University of North Texas Athletics

Soccer Begins 25th Campaign
7/10/2019 5:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
DENTON – The University of North Texas' most successful athletic program, the Mean Green soccer team, is beginning its 25th season in 2019 and is coming off one of its best seasons.
Along with another conference regular season and tournament title, which brings their total to 15, the Mean Green were ranked No. 24 in the nation and junior center back Dominique James was named a NCAA All-American, both program firsts.
UNT heads into its 25th campaign with another milestone as they welcomed a brand new soccer facility and stadium this offseason. Head coach John Hedlund, the program's only head coach, believes the new facility will take the Mean Green to even greater heights.
Below is a timeline of the program's other landmark moments.
Sept. 2, 1995: The First Match
The North Texas women's soccer program played its first match on Sept. 2, 1995 at Texas Tech. The Mean Green lost to the Red Raiders that day 3-2. However, it would be the only time in the program's history that its overall winning percentage has been below .500 as UNT won five straight matches after the Texas Tech loss and hasn't looked back since.
A fun note heading into the 2019 season, the Mean Green are scheduled to play at Texas Tech on Sept. 1, nearly 25 years to the day of their inaugural match.
Sept. 3, 1995: The First Win
Immediately following the Mean Green's loss at Texas Tech, UNT bounced back the next day with a 4-2 win over LSU on a neutral field for the program's first ever win.
Along with beating LSU, the Mean Green beat Mississippi State at home and at Kansas in 1995.
North Texas finished year one with an 11-6-1 overall record.
Oct. 6, 1996: First Conference Win
After playing without a conference in 1995, UNT soccer joined the Big West in 1996 and won its first league game of the year on Oct. 6. They beat the Aggies 2-0 at home.
The Mean Green enter the 2019 season on a 49-match home conference match unbeaten streak. The longest such streak in NCAA women's soccer history. They last time they lost a home conference match was on Oct. 31, 2008.
Aug. 31, 1997: 22-0 Victory
North Texas thumped Troy in Lake Charles, Louisiana 22-0 for what at the time was the fifth-largest margin of victory in NCAA women's soccer history and remains the program's largest.
UNT out shot the Trojans 57-0 in the match and had four players record a hat trick including Christy Johnson who finished with five goals. Her five-goal performance came less than 24 hours after scoring five goals against McNeese State. Her five-goal performances remains a program single-match record.
Official scoresheets in 1997 was before computer scoring was standard and had spaces for only nine goals per match. Therefore, the scoresheet versus Troy spanned three pages. The Mean Green led 9-0 by the 28th-minute and were up 13-0 at halftime.
UNT led the nation in scoring for five straight weeks during the 1997 season.
Nov. 17, 1997: The Original First Team All-Conference Winners
Following the conclusion of the 1997 season, which the Mean Green finished with a 13-6 overall record, UNT's Amy Chandler, Krista Davey and Christy Johnson were all named first team all-conference. The first players in program history to be named first team all-conference. Since 1997, the program has earned 48 first team all-conference honors. The three first team all-conference honors UNT earned in 1997 is tied for the second-most in a single season in program history. In 2000 the Mean Green earned four first team all-league honors.
Sept. 18, 1998: UNT Takes Down No. 24 SMU
Early in the 1998 season, North Texas had picked up wins over Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. But its 2-1 overtime win over No. 24 SMU in Dallas was the early highlight of the year. The win was the program's first ever against a nationally ranked top 25 team.
The win over No. 24 SMU came after the Mean Green had lost their first two matches against ranked teams. However, they'd follow up their win over the nationally ranked Mustangs by beating their next ranked opponent which happened to be SMU in 2000. North Texas beat the No. 9 Mustangs 3-2 in overtime at home on Sept. 1, 2000.
The Mean Green's next top 25 victory came on Oct. 10, 2003 when they beat No. 21 Denver 3-2 in double overtime at home. North Texas' Kristen Campbell scored the game winning goal with 24 seconds left in the match.
Oct. 31, 1999: Orange Burnt On Halloween
UNT welcomed heavy favorite Texas to Denton to conclude the 1999 season. Entering the match on a eight-game winning streak and a 13-4 overall record the Mean Green came in confident and jumped on the Longhorns early with a goal in the 16th-minute by Carrie Kveton.
