North Texas soccer secures 15th conference championship
The Mean Green soccer team prolonged their 2018 season after defeating Southern Mississippi 2-1 in double overtime to win the 2018 Conference USA Championship Tournament.
North Texas was the No. 1 seed in the tournament after winning the C-USA regular season title with a conference record of 8-1-1. The Mean Green took down conference rivals Rice, Louisiana Tech and Southern Mississippi on their way to winning the conference tournament trophy for the third time in the last four years.
This was the first time North Texas won both the regular season title and the conference tournament championship since 2015.
After winning in penalty kicks on Friday night in the semifinal match against Louisiana Tech, the Mean Green started early in Sunday’s match when Aaliyah Nolan bent a shot around Southern Miss defenders and put it in the net for a goal to put North Texas up 1-0.
Southern Mississippi hung around and scored a goal during minute 79 to even the score at 1-1.
With four minutes remaining in double overtime, senior Lauryn Bruffett headed in a free kick from Madeline Guderian to clinch the championship for North Texas.
With the game-winning goal, Bruffett earned the 2018 C-USA Tournament Offensive MVP, and teammate Carissa Sanders was awarded the C-USA Tournament Defensive MVP.
Guderian also received All-Tournament Team honors after her championship-winning assist as well as an assist and goal in the quarterfinal match versus Rice.
The North Texas seniors have now won seven C-USA championships — with four regular-season titles and three conference tournament championships — since 2015. They have an all-time record of 63-15-9 and look to add on to their already impressive resume in the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
The selection show to determine the seeding of each team will be Monday, Nov. 5. First round action of the NCAA tournament will begin this coming weekend and could be played on Nov. 9, 10 or 11.
Featured Image: Mean Green soccer sings the Alma Mater after their 2-1 win against Florida Atlantic University. Jordan Collard
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