Comeback falls short for UT women’s soccer

By Steve Lansdale

AUSTIN, Texas — Freshman forward Mikayla Flores scored her third goal of the season in the 86^th minute, but that was not enough as the University of Texas women’s soccer team lost its last Big 12 game of the regular season, 2-1, to Baylor at Mike A. Myers Stadium.

The loss dropped the Longhorns’ record to 7-5-4 overall and 4-3-1 against Big 12 opponents, while Baylor improved to 9-5-2 overall and 4-1-1 in Big 12 matches. Those records are significant because while the teams are tied for second place in the conference standings, Baylor has two more regular-season games against conference opponents, while Texas closes out its regular season with a home match against Montana.

After battling the Bears through a scoreless first half, [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] Texas fell behind when Baylor scored twice in quick succession with goals in the 65^th and 68^th minutes of the game before Flores cut the deficit in half when she scored off an assist by fellow freshman Alexa Adams.

The teams were fairly even Sunday; in addition to the one-goal victory, Baylor also enjoyed a one-shot advantage Sunday, outshooting the Longhorns, 13-12. Texas head coach Angela Kelly said that while disappointed with the loss, she was not displeased with the way her team played.

“I don’t think that we played poorly,” Kelly said. “I think we won the battle in the midfield, and with Baylor it’s always going to be a physical battle. They were all over us up top. There was a lot of physicality to this game. I don’t think it was a poor performance.”

The Longhorns have lost their last two matches by identical 2-1 scores, but Kelly said that the fact that the Longhorns fought back in the waning moments spoke volumes about the character.

“Things aren’t always going to go your way, and sometimes they will,” Kelly said. “If you spend your time riding the highs and lows, you’re going to have a very see-saw experience, in this game, certainly, and in life … and it’s not always fair, but the strong will prevail.

“Our soccer program is incredibly strong, and the character of our young ladies is something that I’m very proud of. In response, with 15 minutes left, there was never too little time. There was 4:52 left (after Flores scored), and they were sprinting to get the ball in the back of the net — that’s the important piece to a squad. That’s where we’ll never break. Now we have to work on going ahead and continuing to fight. This was a much different feeling than Friday night. I’m proud of the response in the last 15 minutes.

Flores echoed her coach’s praise for the Longhorns’ effort, pointing out that the team needs to play better at the start of games, but said that despite the back-to-back losses to Oklahoma and Baylor, she is confident that the Longhorns will enjoy a successful run in the Big 12 Championship.

“Yeah, I think the two games related to one another,” Flores said. “I think we need to focus on putting it away earlier. The other team had (its) chances, and (was) waiting for us to attack and to score a goal, but we are going to move forward from this. This is behind us now. We have Senior Night and a Big 12 Championship to win, so we are just looking at the positives.

“I think we are just going to take this and learn from this. We are going to go get that ring from the Big 12 Championship.

The Longhorns close out their regular season at 7 p.m. Friday against Montana in a game that will be broadcast on the Longhorn Network.
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