After UT tied the match in the second half to send it to overtime, the Mean Green ended it with a goal by MIchelle Brophy with 19 seconds left in the first overtime. Though the 1999 season would end on that day for North Texas, they still concluded the year in a dog pile as the team rushed the field to celebrate.
Nov. 4, 2000: Sun Belt Finals
The new millennium was a turning point for the Mean Green program. They won 15 matches for the first time and outscored its first round and semifinal round Sun Belt Conference Tournament opponents by a combined seven goals and earning them their first trip to a conference tournament championship match. Though they'd lose to FIU in the finals, it started a run of eight straight seasons where the Mean Green reached the Sun Belt Tournament finals.
Oct. 21, 2001: Sun Belt Regular Season Champions
Though the Mean Green have collected nine regular season conference titles in 24 seasons, they didn't win their first until the 2001 season.
With a 1-0 win over South Alabama on Oct. 21, 2001, North Texas clinched the 2001 Sun Belt regular season title. They'd finish the year 7-1 in league play and advance once again to the SBC finals.
Nov. 8, 2003: Marilyn Marin
Forward Marilyn Marin's career came to an end on Nov. 8, 2003 when the Mean Green lost in overtime to Denver in the Sun Belt Tournament finals.
Marin, who'd be a first ballot North Texas Athletic Hall of Fame selection, ended her fabulous career with every offensive record in school history while leaving her mark on the NCAA. Marin had 214 career points, tied for 10th in NCAA history, 88 goals, eighth in NCAA history, 2.70 points per game, tied for seventh in NCAA history, and 1.11 goals per game, tied for eight in NCAA history.
In 2002, Marin turned in the best season in North Texas soccer history. She led the nation in points (67), goals (26), and points per game (3.53). She was the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year in 2002 and 2003 along with being named the Freshman of the Year in 2000.
Marin was a four-time first-team all-conference selection and a four-time all-central region selection, the first player in league history to be named first-team all-conference four straight years and capture back-to-back Player of the Year honors.
In 2000 she was named to the Freshman All-America first-team after pouring in 24 goals, six assists, and 54 points on the season. In 2003 she had her third 20-goal season with 23 goals, 14 assists, and 60 points. She had 11 hat tricks for her career along with 23 games where she scored two goals or more.
Nov. 6, 2004: Sun Belt Tournament Champions
Led by future North Texas Hall of Famer Melinda Pina and Heather Hutyra, the Mean Green won a then program-best 16 matches, captured the Sun Belt regular season title with a 6-1-1 record and beat FIU in Miami in the SBC Finals. With the win over the Panthers, UNT advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time. They'd fall 3-0 at No. 12 Texas in the first round.
Nov. 5, 2005: Back-to-Back Champs
After losing Melinda Pina to graduation following the 2004 season, Heather Hutyra took full reins of the Mean Green program as just a sophomore.
Hutyra drilled home a team-leading 20 goals to go along with seven assists to earn Sun Belt Player of the Year honor as North Texas finished as back-to-back SBC regular season champs.
Most importantly, she'd get UNT back to the NCAA Tournament. The Mean Green captured their second straight SBC Tournament title with a 2-0 win over South Alabama in the finals and Hutyra was named the tournament's most valuable player.
Hutyra would graduate in the spring of 2008 and be a first ballot UNT hall of famer. Along with her teammates such as Pina and Marin, she is credited as a program changing catalyst.
2005: First Hall of Fame Selection
The Mean Green had their first alum inducted into the athletic hall of fame in 2005 when Krista Davey got the call.
The four-year starter who played from 1996-99 was a three-time first team All-Big West Conference selection and led the Mean Green to a 51-22-3 record during her career to help build the foundation for a program that still has never had a losing season. The Houston native was named to the Soccer Buzz first team All-Central Region Team in 1997 and 1998 and still ranked among the top five North Texas players in every major statistical category in 2005 when she was inducted.
North Texas will have its seventh hall of famer inducted later this year with 2014 graduate Kelsey Hodges.
