North Texas Soccer Defeats UTEP

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The season’s quickest goal, followed by the wildest goal of the year earned the North Texas soccer team a 2-1 win over UTEP and the coveted No. 2 seed in next week’s Conference USA Tournament.

North Texas (12-6-1, 6-3-1 C-USA) will find out its opponent in next week’s league showdown in Houston after tonight’s round of games. NT will be the No. 2 seed in the West Division, and will face the No. 3 squad in the East.

A lot was riding on this game, we simply had to win it,” said North Texas head coach John Hedlund. “To finish the regular season with the second best record in a sixteen team league is quite an accomplishment. Now we need to take this momentum into the conference tournament and focus on winning a championship.”

Playing in the final home game of her career, Kelsey Hodges opened the afternoon with the fastest goal of the year – a redirect from the six-yard box that found the upper left corner of the net just 2:18 into the contest.

For the remainder of the half, UTEP (12-5-3, 5-3-2 C-USA) peppered the North Texas goal with 11 shots thanks to a strong wind at their backs, but Haley Riley and the NT defense stayed strong.

The Mean Green turned the tables on the Miners in the

second half, and used the blustery conditions to their advantage. In the 57th minute, NT sent a ball into the corner for Rachel Holden, who won the foot race to the UTEP end line. The freshman lofted a cross that caught the wind and flew into the far side of the goal.

The zero-angle goal was Holden’s 12th of the year, which ranks second in C-USA.

The Miners would score a goal in the 83rd minute, but North Texas was able to hold off the UTEP rally.