Senior midfielder Juliet Moore recorded a hat trick as the University of Houston edged past Texas State women’s soccer 3-2 Sunday evening at Bobcat Soccer Complex.
It was a highly physical game, with each team tallying over 10 attempts at goal and committing a combined 16 fouls.
“It was a fantastic game,” Texas State Head Coach Steve Holeman said. “It always felt like we were still in the game despite being down.”
The Cougars started their run early into the match. In the 13th minute, Moore received a pass from teammate senior defender Anna Reysa and landed the ball in the bottom right corner for her first goal of the night.
Moore and Reysa returned to the Bobcat goalpost six minutes later to increase the lead to 2-0.
Texas State used halftime to make some positive offensive changes, bringing in sophomore midfielder Kaylie Smith and junior forward Mady Soumare.
Five minutes into the second half, sophomore midfielder Victoria Meza received the ball from Smith’s throw-in and headed it over the Cougar goalkeeper to score the first Bobcat goal of the night.
Two minutes later, in the 52nd minute, Soumare tied the match with a bottom-right finish that slid past the Houston defense and goalkeeper for her eighth career goal as a Bobcat.
Houston responded in the 60th minute with a set-piece goal from Moore, assisted by freshman defender Kayla Smith to complete the hat trick. Sunday marked the first hat trick of Moore’s collegiate career.
The last opportunity for the Bobcats came in the final four seconds, with senior forward Zoe Junior finding an opening in the Houston defense and shooting the ball to the left post, only for it to narrowly miss and go out of bounds.
“It’s unfortunate it didn’t go our way, but these are the games that help us get better for conference play,” Holeman said.
Next, the Bobcats will start a series of road games, beginning with a match against Oklahoma State University.
Kick-off between Texas State and Oklahoma State is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 5, at Neal Patterson Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.