Aug 31, 2006: Mean Green Soccer Complex Opens
After 11 seasons of playing at the Beer Barn field and Peterbilt fields, UNT got its first true home stadium in 2006 with the Mean Green Soccer Complex.
A stadium they'd call home for 13 seasons (2006-2018) and win over 70 percent of its matches, the Mean Green won their first ever match at the complex with a 2-1 victory over Houston.
Nov. 4, 2012: Return To The Top
In its final season in the Sun Belt Conference, North Texas put together another 16-win season that included capturing the regular season title and then the SBC Tournament crown on Nov. 4 with a 1-0 win over FIU in the finals to earn its third trip to the NCAA Tournament.
The championship win was also Hedlund's 250th career win.
Led by Michelle Young and hall of famer Kelsey Hodges and soon-to-be hall of fame keeper Jackie Kerestine, the Mean Green went 8-1-1 in conference and went on a nine-match unbeaten streak and a 13-match stretch where they lost just one match.
Sept. 15, 2013: Historic Two-Week Stretch
North Texas blanked Oklahoma 5-0 on national television on Sept. 15, 2013 behind a hat trick from freshman Rachel Holden.
The win over the Sooners was the highlight of a two-week stretch where UNT went 4-0 and outscored its opponents 12-0 and shutout its opponents for over 352 consecutive minutes. Along with its 5-0 win over OU, the Mean Green beat TCU 2-0, McNeese State 2-0 and Sam Houston State 3-0. Holden's hat trick against Oklahoma was her second hat trick of the season.
Oct. 31, 2014: The New Dynasty
North Texas took home its ninth overall conference champion on Halloween in 2014 with a 4-0 blanking of WKU at home to clinch the Conference USA regular season title.
The 2014 championship, just two years into joining C-USA, has started a run of five consecutive years and counting where UNT has claimed the league's regular season and/or tournament title.
Nov. 8, 2015: 19-Win Season
Entering the 2015 season, North Texas had won 16 matches in a season four times but had never won more than 16 matches.
In 2015, UNT blew that record out with a 19-win year. They won 15 matches in shutout fashion and also held Marshall scoreless in a 0-0 draw.
They'd pick up non-conference victories over TCU, UNLV and Houston— all shutouts. On Sept. 20, they'd lose in the final seconds of double overtime to No. 5 Texas A&M but following that went on a nine-match unbeaten streak including winning eight in a row during that nine-game stretch. They'd shutout five straight opponents from Sept. 4 through Sept. 18 and won all three of its conference tournament matches by shutout.
North Texas faced Texas Tech in Lubbock in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament. However, prior to the match in warm-ups, senior keeper Jackie Kerestine went down with a leg injury and did not play. The Mean Green fell to the Red Raiders 1-0. Kerestine's .927 shutout percentage that season currently ranks tied for 13th-best in NCAA history.
Aug. 19, 2016: Hedlund Wins 300th
In a 4-0 win at Incarnate Word to open the 2016 season, head coach John Hedlund became just the 20th division I head coach to reach the 300-win milestone and just the eighth to do it all at one school.
Oct. 9, 2018: Top 25
Following a 2-0 win over UAB, North Texas earned its first-ever top 25 national ranking as they came in at No. 24.
UNT was riding a seven-match winning streak at the time and a 9-1-1 overall record. Its only loss came at No. 12 Santa Clara who beat the Mean Green 1-0 on a penalty kick.
Nov. 4, 2018: Number 15
After claiming the 2018 Conference USA regular season championship with a 2-1 victory at Middle Tennessee, UNT won its 15th overall conference championship with a 2-1 overtime victory over Southern Miss in the finals of the C-USA Tournament.
Senior Lauryn Bruffett scored the match winning goal in overtime on a heder off a free kick from junior Madeline Guderian. The goal sent UNT to its second straight NCAA Tournament and its third in four years. The Mean Green fell 1-0 in double overtime to No. 16 Texas A&M in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Aggies scored the game-winning goal in the 108th minute.
Nov. 29, 2018: James Named NCAA All-American
Junior Dominique James became the program's first-ever NCAA All-American in 2018 when she was voted by the coaches to the honor.
