North Texas (4-2-1) defeated the Cardinals (1-3-2) 31-3 on Friday. It is the fifth straight game in which the Mean Green have allowed 27 or more shots. They entered the road game with the fourth-most shots per game in the country (27.7). During this five-game series, UNT is averaging more goals than its opponents, 35.6 to 4.2.
For UNT, it is already the fourth clean sheet win this season. Last year, there were a total of seven.
“Winning away is never easy, especially on artificial turf, but Bailey (Wesco), Summer (Brown) and Devyn (Flannery) gave us the energy and goals we needed tonight,” said head coach Johannes Hedlund who earned his 397th career win on Friday. “Our defense led by Abi (Major) and Maddie (Ogden) got us the shutout. A solid team road win tonight.”
Brown and Wesco both came off the bench in the 29th minute with the game tied 0-0.
When the clock of the first half ran out in the 41st minute, Katherine Williams intercepted a UIW pass near the halfway line and immediately passed it forward to Brown, who broke through the Cardinals defense and then beat their goalkeeper 1-on-1 to score the game’s first goal. It is her third goal of the season and her 13th of her career, tying her with Devyn Flannery for most from an active UNT player.
A few minutes after Brown’s goal, with only seconds left on the first half clock, the Mean Green were fouled 20 yards from the UIW goal. As North Texas prepared to take the free kick, Mia Bernard passed the free kick to Wesco, who ran and fired the ball over the Cardinals’ wall and past the goalkeeper into the net. It was her second goal of the season and her eleventh of her career.
The two goals in the first half were all North Texas needed, as Incarnate Word only had one shot on goal in the final 45 minutes and did not create many dangerous scoring opportunities.
Next up for UNT is its conference opener, hosting Florida Atlantic on Thursday at 7 p.m. CT. North Texas fans can pick up free Mean Green scarves at the game. Thursday’s game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
For more information on UNT football tickets, contact the Mean Green Ticket Office at 940-565-2527 or [email protected]. Fans can visit the UNT Athletics Ticket Office located at Gate 2 of DATCU Stadium Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
