University of North Texas
1-2-0, 0-0-0
SMU
2-1-0, 0-0-0
UNT Rally Falls Short Late Against SMU
8/21/2025 9:49:00 PM | Women's Soccer
DENTON - The UNT soccer team stormed back from a three-goal deficit late in Thursday's home match against DFW rival SMU and climbed to within one in the 89th minute and had one more solid chance to tie the game in the 90th before falling just short in a 4-3 loss to the Mustangs.
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The Mean Green (1-2-0) outshot SMU 29-6 and put 11 shots on net but had trouble against the Mustangs' set pieces and fell behind 2-0 at half and 3-0 early in the second half before clawing their way back into the match.
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"We never quit and were able to put three goals in on an ACC team - the best conference in the country," head coach John Hedlund said. "Give SMU credit. They weathered the storm the first 30 minutes of the game and that was probably the difference. Overall, we outshot them 29-6, so I love our attacking style tonight. We definitely did not sit back. But where SMU is so good is utilizing their size on set pieces, and that's where their goals came from tonight. If we can clean that area up then we will be right where we need to be at the end of the year, no question about it."
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Junior midfielder Mia Bernard got the scoring started for UNT with her second goal of the season on a beautiful goal off a long pass from Rachel Roebuck in the 55th minute. In the 79th minute, sophomore defender Ella Bushko chipped in the first goal of her career off an assist from Georgia Guenther, and then in the 89th minute, Summer Brown found Claire Niedermeier, who fired a rocket at point blank range past the SMU keeper to bring the score to 4-3.
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In the 90th minute, Brown once again found Niedermeier, this time running free in the box, but she was tripped up to end UNT's last chance.
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The match drew 1,172 fans – 45 fans short of a new attendance program attendance record – and a new record of 712 students in attendance.
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"I'm really thankful for the fans that came tonight," Bushko said. "I was really shocked with the turnout. We just didn't finish our chances, but we'll get there. We know when we play together, we're a really good team. We're getting better, we just have to finish our chances and fix small things."
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The Mean Green will return to action on Saturday night at 7 p.m., when they travel to play Prairie View A&M.
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For more information on UNT Soccer tickets, contact the Mean Green Ticket Office at 940-565-2527 or at ticketoffice@unt.edu. Fans can visit the UNT Athletics Ticket Office located at Gate 2 of DATCU Stadium between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
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Team Stats
Lindsay Nicholson (2)
Assisted By: Sydney Japic
GOAL by SMU Nicholson, Lindsay Assist by Japic, Sydney.
28:25
Nicole Stryker (2)
Assisted By: Sammy Nieves
GOAL by SMU Stryker, Nicole Assist by Nieves, Sammy.
40:10
Nicole Stryker (2)
Assisted By: Sammy Nieves
GOAL by SMU Stryker, Nicole Assist by Nieves, Sammy.
47:55
Mia Bernard (2)
Assisted By: Rachel Roebuck
GOAL by UNT Bernard, Mia Assist by Roebuck, Rachel.
54:16
Nyah Rose (1)
GOAL by SMU Rose, Nyah.
58:34
Ella Bushko (1)
Assisted By: Georgia Guenther
GOAL by UNT Bushko, Ella Assist by Guenther, Georgia.
78:02
Claire Niedermeier (1)
Assisted By: Summer Brown
GOAL by UNT Niedermeier, Claire Assist by Brown, Summer.
88:31