The captain was also a 2018 first team all-south region selection, the Conference USA Player of the Year, C-USA Defensive Player of the Year, first team all-conference, C-USA All-Academic, C-USA Service and Spirit award winner among other honors.
Along with another conference regular season and tournament title, which brings their total to 15, the Mean Green were ranked No. 24 in the nation and junior center back Dominique James was named a NCAA All-American, both program firsts.
UNT heads into its 25th campaign with another milestone as they welcomed a brand new soccer facility and stadium this offseason. Head coach John Hedlund, the program's only head coach, believes the new facility will take the Mean Green to even greater heights.
Below is a timeline of the program's other landmark moments.
Sept. 2, 1995: The First Match
The North Texas women's soccer program played its first match on Sept. 2, 1995 at Texas Tech. The Mean Green lost to the Red Raiders that day 3-2. However, it would be the only time in the program's history that its overall winning percentage has been below .500 as UNT won five straight matches after the Texas Tech loss and hasn't looked back since.
A fun note heading into the 2019 season, the Mean Green are scheduled to play at Texas Tech on Sept. 1, nearly 25 years to the day of their inaugural match.
Sept. 3, 1995: The First Win
Immediately following the Mean Green's loss at Texas Tech, UNT bounced back the next day with a 4-2 win over LSU on a neutral field for the program's first ever win.
Along with beating LSU, the Mean Green beat Mississippi State at home and at Kansas in 1995.
North Texas finished year one with an 11-6-1 overall record.
Oct. 6, 1996: First Conference Win
After playing without a conference in 1995, UNT soccer joined the Big West in 1996 and won its first league game of the year on Oct. 6. They beat the Aggies 2-0 at home.
The Mean Green enter the 2019 season on a 49-match home conference match unbeaten streak. The longest such streak in NCAA women's soccer history. They last time they lost a home conference match was on Oct. 31, 2008.
Aug. 31, 1997: 22-0 Victory
North Texas thumped Troy in Lake Charles, Louisiana 22-0 for what at the time was the fifth-largest margin of victory in NCAA women's soccer history and remains the program's largest.
UNT out shot the Trojans 57-0 in the match and had four players record a hat trick including Christy Johnson who finished with five goals. Her five-goal performance came less than 24 hours after scoring five goals against McNeese State. Her five-goal performances remains a program single-match record.
Official scoresheets in 1997 was before computer scoring was standard and had spaces for only nine goals per match. Therefore, the scoresheet versus Troy spanned three pages. The Mean Green led 9-0 by the 28th-minute and were up 13-0 at halftime.
UNT led the nation in scoring for five straight weeks during the 1997 season.
Nov. 17, 1997: The Original First Team All-Conference Winners
Following the conclusion of the 1997 season, which the Mean Green finished with a 13-6 overall record, UNT's Amy Chandler, Krista Davey and Christy Johnson were all named first team all-conference. The first players in program history to be named first team all-conference. Since 1997, the program has earned 48 first team all-conference honors. The three first team all-conference honors UNT earned in 1997 is tied for the second-most in a single season in program history. In 2000 the Mean Green earned four first team all-league honors.
Sept. 18, 1998: UNT Takes Down No. 24 SMU
Early in the 1998 season, North Texas had picked up wins over Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. But its 2-1 overtime win over No. 24 SMU in Dallas was the early highlight of the year. The win was the program's first ever against a nationally ranked top 25 team.
The win over No. 24 SMU came after the Mean Green had lost their first two matches against ranked teams. However, they'd follow up their win over the nationally ranked Mustangs by beating their next ranked opponent which happened to be SMU in 2000. North Texas beat the No. 9 Mustangs 3-2 in overtime at home on Sept. 1, 2000.
The Mean Green's next top 25 victory came on Oct. 10, 2003 when they beat No. 21 Denver 3-2 in double overtime at home. North Texas' Kristen Campbell scored the game winning goal with 24 seconds left in the match.
Oct. 31, 1999: Orange Burnt On Halloween
UNT welcomed heavy favorite Texas to Denton to conclude the 1999 season. Entering the match on a eight-game winning streak and a 13-4 overall record the Mean Green came in confident and jumped on the Longhorns early with a goal in the 16th-minute by Carrie Kveton.
