No. 25 SMU women's soccer blanks No. 21 Texas, 2-0
Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2021 10:13 pmSMU women's soccer head coach Chris Petrucelli visited with PonyFans.com after the Mustangs blanked Texas, 2-0, in the first round of the NCAA Championship.
From SMUMustangs.com:
No. 25 SMU Defeats No. 21 Texas To Advance In NCAA Tournament
DALLAS (SMU/NCAA) – The No. 25 SMU women's soccer team defeated No. 21 Texas, 2-0, at home at the Washburne Soccer and Track Stadium in front of a sold-out crowd Sunday afternoon. SMU advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament to face No. 1 and top-seed Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla., Friday.
With the win, which is the first in the NCAA Tournament since 2006 for the Mustangs, SMU improved to 12-4-2 overall and 8-1-1 at home. SMU is now 8-1-2 all-time against Texas and 10-11-2 in the NCAA Tournament.
SMU got on the board early when Alina Khan scored her third goal of the season second shy of the clock turning to the seventh minute. The sophomore tapped home Jasmine Vilgrain's cross from the end line back across the goal. Abby Dermott was credited with the second assist, delivering it to the end line for Vilgrain.
"First, it (the goal) gave us confidence. You're in a game like this and there's a lot of pressure, I think. You score early and you can relax and play a little bit," SMU head coach Chris Petrucelli explained. "At times, we got the ball down and played pretty well."
The Mustangs' defense took the torch from there, posting its 10th shutout of the season, while allowing Texas just one shot on goal.
"For the most part, I thought Brooke [Golik] and Payton [Doiron] were really solid. They were really concentrated on staying together and not letting those guys, especially Trinity [Byars] up front, get chances," Petrucelli said. "Then in the midfield, I thought Katina [Tsapos] and Courtney [Sebazco], in particular, did a really good job of finding [Lexi] Missimo and not giving her a chance to playmake."
The Longhorns (11-5-6) took five shots in the first half, but were unable to test SMU starting goalkeeper Samantha Estrada, who made the lone save midway through the second half.
By the time Texas was able to threaten the SMU goal, it was already facing a two-goal deficit. The Mustangs found the back of the net just over two minutes into the second half. After not playing in the first half, SMU leading goal scorer Wayny Balata started the second half.
Sammy Nieves outhustled the Texas defenders to win a ball in the box, which was delivered from near midfield off the foot of Golik. Nieves calmly settled the ball and turned back to tap the ball toward Balata, who needed just one touch to drive the ball inside the left post for the two-goal advantage with her sixth goal of the season.
From SMUMustangs.com:
No. 25 SMU Defeats No. 21 Texas To Advance In NCAA Tournament
DALLAS (SMU/NCAA) – The No. 25 SMU women's soccer team defeated No. 21 Texas, 2-0, at home at the Washburne Soccer and Track Stadium in front of a sold-out crowd Sunday afternoon. SMU advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament to face No. 1 and top-seed Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla., Friday.
With the win, which is the first in the NCAA Tournament since 2006 for the Mustangs, SMU improved to 12-4-2 overall and 8-1-1 at home. SMU is now 8-1-2 all-time against Texas and 10-11-2 in the NCAA Tournament.
SMU got on the board early when Alina Khan scored her third goal of the season second shy of the clock turning to the seventh minute. The sophomore tapped home Jasmine Vilgrain's cross from the end line back across the goal. Abby Dermott was credited with the second assist, delivering it to the end line for Vilgrain.
"First, it (the goal) gave us confidence. You're in a game like this and there's a lot of pressure, I think. You score early and you can relax and play a little bit," SMU head coach Chris Petrucelli explained. "At times, we got the ball down and played pretty well."
The Mustangs' defense took the torch from there, posting its 10th shutout of the season, while allowing Texas just one shot on goal.
"For the most part, I thought Brooke [Golik] and Payton [Doiron] were really solid. They were really concentrated on staying together and not letting those guys, especially Trinity [Byars] up front, get chances," Petrucelli said. "Then in the midfield, I thought Katina [Tsapos] and Courtney [Sebazco], in particular, did a really good job of finding [Lexi] Missimo and not giving her a chance to playmake."
The Longhorns (11-5-6) took five shots in the first half, but were unable to test SMU starting goalkeeper Samantha Estrada, who made the lone save midway through the second half.
By the time Texas was able to threaten the SMU goal, it was already facing a two-goal deficit. The Mustangs found the back of the net just over two minutes into the second half. After not playing in the first half, SMU leading goal scorer Wayny Balata started the second half.
Sammy Nieves outhustled the Texas defenders to win a ball in the box, which was delivered from near midfield off the foot of Golik. Nieves calmly settled the ball and turned back to tap the ball toward Balata, who needed just one touch to drive the ball inside the left post for the two-goal advantage with her sixth goal of the season.