RECAP: Soccer ties Texas State at home after late surge
Soccer drew with Texas State University by a score of 2-2 after taking the lead twice late in the match.
After losing its first game of the season to the University of Oklahoma on Thursday, North Texas (4-1-1) faced an undefeated Texas State (5-0-1) in Denton.
North Texas outshot its opponents 14 to eight, with both teams getting four shots on goal for the game. The match resulted in two yellow cards for North Texas and one for the Bobcats.
“Most people come into our field and know that we’re going to be physical,” senior forward Madison Drenowatz said. “So, they’re always playing their best physical game against us. But it was definitely a tough game, especially having played Thursday.”
The Mean Green recorded seven shots in the first 20 minutes of the game. However, shots slowed down after that, and head coach John Hedlund substituted most of the starting lineup in the 31st minute. North Texas shot the ball nine times to Texas State’s three at the half. Both teams had two shots on goal and two saves.
North Texas’ best opportunity came when a handball was called against the Bobcats early in the second half, which resulted in redshirt junior midfielder Taylor Tufts bouncing a free kick off the top crossbar.
Drenowatz broke the tie with a 71st minute goal, which came from an assist where freshman forward Kat Burnell fell on the ball and managed to pass to senior forward Olivia Klein. Klein then found Drenowatz for her fifth goal of the season, tying the team high.
“I’m just always trying to find somebody who can score, whether that be me or someone else,” Drenowatz said. “My goal is always to either find the back of the net or find someone who can so we can put ourselves in a position to win.”
Texas State got an opportunity when redshirt freshman transfer defender Abi Major received a yellow card eight minutes later, giving the Bobcats a free kick near North Texas’ goal. Texas State freshman forward Addison Peters capitalized on the opportunity and scored after North Texas failed to clear the ball from the box, tying the game at one in the 78th minute.
Less than a minute later, the Mean Green found their way up the pitch, where freshman forward Summer Brown recorded her first collegiate goal on an assist from Klein to give North Texas the one goal lead.
In the 84th minute, Bobcats junior forward Haley Shaw scored off a corner kick North Texas could not clear from the box, tying the game at two with less than 10 minutes left.
The Mean Green had a couple more opportunities to score but could not get the ball into the back of the net before time expired. Brown said the forwards need to do a better job of retaining the ball in order to help the defense maintain late leads.
A matchup in Dallas with no. 15 Southern Methodist University comes next for North Texas on Sept. 8.
On Sept. 11 North Texas plays its second Big 12 conference opponent of the season, Texas Tech University, in Denton.
Drenowatz said that playing tough opponents early in the schedule prepares them well for the rest of the season.
“We learn from every game we have, and we take the mistakes we made, and we try to correct them,” Drenowatz said. “And then we take our successes too, and we want to carry both of those into these up-and-coming games against two power-five schools.”
Image source: Mean Green Sports
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