By Steve Lansdale
AUSTIN, Texas — For the second time in as many games, the Texas soccer team got two goals before halftime … and for the second time in as many games, that was enough for the Longhorns to pick up a victory.
The Longhorns knocked off Western Kentucky, 2-0, Sunday at Mike A. Myers Stadium, two days after opening the season with a 2-1 win over Rice.
Junior midfielder Amber Stearns and freshman forward/midfielder Emily Strouphauer each [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]scored for the first time as a member of the UT program; Stearns is in her first season with the Longhorns after transferring from Boston College.
The Longhorns outshot their guests by a 21-1 margin, and Texas head coach Angela Kelly said she doesn’t find her team’s inability to score after halftime in the first two games is not a cause for concern.
“Not worrisome at all,” Kelly said. “Our first goal was in the first 25 seconds on Friday night. I’m not sure when exactly we scored first today, I think it was something like the 19th minute. If you can get a goal in the first 10, a goal in the first 15-20 minutes, then ideally you score three a half. We’re pretty pleased with that. We had 21 shots, and we created more corners in the first half. Regardless, we’re excited to get on the board whenever it is, and we’ve really been concentrated on starting strong and I think the team is taking that to heart … on a Sunday too. Our mentality is that we go after it on Sundays. I was pleased that the players took that to heart and went after the team.”
Texas has won its first two games of the season for the first time since 2010.
The Longhorns got the only goal they would need in the 19th minute when Stearns finished assists from Katie Glenn and Kayra Dollas with a header from about nine yards out.
Strouphauer doubled the UT margin right before halftime when she scored an unassisted goal in the 43rd minute.
“I had a lot of space to turn, my teammates made some great runs to draw the defenders away,” Strouphauer said. “I just had an open look, and I took it.”
Understandably pleased with her goal and the final score, Stearns said the Longhorns’ offense evolved from the defensive end.
“I think that we did a better job switching the field, like how we were working in our defensive shape was better,” she said. “But also, everyone that came into the game worked really hard. The people on the flanks were really attacking them a lot, we had Nakia Graham come in and just was an immediate spark for the team. Everybody that came in played really well, so I think overall that it was just a really good effort.”
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