ORLANDO, Fla. – Viewers tuned into Thursday afternoon’s ESPNU broadcast not only witnessed Texas come from behind to beat UCF, 3-1, but they also saw history made by Longhorn junior midfielder Lexi Missimo.
Traveling to Orlando needing just one goal to become the first student-athlete in Texas women’s soccer history to record a 15-goal, 15-assist season, Missimo waited nearly 21 minutes of game time before sending a Holly Ward pass into the bottom right corner of the net from 20 yards out for her 15th goal on the season and 33rd for her career. It was the Longhorns’ second goal of the match after Ashlyn Miller sent a ball soaring into the top-right corner of the goal from nearly 40 yards out to tie the match, 1-1, at the 18-minute mark.
After the two teams battled back and forth for the next 61 minutes, Missimo all but shut the door on the evening after she put a Trinity Byars pass into the back of the net for her 16th goal on the season, pushing her season point total to 48 and passing Kelly Wilson’s single-season points record (46) set during the 2004 campaign. She will now enter Sunday’s conference matchup against Iowa State needing just one goal to tie Trinity Byars’ single-season goals mark (17) set in 2022.
FROM HEAD COACH ANGELA KELLY
“(UCF) was very dangerous on the counterattack. And we’ve known that, and we’ve scouted that, and everything can change on the flip of a coin, which is how cruel our game can be. A team could have 80 percent possession and still lose the match 1-0. We knew they were dangerous in that regard, but I’m really proud of our effort (tonight). It was a significant win on the road against a quality, top-25 team. Overall, it was a great conference win on the road, which is really hard to do. I’m just really proud of the squad.”
FROM MIDFIELDER LEXI MISSIMO
“We had trouble with (UCF) my freshman year — losing 4-0 — so getting the revenge and being able to pull out the win just feels so good. Personally, having the ability to shoot from distance really helped me tonight. I think that’s been the difference for me from last year to this year and it’s been working.”
MATCH NOTES
- With her first-half goal Thursday afternoon, Ashlyn Miller became the fifth different Longhorn women’s soccer student-athlete to score three-or-more goals this season.
- With her second-half assist, Trinity Byars has now been credited with 35 points on the season, which ties the junior forward with Kelsey Carpenter (2006) for sixth on the program’s single-season point list.
- Byars is now four points shy of becoming the only student-athlete in program history to record multiple seasons with 39-or-more points after totaling 43 in 2022.
- Fellow junior forward Holly Ward concluded Thursday’s action with a career-high two assists.
- The British Columbia native had been credited with a then-career-high one assist in a single match on three separate occasions with the most recent occurring against then-No. 6 BYU on Sept. 25, 2023.
- Thursday afternoon’s victory for Texas marked the first time the Longhorns not only beat UCF since Aug. 24, 2018, but also beat the Golden Knights in the state of Florida.
- Additionally, it’s the first time UT has beaten UCF within a 90-minute regulation match since Aug. 27, 2000.
- Texas is now 11-0-3 over its last 14 regular season road matches dating back to Aug. 19, 2021 and also pushes its record over the last 17 matches during the month of October to 14-0-3.
UP NEXT
- Texas (9-3-2, 3-2-1) will look for its 10th win on the season and sixth at home when the Longhorns play Iowa State (4-8-1, 1-4-0) at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 8.
FOLLOW US
- For the latest information on the team, follow @TexasSoccer on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. General athletic news can also be found at @TexasLonghorns on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
