressure much, and they were able to hold off any attacks, and so handed the Longhorns a 0-2 loss, and the Aggies took a point in the Lone Star Showdown.

The attendance of 5552 was the largest crowd ever to watch the Longhorns play.  Texas has still never earned any result against the Aggies anywhere but in Austin.

Recap by Texas
Recap by Texas A&M

Photos by Texas A&M

A&M edges out Longhorns for 2-0 win - Daily Texan
Rivalry game filled with physical play in College Station - Daily Texan
A&M soccer prevails over UT - The Battalion (includes some photos if you have Flash)

at Baylor - W 1-0 - Sun 14 Oct, 7 pm

Eighteen minutes into the game, Kasey Moore scored, finishing a corner kick from Courtney Gaines, putting Texas up 1-0.  The score held to the end, earning Texas the win.  From the look of the stats, it seems like Texas was aggressive on offense, but only claimed the single goal.

Recap by Texas
Recap by Baylor

Photos by Baylor (Flash required) (click on the Photo Gallery link, I couldn't get this link to go straight to it.)

Missouri - W 3-2 (OT) - Fri 19 Oct, 7 pm

This game started out poorly for Texas, two and a half minutes in, when the Longhorns failed to clear a corner kick, and allowed an easy tap-in.  Five minutes later, Texas surrendered a second goal, and were down 0-2 quick.  With about 18 minutes left in the half, though, Texas got one back, with a good long pass springing Nikki Arlitt on a break, which she finished, to make the score 1-2.  Eight minutes later, the Missouri keeper bobbled a corner kick, and Kasey Moore sent it into the net to even the score at 2-2.  Texas came close to a goal in the second half, but everything was just off, and the game went to overtime.  With about four minutes left in the first overtime, Stephanie Logterman took a free kick, which went off of Kasey Moore's head, and into the Missouri goal, and giving Texas the 3-2 win.

Recap by Missouri

I am sad to report that Texas has seemingly decided to completely trash their website.  First of all, the site is completely unusable if you don't have Flash installed, which I don't and won't.  Attention TexasSports.com:  I use a web browser to browse the web with.  If your site doesn't work in a web browser, and your's doesn't, it isn't worth jack.  Worse than that, though, is that ALL of the old links are now broken.  This means the interviews with all the old players, past game recaps, rosters, player bio information, everything UT has posted that I have linked to, and that is a lot, all that is now gone.  Bye-bye.  Now I want to go back and read the interview with Kati McBain, just before her last regular season game, where she said her favorite goal ever was her first, in her first couple minutes as a Longhorn.  (I'd bet her favorite goal now is her last!)  But I can't read it anymore, it's gone.  Some of the more recent links might have new names in their new scheme, but that is a huge amount to change, and I don't have the time.  I'll try and fix the game recap links from this season, and perhaps a handful of others, but that's it.  Almost all the links are going to go bad.  TexasSports.com, you suck.

Kansas - T 0-0 - Sun 21 Oct, 1 pm

A not always inspired Texas team had the best of the chances, but could not finish, and got a 0-0 draw with Kansas.  Kasey Moore had perhaps the best chance in the half, with 9 minutes to go, with a long range blast that forced a good save by the Kansas keeper.  The Longhorns had some other chances in the half, but did not convert.  In the second half, with about 3 minutes left in regulation, Kelsey Carpenter went on a break but was stopped, and the game went to overtime.  Texas had some chances in the overtimes, for one, Moore missed just high off a set piece with a minute left in the first overtime.  There was no score, though, and the game ended 0-0.

As far as postseason tournament seeding is shaping up, the Aggies have earned at least the 3 seed, and I'm not sure that anybody else has clinched a spot in the tournament.  Missouri has the best chance at finishing above A&M, as with their win at home this season vs. A&M, they have the tiebreaker.  The Tigers had a long weekend, after coming to Austin and playing into overtime, they traveled to Colorado to play at altitude, and took home 3 important points with them.  Texas still has a chance at the top seed, but A&M would have to get only a point out of two home games vs. Texas Tech and Baylor, which seems very unlikely.  Texas Tech, who has kind of been the doormat of the conference for a while, is poised on their first tournament spot in a long time, but they are not quite there yet, I don't think.  Nebraska, meanwhile, is at the bottom of the conference.

Recap by Kansas

Oklahoma State - L 0-1 - Fri 26 Oct, 7 pm

The Longhorns lose this one 0-1.  Despite the loss, with other results, Texas has now qualified for the conference post-season tournament, along with A&M (1 or 2 seed), Texas Tech, and Missouri.  Tech came from behind against Baylor to get the points they needed to qualify, for the first time in a long while.  On the other hand, Nebraska is now eliminated from the tournament, also for the first time in a while.  Two wins for Texas in the final two games would ensure them at least the 3 seed in the tournament.

Recap by Oklahoma State
Photos by Oklahoma State

Oklahoma - W 4-0 - Sun 28 Oct, 1 pm

Texas finally goes on a goal-scoring spree, in a 4-0 win at Oklahoma.  Stephanie Gibson, Kate Nicholson, Emily Anderson and Kelsey Carpenter each scored one for the Longhorns.