After UT tied the match in the second half to send it to overtime, the Mean Green ended it with a goal by MIchelle Brophy with 19 seconds left in the first overtime. Though the 1999 season would end on that day for North Texas, they still concluded the year in a dog pile as the team rushed the field to celebrate.
Nov. 4, 2000: Sun Belt Finals
The new millennium was a turning point for the Mean Green program. They won 15 matches for the first time and outscored its first round and semifinal round Sun Belt Conference Tournament opponents by a combined seven goals and earning them their first trip to a conference tournament championship match. Though they'd lose to FIU in the finals, it started a run of eight straight seasons where the Mean Green reached the Sun Belt Tournament finals.
Oct. 21, 2001: Sun Belt Regular Season Champions
Though the Mean Green have collected nine regular season conference titles in 24 seasons, they didn't win their first until the 2001 season.
With a 1-0 win over South Alabama on Oct. 21, 2001, North Texas clinched the 2001 Sun Belt regular season title. They'd finish the year 7-1 in league play and advance once again to the SBC finals.
Nov. 8, 2003: Marilyn Marin
Forward Marilyn Marin's career came to an end on Nov. 8, 2003 when the Mean Green lost in overtime to Denver in the Sun Belt Tournament finals.
Marin, who'd be a first ballot North Texas Athletic Hall of Fame selection, ended her fabulous career with every offensive record in school history while leaving her mark on the NCAA. Marin had 214 career points, tied for 10th in NCAA history, 88 goals, eighth in NCAA history, 2.70 points per game, tied for seventh in NCAA history, and 1.11 goals per game, tied for eight in NCAA history.
In 2002, Marin turned in the best season in North Texas soccer history. She led the nation in points (67), goals (26), and points per game (3.53). She was the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year in 2002 and 2003 along with being named the Freshman of the Year in 2000.
Marin was a four-time first-team all-conference selection and a four-time all-central region selection, the first player in league history to be named first-team all-conference four straight years and capture back-to-back Player of the Year honors.
In 2000 she was named to the Freshman All-America first-team after pouring in 24 goals, six assists, and 54 points on the season. In 2003 she had her third 20-goal season with 23 goals, 14 assists, and 60 points. She had 11 hat tricks for her career along with 23 games where she scored two goals or more.
Nov. 6, 2004: Sun Belt Tournament Champions
Led by future North Texas Hall of Famer Melinda Pina and Heather Hutyra, the Mean Green won a then program-best 16 matches, captured the Sun Belt regular season title with a 6-1-1 record and beat FIU in Miami in the SBC Finals. With the win over the Panthers, UNT advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time. They'd fall 3-0 at No. 12 Texas in the first round.
Nov. 5, 2005: Back-to-Back Champs
After losing Melinda Pina to graduation following the 2004 season, Heather Hutyra took full reins of the Mean Green program as just a sophomore.
Hutyra drilled home a team-leading 20 goals to go along with seven assists to earn Sun Belt Player of the Year honor as North Texas finished as back-to-back SBC regular season champs.
Most importantly, she'd get UNT back to the NCAA Tournament. The Mean Green captured their second straight SBC Tournament title with a 2-0 win over South Alabama in the finals and Hutyra was named the tournament's most valuable player.
Hutyra would graduate in the spring of 2008 and be a first ballot UNT hall of famer. Along with her teammates such as Pina and Marin, she is credited as a program changing catalyst.
2005: First Hall of Fame Selection
The Mean Green had their first alum inducted into the athletic hall of fame in 2005 when Krista Davey got the call.
The four-year starter who played from 1996-99 was a three-time first team All-Big West Conference selection and led the Mean Green to a 51-22-3 record during her career to help build the foundation for a program that still has never had a losing season. The Houston native was named to the Soccer Buzz first team All-Central Region Team in 1997 and 1998 and still ranked among the top five North Texas players in every major statistical category in 2005 when she was inducted.
North Texas will have its seventh hall of famer inducted later this year with 2014 graduate Kelsey Hodges.
Aug 31, 2006: Mean Green Soccer Complex Opens
After 11 seasons of playing at the Beer Barn field and Peterbilt fields, UNT got its first true home stadium in 2006 with the Mean Green Soccer Complex.
