Six Longhorns score in soccer team’s 7-0 demolition of Sam Houston State

By Steve Lansdale

AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas soccer team got goals from six players, including two from freshman forward Kyra Falcone, in a 7-0 rout of visiting Sam Houston State Friday at Mike A. Myers Stadium.

The stat sheet was as one-sided as the score. UT outshot its guests, 30-1, including an 18-0 margin after the halftime intermission, and held a 12-1 edge in corner kicks. By the time Texas scored twice in the first 17 minutes, the game was essentially over.

Head coach Angela Kelly said that the offensive outburst was a result of [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]the Longhorns converting the offensive chances that had gone unrealized in earlier games into goals.

“The hunger in front of goal,” she said when asked what led to the eruption of goals. “I think we, throughout the course of this season thus far, have certainly created opportunities to score. Tonight, we took advantage of those opportunities, and we put the ball in the back of the net, and there you have it. That’s the difference.”

Junior forward Olivia Brook scored what proved to be the only goal the Longhorns would need in the 16^th minute, when she dribbled around a defender and fired past SHSU goalkeeper Bailey Swain for her second goal of the season. Just 65 seconds later, sophomore forward Alexa Adams all but put the game out of reach on an unassisted goal of her own, her third tally of the young season.

Senior forward Jasmine Hart made the score 3-0 when she converted a cross from Adams in the 25^th minute, before Falcone struck twice just 41 seconds apart — in the 39^th and 40^th minutes — to give the Longhorns a daunting 5-0 lead at halftime.

After the game, Falcone struggled to define her emotions caused by her first two collegiate goals.

“It’s completely surreal right now,” Falcone said. “I mean, it’s just really exciting. I’m really excited to be here, let alone be able to score.”

Kelly said that Falcone’s goals were the result of the features that make her a dangerous scorer.

“There was one notion in her mind, and that was to go to goal,” Kelly said. “Anybody that you have up top, you want them to have that sort of hunger. She obviously has great pace, and she strikes a very, very clean ball, so those are two individual efforts. The balls that were given through to her were perfect, and she had the pace to go after it. (Falcone’s goals were) two wonderful strikes.”

Swain was pulled after the first half, in which she gathered just two saves while surrendering five goals. Her replacement, Anna Kaiser, fared a little better, allowing only a pair of goals while collecting three saves.

Morgan Murphy stretched the UT lead to 6-0 when she headed in a corner kick by Julia Dyche in the 56^th minute, and defender Chelsea Surpris capped off the scoring when she caught Kaiser out of position and lobbed a shot into the net in the 70^th minute.

The Longhorns will face a much tougher challenge at 11 a.m. Sunday when they host No. 19 Cal in a game that will be broadcast on the Longhorn Network.

“Going downstairs to watch them play Texas Tech right now,” Kelly said of the Golden Bears. “They’re a fabulous team. They’re very dynamic. We’re going to start our recovery and our preparation immediately. It’s less recovery time. We were able to steal those two hours here though, having the game at five. We have to prepare to play a top program and we’re going to go after them.”

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