TCU W-Soccer Wins 1-0 Over UNT
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DENTON, Texas – The TCU Horned Frogs handed North Texas its first home loss since Sept. 17, 2010 with a 1-0 victory Sunday afternoon. Kelly Johnson scored the lone goal for TCU and Vittoria Arnold collected her third straight shutout.
“I am very proud of the group today, it was a complete team effort,” raved head coach Eric Bell. “North Texas didn’t make it easy on us, especially in the second half pumping ball after ball behind us and having to deal with that, clearing balls out, heading and all that other stuff that we needed to do in order to win certain games. It was unbelievable.”
With North Texas pushing hard for the equalizer in the second half, the Frogs did a solid job of holding down the fort in front of the goal box. The back line of Rebekah Foreman, Monica Alvarado, Morgan Lane and Bobbi Clemmer did a strong job of keeping the Mean Green shots to the perimeter.
The efforts of the defense allowed Arnold to see everything that came her way and
she was forced to make just two saves. Her best came in the 75th minute as she had to making a diving save on a point blank chance off the foot of Allison Guderian. Her shot was ticketed for the upper left corner, but Arnold was there to punch it over the back of the goal to keep the Mean Green scoreless.
A pretty even first half saw the Horned Frogs escape with a 1-0 lead on a goal by Johnson. The defensive back line for the Horned Frogs limited the Mean Green to just five shots, none of which found their way on goal.
North Texas had the first golden opportunity to take the early lead in the match. Carly McDowell made a strong feed to Michelle Young, who sprinted into the box and took a shot that sailed just wide of the far post and out of danger.
The Frogs fought back to get a scoring opportunity of their own in the 25th minute. Rebekah Foreman made a good run down the far side and fed the ball into the goal box to a waiting Maddy Courvoisier. Her header went right into the waiting hands of Mean Green goalkeeper to keep the game scoreless.
“We practice (Slyman’s) throw in quite a bit and she is able to maneuver it in a way where it’s accurate and gives us a chance to score. We had a chance and Kelly (Johnson) was able to score. Schafer did a good job coming off the bench. It’s a coming home for her and I thought she had an extra incentive today,” said Bell.
TCU kept the pressure on and was eventually rewarded with a goal. Strong work from a streaking Lindsy Schafer gave the Frogs an opportunity deep in the offensive zone. The ball eventually went out of bounds, setting up a TCU throw in. Brittany Slyman took the throw in and made a strong flip throw into the goal box and right to the feet of Kelly Johnson, who tipped it in for a 1-0 lead in the 31st minute.
North Texas made one last effort to get the game knotted at one before the half ended. Lynda Hercules found Leah Cox all alone at the top of the box, but her shot went high over the crossbar and out of danger.
TCU (5-3-1) will wrap up non-conference play this coming Friday when it heads to Denver for its only match of the week. Game time at Denver is set for 8 p.m. (CST).
