University of North Texas Athletics
Friday, November 2
Norfolk, VA
6:00 PM CT
University of North Texas
14-2-3
1
vs
1
No. 4 Louisiana Tech
13-5-3
| Team | 1 | 2 | OT 4 | OT 5 | OT 6 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louisiana Tech | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| North Texas | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Mean Green Advance To Finals With PK Win
11/2/2018 9:11:00 PM | Women's Soccer
NORFOLK, Virginia – The regular season champs and defending Conference USA Tournament champion, North Texas soccer team is headed back to the conference tournament finals after defeating Louisiana Tech 3-2 in a penalty kick shootout in the semifinal round on Friday night.
The top-seeded Mean Green (14-2-3) came back in the shootout from a 2-1 deficit to win the match. UNT's redshirt freshman goalie Kelsey Brann made a diving save to her right to win it for her team.
"It was a great game against two outstanding teams and both keepers made unbelievable saves throughout the match to keep their teams in it," said head coach John Hedlund. "Congrats to LA Tech coach Kevin (Sherry) on an outstanding season. You know when it gets to PKs it's really anyone's game and when we got down by two it looked pretty bleak but somehow these girls found a way and we now get to defend our tournament title from last year."
North Texas won the tournament last year in PKs with a 3-1 win over Charlotte in the final round.
UNT will go for its seventh C-USA championship and second this season on Sunday when they face the six-seed Southern Miss Golden Eagles at 10:00 a.m. CT on ESPN+. This is the first time USM has made it past the quarterfinals of a C-USA women's soccer tournament. The Mean Green beat the Golden Eagles 3-0 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on Sept. 20 in their first conference match of the year.
"I'm so excited about going to the championship and I have no doubt we're going to give it our all," Brann said. "I love this team because they're my family."
After the two teams were stuck at a 1-1 draw after 120 minutes, the Mean Green's senior and goal-scoring leader Aaliyah Nolan fired in the first penalty kick attempt of the match.
After LA Tech responded, Hedlund chose to send Brann out to kick the second attempt. Brann's shot was saved by the Lady Techster's goalie and then they followed that up with another make to take a 2-1 lead.
UNT was put in an even bigger hole when its active leading goal-scorer Taylor Torres missed wide-left.
However, a high shot by LA Tech on its follow-up attempt gave the Mean Green some life and freshman Kaity Hemperly stepped up and scored despite not playing a minute in regulation or overtime. Brann then put momentum on North Texas' side with her first save of the shootout to tie the shootout at 2-2.
Sophomore Ansley Bunger gave UNT the lead with a successful left-footed shot and thus put it all in the hands of Brann to win it for the Mean Green.
"I'm not going to lie, after I missed my kick I felt a lot of pressure to make up for it," Brann said. "After their first PK went out I felt like I could really help the team get back in the game and I knew I had to make the next few saves.
"As soon as I made the save on the third PK it gave me a lot of confidence, because I could heard my teammates supporting me from half field," she added
On Sunday, North Texas will attempt to win the regular season and tournament championship in the same season for second time in four years.
They will need to continue to get support from a wide range of players to take down a confident Southern Miss team that won its first C-USA Tournament match this year.
On Friday, the Mean Green's Olivia Klein was extremely dangerous on the run, scoring just a few minutes after entering the match on a counter through ball pass from Brooke Lampe. Throughout the match, Klein was a menace on deep passes to the attacking third. The freshman finished with game-high five shots and put two on goal.
She and a cast of other UNT forwards put constant pressure on the LA Tech keeper who was forced to make a number of physical saves at the top of the 18-yard box.
North Texas out-shot the Lady Techster 18-7 on Sunday in what was the two teams' first meeting this year.
LA Tech's goal came in the 55th minute off of a corner kick and a scramble inside the six.
Despite giving up the early lead, UNT remains unbeaten this year when they score a goal.
Highlights
John Hedlund - Post Game Comments
The top-seeded Mean Green (14-2-3) came back in the shootout from a 2-1 deficit to win the match. UNT's redshirt freshman goalie Kelsey Brann made a diving save to her right to win it for her team.
