North Texas Soccer Shuts Out La Tech

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DENTON, Texas – North Texas head coach John Hedlund preached to his team before taking on Louisiana Tech about the importance of being at the right place at the right time, especially on set pieces. Anna Flobeck apparently took notice.

In the 30th minute, the freshman flashed to the front post on a Lynda Hercules corner kick and sent the ball into the back post netting. Flobeck’s goal would hold up to give North Texas (7-3-1, 1-0-1 C-USA) its first Conference USA victory, 1-0.

“I really never saw the ball,” said Flobeck, on notching her second goal of the year. “I just went into the middle of a pack of players and the ball hit my shoulder and went in. It was exactly like what coach Hedlund was talking about – be at the right place at the right time.”

The North Texas defense was at the forefront of the Mean Green’s renewed emphasis on a possession game. Shelly Holt, Tess Graham and captain Kelsey Hodges diffused pressure all afternoon by hitting their other captain, Tori Adame, on wide open switches to the left side of the field.

“We just have to understand that teams like this weekend are going to

play very defensive minded against us,” Hedlund said. “We need to be more patient with our possessions and do a better job of burying our chances and we’ll be fine.”

The veteran defense, along with three saves from Haley Riley, yielded North Texas’ sixth shutout of the year. Riley was really on tested once on a diving save from a Louisiana Tech (5-6-1, 0-2-0 C-USA) free kick from the 18-yard box, which she handled.