A stadium they'd call home for 13 seasons (2006-2018) and win over 70 percent of its matches, the Mean Green won their first ever match at the complex with a 2-1 victory over Houston.
Nov. 4, 2012: Return To The Top
In its final season in the Sun Belt Conference, North Texas put together another 16-win season that included capturing the regular season title and then the SBC Tournament crown on Nov. 4 with a 1-0 win over FIU in the finals to earn its third trip to the NCAA Tournament.
The championship win was also Hedlund's 250th career win.
Led by Michelle Young and hall of famer Kelsey Hodges and soon-to-be hall of fame keeper Jackie Kerestine, the Mean Green went 8-1-1 in conference and went on a nine-match unbeaten streak and a 13-match stretch where they lost just one match.
Sept. 15, 2013: Historic Two-Week Stretch
North Texas blanked Oklahoma 5-0 on national television on Sept. 15, 2013 behind a hat trick from freshman Rachel Holden.
The win over the Sooners was the highlight of a two-week stretch where UNT went 4-0 and outscored its opponents 12-0 and shutout its opponents for over 352 consecutive minutes. Along with its 5-0 win over OU, the Mean Green beat TCU 2-0, McNeese State 2-0 and Sam Houston State 3-0. Holden's hat trick against Oklahoma was her second hat trick of the season.
Oct. 31, 2014: The New Dynasty
North Texas took home its ninth overall conference champion on Halloween in 2014 with a 4-0 blanking of WKU at home to clinch the Conference USA regular season title.
The 2014 championship, just two years into joining C-USA, has started a run of five consecutive years and counting where UNT has claimed the league's regular season and/or tournament title.
Nov. 8, 2015: 19-Win Season
Entering the 2015 season, North Texas had won 16 matches in a season four times but had never won more than 16 matches.
In 2015, UNT blew that record out with a 19-win year. They won 15 matches in shutout fashion and also held Marshall scoreless in a 0-0 draw.
They'd pick up non-conference victories over TCU, UNLV and Houston— all shutouts. On Sept. 20, they'd lose in the final seconds of double overtime to No. 5 Texas A&M but following that went on a nine-match unbeaten streak including winning eight in a row during that nine-game stretch. They'd shutout five straight opponents from Sept. 4 through Sept. 18 and won all three of its conference tournament matches by shutout.
North Texas faced Texas Tech in Lubbock in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament. However, prior to the match in warm-ups, senior keeper Jackie Kerestine went down with a leg injury and did not play. The Mean Green fell to the Red Raiders 1-0. Kerestine's .927 shutout percentage that season currently ranks tied for 13th-best in NCAA history.
Aug. 19, 2016: Hedlund Wins 300th
In a 4-0 win at Incarnate Word to open the 2016 season, head coach John Hedlund became just the 20th division I head coach to reach the 300-win milestone and just the eighth to do it all at one school.
Oct. 9, 2018: Top 25
Following a 2-0 win over UAB, North Texas earned its first-ever top 25 national ranking as they came in at No. 24.
UNT was riding a seven-match winning streak at the time and a 9-1-1 overall record. Its only loss came at No. 12 Santa Clara who beat the Mean Green 1-0 on a penalty kick.
Nov. 4, 2018: Number 15
After claiming the 2018 Conference USA regular season championship with a 2-1 victory at Middle Tennessee, UNT won its 15th overall conference championship with a 2-1 overtime victory over Southern Miss in the finals of the C-USA Tournament.
Senior Lauryn Bruffett scored the match winning goal in overtime on a heder off a free kick from junior Madeline Guderian. The goal sent UNT to its second straight NCAA Tournament and its third in four years. The Mean Green fell 1-0 in double overtime to No. 16 Texas A&M in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Aggies scored the game-winning goal in the 108th minute.
Nov. 29, 2018: James Named NCAA All-American
Junior Dominique James became the program's first-ever NCAA All-American in 2018 when she was voted by the coaches to the honor.
The captain was also a 2018 first team all-south region selection, the Conference USA Player of the Year, C-USA Defensive Player of the Year, first team all-conference, C-USA All-Academic, C-USA Service and Spirit award winner among other honors.
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