In a dominant performance, Texas soccer snapped its winless streak, beating Ole Miss. Continuing their Southeastern Conference play, the Longhorns are now 1-1-2 in conference matches.
With each team chasing their first conference victory of the season, Sunday’s match was slated to be fiery. That expectation held, as 70 seconds into the match, Texas took the lead with a rifle of a shot launched by sophomore forward Ashlyn Anderson, putting Texas up 1-0 almost immediately.
The quick score put Ole Miss on their heels. Despite efforts to evade Texas defenders, Ole Miss attacks were repeatedly thwarted, often yielding the ball over to the Texas offense.
As she has been all season, senior goalkeeper Bayliss Flynn continued to put her body on the line to prevent the Rebels from scoring. Flynn took point of the Texas defense, traveling out of the penalty box multiple times and essentially acting as an extra defender.
Texas maintained its pressure on the Ole Miss defense as the first half progressed. About 12 minutes into regulation, freshman midfielder Caroline Swann curled a shot around Rebel defenders to sophomore forward Audrey Bryant, who tapped the pass past the Ole Miss goalkeeper into the goal. The effort was short-lived, however, as the referee quickly called offside, a theme that would continue for both teams throughout the afternoon.
Toward the end of the first half, the tone of the match shifted. Ole Miss’s attacks began to slip past Longhorn defenders, leaving Flynn as the sole line of defense between shots and goals. Flynn, however, rose to the challenge, facing nine shots throughout the half and denying all of them.
During halftime, Todd Shulenberger, Ole Miss head coach, appeared frustrated after the early score.
“We can’t give up a goal in the first minute,” Shulenberger said. “That’s unacceptable; it’s not how our team plays. …We’ve got to stop getting punched in the face and make a statement.”
Five minutes into the second half, however, Ole Miss faced yet another self-inflicted setback. After aggressively challenging a Texas attack, Peyton Dyess, Ole Miss junior forward received a yellow card, giving Texas a free kick.
Seventeen minutes into the second half, Texas sophomore forward Ava McDonald, who had been relatively quiet, got a chance to put Texas up by two goals. Sending a firm ground shot just past the reach of the Ole Miss goalkeeper, McDonald scored her fourth goal of the season, putting the Longhorns up 2-0.
Five minutes later, senior Rebel defender Alena Watts sent a missile towards the top of the Texas goal, slipping past the hands of Flynn and just barely over the goalpost, ending what seemed to be Ole Miss’ best attack of the day.
As the half went on, Texas became less aggressive and shifted to a more defensive style of play, attempting to maintain control of their lead.
Toward the end of the half, the Ole Miss players appeared frustrated with each other and their inability to develop any sort of offensive attack. Then, with eight minutes left in the half, Ole Miss supporters in the stands grew visibly angry when, after two slide tackles and a collision with Texas defenders, freshman forward Teaghan Irvin fell to the ground, appearing shaken and in pain. After a few minutes of stoppage, Irvin managed to walk herself to the sideline.
“We’re glad to get this ‘w’ on the road,” said McDonald in a post-match interview.
McDonald also highlighted the team’s focus going into their next match.
“We’ve had a lot of talks this week about mentality, and it’s still not where we want it to be … next week it has to raise,” McDonald said.
Texas will resume conference play next Sunday, in Austin, against the Oklahoma Sooners.