"It was a great game against two outstanding teams and both keepers made unbelievable saves throughout the match to keep their teams in it," said head coach John Hedlund. "Congrats to LA Tech coach Kevin (Sherry) on an outstanding season. You know when it gets to PKs it's really anyone's game and when we got down by two it looked pretty bleak but somehow these girls found a way and we now get to defend our tournament title from last year."
North Texas won the tournament last year in PKs with a 3-1 win over Charlotte in the final round.
UNT will go for its seventh C-USA championship and second this season on Sunday when they face the six-seed Southern Miss Golden Eagles at 10:00 a.m. CT on ESPN+. This is the first time USM has made it past the quarterfinals of a C-USA women's soccer tournament. The Mean Green beat the Golden Eagles 3-0 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on Sept. 20 in their first conference match of the year.
"I'm so excited about going to the championship and I have no doubt we're going to give it our all," Brann said. "I love this team because they're my family."
After the two teams were stuck at a 1-1 draw after 120 minutes, the Mean Green's senior and goal-scoring leader Aaliyah Nolan fired in the first penalty kick attempt of the match.
After LA Tech responded, Hedlund chose to send Brann out to kick the second attempt. Brann's shot was saved by the Lady Techster's goalie and then they followed that up with another make to take a 2-1 lead.
UNT was put in an even bigger hole when its active leading goal-scorer Taylor Torres missed wide-left.
However, a high shot by LA Tech on its follow-up attempt gave the Mean Green some life and freshman Kaity Hemperly stepped up and scored despite not playing a minute in regulation or overtime. Brann then put momentum on North Texas' side with her first save of the shootout to tie the shootout at 2-2.
Sophomore Ansley Bunger gave UNT the lead with a successful left-footed shot and thus put it all in the hands of Brann to win it for the Mean Green.
"I'm not going to lie, after I missed my kick I felt a lot of pressure to make up for it," Brann said. "After their first PK went out I felt like I could really help the team get back in the game and I knew I had to make the next few saves.
"As soon as I made the save on the third PK it gave me a lot of confidence, because I could heard my teammates supporting me from half field," she added
On Sunday, North Texas will attempt to win the regular season and tournament championship in the same season for second time in four years.
They will need to continue to get support from a wide range of players to take down a confident Southern Miss team that won its first C-USA Tournament match this year.
On Friday, the Mean Green's Olivia Klein was extremely dangerous on the run, scoring just a few minutes after entering the match on a counter through ball pass from Brooke Lampe. Throughout the match, Klein was a menace on deep passes to the attacking third. The freshman finished with game-high five shots and put two on goal.
She and a cast of other UNT forwards put constant pressure on the LA Tech keeper who was forced to make a number of physical saves at the top of the 18-yard box.
North Texas out-shot the Lady Techster 18-7 on Sunday in what was the two teams' first meeting this year.
LA Tech's goal came in the 55th minute off of a corner kick and a scramble inside the six.
Despite giving up the early lead, UNT remains unbeaten this year when they score a goal.
Highlights
John Hedlund - Post Game Comments
Team Stats
TECH
UNT
Goals
1
1
Shots
7
18
Shots on Goal
4
7
Saves
6
3
Corners
3
5
Fouls
18
18
Scoring Plays
KLEIN, Olivia (4)
Assisted By: LAMPE, Brooke
Dribbled through defenders and through k
38:45
AUGUSTYN, Alexandra (2)
Assisted By: LEBLANC, Alexandra
Set piece from corner in a scramble
54:29
Game Leaders
Shots
5
SOG
2
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
4
SOG
1
Goals
0
Assists
1
Shots
3
SOG
2
Goals
0
Assists
0
Shots
2
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
0
Players Mentioned
Goalkeeper
/ Women's Soccer
Midfield
/ Women's Soccer
Midfield
/ Women's SoccerForward
/ Women's SoccerForward/Midfield/Defense/Goalkeeper
/ Women's SoccerForward
/ Women's Soccer
Forward
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