Friday, November 8
7:00 PM
University of North Texas
14-5-1, 7-2-1
2
vs
0
Rice
10-6-3, 6-1-3
1
2
F
Rice
0
0
0
North Texas
0
2
2
Mean Green Headed Back To Title Match
11/8/2019 10:39:00 PM | Women's Soccer
DENTON — The North Texas soccer team is headed back to the Conference USA Women's Soccer Championship title game to defend its title.
The back-to-back tournament champs who are hosting this year's tournament beat Rice (10-6-3) 2-0 on Friday in the semifinal round to advance to Sunday's final round. North Texas, the second-seed in the tournament, will face top-seed Florida Atlantic at noon on Sunday. The match will be broadcasted on ESPN+.
"First off congratulations to Rice on a great season," said head coach John Hedlund. "This game looked like it was heading to overtime and fortunately for us Allie (Byrd) and Berklee (Peters) came up with two big goals. I challenged my team at halftime to give me everything they had. No excuses and just leave it all on the field and they did exactly that.
"I couldn't be more proud," he added.
Friday's 2-0 win came less than 48 hours after UNT (14-5-1) overcame five weather delays to beat UTEP in 3-1 in the quarterfinals at 12:33 a.m.
Hedlund probably felt that Friday's match could go into overtime, because the two teams drew 0-0 on Nov. 1 in Houston after two overtimes.
But in in the 73rd minute, freshman Allie Byrd was subbed back into the match for an offensive explosion and that's exactly what she created. The 6-foot-0 athletic forward was a challenge all night for the Rice's defense and in the 75th minute Byrd's size advantage paid off. On a free kick from 45 yards out, senior Madeline Guderian placed the ball into the top of the 18-yard box where junior Elle Marie DeFrain headed it over the Owls' defense and where Byrd was shielding off a defender. Byrd chested the ball and in one motion struck it with her right-foot before it hit the ground and beat the keeper to give her team a 1-0 advantage with 15 minutes left.
The burst turned into an avalanche as 10 minutes later Peters — UNT's leading goal scorer — put the icing on the cake as she controlled a cross into the box from freshman Michelle Gonzalez and scored her 14th goal of the year.
"We now have a chance to win this tournament three years in a row and we're playing against an outstanding FAU team," Hedlund said. "This should be a great match for all of our fans."
North Texas lost at FAU 1-0 during the regular season. The Owls scored the lone goal on a penalty kick in the second half. However, he Mean Green have not lost at home to a conference opponent since 2008.
The back-to-back tournament champs who are hosting this year's tournament beat Rice (10-6-3) 2-0 on Friday in the semifinal round to advance to Sunday's final round. North Texas, the second-seed in the tournament, will face top-seed Florida Atlantic at noon on Sunday. The match will be broadcasted on ESPN+.
"First off congratulations to Rice on a great season," said head coach John Hedlund. "This game looked like it was heading to overtime and fortunately for us Allie (Byrd) and Berklee (Peters) came up with two big goals. I challenged my team at halftime to give me everything they had. No excuses and just leave it all on the field and they did exactly that.
"I couldn't be more proud," he added.
Friday's 2-0 win came less than 48 hours after UNT (14-5-1) overcame five weather delays to beat UTEP in 3-1 in the quarterfinals at 12:33 a.m.
Hedlund probably felt that Friday's match could go into overtime, because the two teams drew 0-0 on Nov. 1 in Houston after two overtimes.
But in in the 73rd minute, freshman Allie Byrd was subbed back into the match for an offensive explosion and that's exactly what she created. The 6-foot-0 athletic forward was a challenge all night for the Rice's defense and in the 75th minute Byrd's size advantage paid off. On a free kick from 45 yards out, senior Madeline Guderian placed the ball into the top of the 18-yard box where junior Elle Marie DeFrain headed it over the Owls' defense and where Byrd was shielding off a defender. Byrd chested the ball and in one motion struck it with her right-foot before it hit the ground and beat the keeper to give her team a 1-0 advantage with 15 minutes left.
The burst turned into an avalanche as 10 minutes later Peters — UNT's leading goal scorer — put the icing on the cake as she controlled a cross into the box from freshman Michelle Gonzalez and scored her 14th goal of the year.
"We now have a chance to win this tournament three years in a row and we're playing against an outstanding FAU team," Hedlund said. "This should be a great match for all of our fans."
North Texas lost at FAU 1-0 during the regular season. The Owls scored the lone goal on a penalty kick in the second half. However, he Mean Green have not lost at home to a conference opponent since 2008.
Team Stats
RICE
UNT
Goals
0
2
Shots
8
22
Shots on Goal
2
8
Saves
6
2
Corners
4
2
Fouls
9
15
Scoring Plays
Allie Byrd (1)
Assisted By: Elle Marie DeFrain , Madeline Guderian
GOAL by UNT Byrd, Allie Assist by DeFrain, Elle Marie and Guderian, Madeline.
74:56
Berklee Peters (1)
Assisted By: Michelle Gonzalez
GOAL by UNT Peters, Berklee Assist by Gonzalez, Michelle.
84:24
Game Leaders
Shots
6
SOG
4
Goals
1
Assists
0
fwd
Shots
2
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
4
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
1
Shots
1
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
1
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Women's Soccer
Midfield
/ Women's SoccerMidfield
/ Women's Soccer
Defense
/ Women's SoccerBroadcast Highlights vs ACU | Mean Green Soccer
Friday, September 05
Broadcast Highlights vs McNeese St. | Mean Green Soccer
Friday, August 29
Broadcast Highlights vs SHSU | Mean Green Soccer
Monday, August 18
Coach Hedlund 400 Win Congratulations | Mean Green Soccer
Monday, September 30