TCU soccer capped opening weekend with a second consecutive shutout victory, defeating the UTSA Roadrunners by a five goal margin.
The Frogs’ second game of the season played out very similarly to the first. The Horned Frogs dominated possession for the second straight game and played strong defense. Over the weekend, TCU combined for 10 goals while only allowing four shots from the opposition.
The first shot allowed by the Frogs came in the 23rd minute of today’s game.
“They’re just going out and applying the information they’ve been given,” head coach Eric Bell said. “Over the couple of games we’ve played this season, we’ve continually gotten better, and that’s what it’s all about. Every time we step on the field, we’re giving ourselves a chance to get better.”
The Horned Frogs came out strong in the first half, again, capitalizing twice in the early stages of the match.
In the sixth minute, sophomore midfielder Tara Smith received a strong cross from senior defender Ryan Williams into the box and shot into the left corner of the goal. The goal marked Smith’s first career goal as a Horned Frog.
Just two minutes later, the Frogs earned a corner kick. Senior forward Allison Ganter crossed the ball to the opposite end of the box where junior midfielder Karitas Tomasdottir jumped up to head the ball in over the keeper’s outstretched arms.
In the 24th minute, senior forward Emma Heckendorn completed another cross from Williams between the legs of the keeper to give the Frogs a three goal lead. The goal marked Heckendorn’s first goal of the season.
The final two goals of the match were scored by junior forward McKenzie Oliver. In the 32nd minute, Williams wove through the defense to lay the ball between two Roadrunner defenders into Oliver’s path who immediately pulled the shot into the bottom right corner of the net. In the 45th minute, freshman forward Tayla Christensen found Oliver on a breakaway. Oliver drew the defender left and shot the ball, just barely getting the ball over the goalkeeper’s arms and into the UTSA net.
“I haven’t tallied too many goals over the past two seasons, so to start off the first weekend with two goals feels pretty great,” Oliver said.
The match marked the second game played on the new field, and Oliver has noticed the major difference the new turf makes on the team’s overall play.
“I love it,” Oliver said. “The elevation’s nice and it’s all flat. It’s a lot easier to play both ways.”
Bell agreed that the new field is helping the team’s level of play.
“The quality of the surface is great,” Bell said. “It’s a lot softer so there’s not as much wear and tear on your body, and when that’s combined with the kind of lighting we had on Friday night, it makes it into a venue where the quality of soccer can be really good.”
The Frogs will look to continue the strong play on both ends of the field when they travel to Colorado next weekend. The Frogs will face the University of Colorado and Northern Colorado next Friday and Sunday night.
