Senior defender Alex Whitcraft fights for a ball against TCU on Sept. 26 in Houston, Texas. | Raphael Fernandez/The Cougar
Time is running out for Houston soccer to make a statement.
The team took their first point of Big 12 play in their fourth straight loss against TCU. The ladies rejoined the shutout club with a scoreless Sunday.
First goal of the season
The team took on No. 22 TCU Horned Frogs 7-2-1 at Carl Lewis International Complex on Sept. 26. The Cougars scored their first goal in a Big 12 matchup when senior midfielder Juliet Moore ended a three dry spell for the Cougars in their Big 12 games.
The game started in a very defensive manner freshman goalkeeper Maggie Manning got it going with two stops to hold off TCU.
The Horned Frogs kept pace with being offensively aggressive as they scored the first goal in the 37th minute. That would be the only score of the first half giving the Horned Frogs the lead going into the break.
The second half would keep pace for both teams as from a corner kick freshman midfielder Morgan Brown got a header past Manning to give them a 2-0 lead. There would be a small standstill, then the reigning player of the week graduate forward Caroline Kelly had some skillful dribbling to get her shot off and score a goal for her third game in a row.
The Cougars were trying to fight back when Moore had her goal, but it was just too little too late for the Cougars.
Another scoreless match
The team returned to the pitch and matched up against No. 25 Texas Tech on Sunday with hopes of snapping their four-game losing streak.
The Cougar’s defense held Texas Tech scoreless throughout the first 45 minutes of the match, with freshman goalkeeper Maggie Manning making multiple key saves.
Despite shutting the Red Raiders out with a strong defensive approach in the first period, Tech’s early offensive push led to two second-period goals. The Red Raiders saw sophomore forward Taylor Zdrojewski shot to find the back of the net just 38 seconds into the second period, giving Texas Tech a 1-0 lead.
The Red Raiders quickly doubled their lead by two minutes later when freshman Peyton Dyess found the back of the net for her first career goal,
securing a 2-0 advantage over the Cougars.
Despite the deficit, Houston made a strong attempt to fight back, attempting 10 total shots with junior defender Laney Gonzales leading the team with three, including two shots on target.
Freshman defender Kayla Smith saw her first career start, while redshirt freshman Chloe Adams made her debut in the 67th minute. Houston’s offense was simply unable to find a breakthrough as Texas Tech junior goalkeeper Faith Nguyen secured six saves, recording her sixth shutout of the season.
The Cougars fought hard but ultimately fell short. Houston will continue their search for their first Big 12 win on Sunday, Oct. 6. They will face the Cincinnati Bearcats, who have also struggled in the Big 12 this season.
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“Cougars score their first and only goal of Big 12 play, matchups with two ranked opponents” was originally posted on The Cougar