ICYMI: Burnell leads soccer to 4-0 victory over Oral Roberts
Freshman forward Kat Burnell netted her first career hat trick for North Texas soccer in a 4-0 win over Oral Roberts University Sunday night.
Burnell now leads North Texas (2-0, 0-0 Conference USA) in goals with three — followed by graduate forward Olivia Klein with two. Burnell and Klein made up for 11 of the Mean Green’s 21 shots on the night.
“I came out here to score goals — that’s what I’m here to do,” Burnell said after the game. “I love the team —we’re fast [and] we have a lot of energy.”
A physical start to the contest culminated in a yellow card given to redshirt freshman Ariana Fresquez in the seventh minute as she fouled junior North Texas midfielder Rachel Roebuck. Fresquez exited the game with an injury as a result of the challenge.
Oral Roberts (1-1, 0-0 Summit League) controlled the tempo early with its best chance of the half coming in the 13th minute via a through ball to sophomore midfielder Sophie Nash. Nash’s run forced freshman goalkeeper Dani Jacobson off her line to save Nash’s shot. Klein took advantage of a mistake by junior Golden Eagles keeper Lousia Ramsauer five minutes later for the game’s first goal.
Klein’s goal was the difference at the half as the Mean Green held a 1-0 advantage. Both first halves of the season so far have resulted in one North Texas goal in each game, a figure head coach John Hedlund said he would like his team to improve.
“We need to work on a little bit faster of a start,” Hedlund said. “We’re scoring a lot of goals — we want to keep it going.”
Similar to Thursday’s game, the Mean Green’s offensive output increased in the second half of the contest. Eight minutes into the period, Burnell scored the first goal of her career on a deflected Klein shot that put the ball at her feet in front of an open goal.
Two minutes after her first goal, Burnell took the ball up the right side of the box, put her foot through the ball and found the top right corner for a second strike of the night for the freshman. The Keller native’s night was not done. She found space through the center of the Oral Roberts defense and chipped her hat trick-completing goal over Ramsauer’s head in the 65th minute.
“I’m just happy she got that first goal tonight,” Klein said. “The energy, the hard work, the composure that [she has] is really what we need.”
The night finished with North Texas taking home its second win in two attempts and defeating the Golden Eagles 4-0. Following two games versus in-state competition — Houston Baptist University and Stephen F. Austin State University — the Mean Green face a Big 12 Conference squad in the University of Oklahoma on Sept. 1. In their contest last season, North Texas and the Sooners tied 2-2 after two overtime periods.
North Texas’ schedule continues to increase in difficulty following the Oklahoma contest. The team will take on Metroplex rival No. 23 Southern Methodist University on Sept. 8, then Texas Tech University on Sept. 11. The Mean Green’s contest with Texas Tech will be the last before C-USA play begins.
Burnell said she’s confident in the team despite the tough opponents.
“We’re ready for all the hard competitions and challenges ahead,” Burnell said. “We’re just preparing for all the games coming up […] we’re excited.”
Image source Mean Green Sports
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