With the days results, the field (but not seeding) of the Big 12 tournament is set, with Texas A&M (1 seed), Missouri, Texas, Texas Tech, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma State and Iowa State in, and Nebraska, Baylor and Oklahoma out.

Recap (and Photos) by Oklahoma

Colorado - W 4-1 - Fri 2 Nov

Texas gave up an early goal, less than 2 minutes into the game, but about seven minutes later, a free kick just in front of the box led to Caitlin Kennedy scoring for the Longhorns, assisted by Kasey Moore, to even the score at 1-1.  With about 20 minutes left in the first half, Niki Arlitt fired a shot from the right side into the upper left corner of the net to make the score 2-1.  Colorado hit the post with seven minutes left, but did not score.  Early in the second half, Texas had a goal blocked by the frame, as a shot from Kelsey Carpenter bounced off the crossbar and out.  With 27 minutes to go in the second half, Greta Carter fired a nice solid shot into the net, making the score 3-1.  Texas added a final insurance goal, with 11 minutes left, when Kelsey Carpenter earned a one-on-one with the Colorado keeper, and made a nice finish into the right side of the net, making the final score 4-1 for Texas.

With the win, Texas claimed the 2 seed in the conference tournament, and will get a rematch with 7 seed Colorado, at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, at Blossom stadium in San Antonio.  If Texas wins, they would play the winner of 3 Kansas - 6 Oklahoma State at 7:30 pm on Friday, and the winner of that game will play in the final on Sunday at 1:00 pm.  The final is tape delayed on FSN, I am not sure when.

Recap by Colorado

Big 12 Tournament - First Round - Colorado - "W" 0-0 (4-2 on PKs) - Wed 7 Nov, 5:30 pm

Texas started the tournament with a rematch of their final regular season game, with 2 seed Texas facing 7 seed Colorado.  Colorado threatened to get on the board early, with a breakaway 4 minutes into the half, but Dianna Pfenninger made a fine save to keep the game scoreless.  Both sides had their of chances, but had difficulty putting shots on target, and the game ended regulation with a scoreless tie.  Five and a half minutes into the first overtime, Colorado had another great breakaway chance, and again Dianna Pfenninger made a huge save to keep the game going.  Texas had some chances in the overtimes, perhaps the best came with 10 seconds left in the second overtime, with a cross that made it to a Longhorn attacker right in front of goal, but the Texas player couldn't get anything on it, and the overtimes ended tied, and the match was settled with penalty kicks.

Texas took the first shot, but Kasey Moore's attempt was saved.  Colorado then made their first kick.  Courtney Gaines shot next for Texas, and made her try, and then Colorado's attempt was saved by Pfenninger, tying it up.  Niki Arlitt and Jill Gilbeau made their shots for Texas, and Colorado only got one of their next two, with Pfenninger making another save, putting the fifth Texas player in position to win the game with a shot.  Fifth up for Texas was Dianna Pfenninger... and she converted, and Texas was on to the second round.

Recap by Big 12
Photos by Big 12 (Flash)
Recap by Colorado

The complete tournament seedings were:
1 - Texas A&M
2 - TEXAS
3 - Kansas
4 - Missouri
5 - Texas Tech
6 - Oklahoma State
7 - Colorado
8 - Iowa State

Big 12 Tournament - Second Round - Oklahoma State - "W" 1-1 (5-3 on PKs) - Fri 9 Nov, 7:30 pm

In the second round, Texas faced Oklahoma State, who beat the Longhorns in the regular season.  Fifteen minutes into the game, Oklahoma State just got onside behind the Texas defensive line, and found a breakaway that they converted to put Texas down 0-1.  With 12 minutes left in the first half, Kelsey Carpenter answered with a great goal to tie the game at 1-1.  In the second half, Texas had some good play in the first ten minutes or so, but then went pretty flat for most of the rest of the half.  With about 2 minutes to go, though, the Horns really picked it up, and earned several opportunities, including one that hit the post, but scored no goals, and the game went to overtime.

In the overtimes, Texas again followed the script of playing flat until the last two minutes or so...  With two and a half minutes left in the first overtime, Dianna Pfenninger took a free kick from about midfield, and a Texas player sent this into the net, but this play was called offside.  With 20 seconds left in the first OT, Texas had a similar play, with a long free kick taken by Pfenninger, and Texas ended up with a shot, but it was saved, and the game went to the second overtime.  Nobody scored in the second extra period, so once again, it was off to penalty kicks.

Kasey Moore shot first for Texas, and she made hers this time.  Yolanda Odenyo came up for Oklahoma State, but her shot was saved by Dianna Pfenninger, putting Texas up 1-0 in the PK count.  Kelsey Carpenter, Courtney Gaines and Niki Arlitt all made their shots for Texas, as did the next three OSU players, which put Texas in position to win by converting the next PK.  So, of course, Dianna Pfenninger came to the line, and put her shot into the net, sending Texas on to the final against Texas A&M.

This was the second game in a row where Diana Pfenninger made the winning penalty kick.  Not bad for a goalie!

Recap by Big 12
Photos by Big 12 (Flash)
Recap by Oklahoma State

Big 12 Tournament - Final - Texas A&M - W 2-1 - Sun 11 Nov, 1 pm

The Big 12 conference final started out well for Texas, as just over minute into the game, Texas sent a corner kick off Kasey Moore to Emily Anderson who put in the net to give Texas an early 1-0 lead over the Aggies.  About 12 minutes into the second half, Dianna Pfenninger took a free kick from around midfield, and sent it off Kasey Moore, and into the net, to give Texas a 2-0 lead, probably the largest lead that Texas has ever had over the Aggies.  Moore was shaken up a bit on the play, but soon got up, flashing the Hook'em sign.  Six minutes later, the Aggies answered, as a player got open on the left side of the box, and sent a shot into the right side of the net, to narrow the margin to 2-1.  Texas A&M continued to pressure the Texas defense for the remainder of the game, most of it was played on the Texas end of the field.  The Longhorns had a few counter-attacks in the rest of the game, looking for a goal to seal the win, and Kelsey Carpenter was just off a couple of times, but most of the play was in front of the Texas net.  Fortunately, all the Aggie shots were either handled by Pfenninger, or shot wide of the mark.  As time wound down, though, it looked like the Aggies would finally equalize.  A corner kick, with about 20 seconds left, got past Pfenninger, and was on its way into the net, but Caitlin Kennedy cleared it away from goal, and so saved the win for Texas.

Texas keeper Dianna Pfenninger won the tournament Offensive MVP award (yes, you read that right!), while Kasey Moore took the Defensive MVP.  Kelsey Carpenter also made the all-tournament team.  With the conference championship, Texas claimed the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.  This was the first win ever by Texas against A&M anywhere besides Austin.

This game will be televised on delay on FSN, times depend on your local cable system, supposedly with Time-Warner in Austin, the game will be shown at 11 am on Fri 16 Nov.  Possibly there might be other times, I don't know.

Recap by Big 12
Photos by Big 12 (Flash)
Boxscore by Texas A&M    Recap by Texas A&M
Recap by Austin American-Statesman
Photos by Austin American-Statesman (Flash)


Photo by Rodolfo Gonzalez, American-Statesman.

NCAA Tournament

The full bracket is here.  The official release about the tournament is here:  http://www.ncaasports.com/soccer/womens/story/10469012

NCAA Tournament - First Round - BYU (at College Station, TX) - Thu 15 Nov - W 2-0

Texas was denied a seed, and due to the NCAA policy of absolutely minimizing travel, the Longhorns got a short trip to College Station, to meet the BYU Cougars, in the early game on Thursday.  The weather was somewhat windy, with Texas having the wind at their back in the first half, and otherwise beautiful.  The Longhorns wasted little time in taking control of the game.  Just over ten minutes into the game, the BYU keeper came out to challenge Alisha Ortiz, but Ortiz worked past her, and fired a shot into the now open net, to put Texas up 1-0.  About 8 minutes later, Alisha Ortiz added a second goal to make the score 2-0.  Overall, Texas dominated the first half, the scoreline seemed to be a deserved one.  The second half was a lot more even, with Texas concentrating more on defending their lead than in adding more goals.  The Longhorns had a few chances in the second half, mostly around the midway point, but as the half worked towards the end, much of the play was BYU pounding on the Texas defense.  The defense held, however, helped as usual by some excellent saves from Diana Pfenninger, including a couple of great diving saves with about 6 minutes left, and Texas claimed the 2-0 win.

The Longhorns, had never won (or even tied) at College Station, it is certainly nice to erase that annoying statistic.  Texas now will face Texas A&M on Saturday at 5:30, with the winner moving on to the next weekend of the tournament.

Recap by BYU

NCAA Tournament - Second Round - at Texas A&M - Sat 17 Nov - W 3-2

Texas wins an amazing game 3-2 against the Aggies on their home field.

The Longhorns have really exorcised some demons regarding Texas A&M in the past few days.  A week ago, Texas had never beat the Aggies anywhere but in Austin, never beat them in a tournament, never scored more than 1 goal against them anywhere but Austin, never scored more than 2 goals against them anywhere, and never beat anybody in College Station.  All of which gave the Aggies a big psychological edge.  No more.

On the other hand, A&M is still soundly trouncing Texas in the scoreboard department.  For this game, A&M had a mobile video display, despite the rain, which was very nice.  It reminded me of DKR where I sometimes watch the scoreboard instead of the game.  In Austin, we have an old, static, one-color display, which has half of its light bulbs burnt out so you can hardly read it anymore.

Texas will now face the winner of 3 seed Florida State vs. LSU.  If FSU wins, the game next weekend will be at FSU, otherwise it may be in Austin.

NCAA Tournament - Third Round - at Florida State - Fri 23 Nov - L 0-4

Texas didn't have the energy left to handle the FSU Seminoles, whose crisp passing game cut the Longhorns to pieces. I do have to give FSU props for having their band in the stand, something I have not seen before but have long thought would be cool.

Recap by FSU

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