Tulsa and Houston both kicked off the AAC soccer opening weekend with dominant wins. | File photo/The Cougar
The American Athletic Conference’s 2019 Women’s Soccer season kicked off Thursday night and into the weekend, which included a triumphant 3-0 opening-night victory for Houston.
As for the other AAC teams, the 2018 AAC Champion Memphis crushed Little Rock in a 6-0 rout. Junior forward Clarissa Larisey had a phenomenal performance as she pulled off the hat trick. The Ontario-native scored all three goals in a span of less than four minutes.
Tulsa opened its 2019 campaign with an offensive explosion against Texas Southern. The Golden Hurricane demolished the Tigers 7-0. All seven goals came from seven different players.
Senior forwards Valiree Morris and Anna Williams, junior forwards Addyson Guthrie and Neha Igwe, junior defender Averee Dubach, freshman midfielder Isold Runarsdottir and freshman forward Aubrey Lechlider all started off their 2019 season with a goal. Tulsa finished the game with 20 more shots than TSU.
In Virginia, Cincinnati defeated St. John’s New York 2-0 Thursday night. Sophomore forward Vanessa DiNardo scored both of the Bearcats’ goals in the opener. The native of Strongsville, Ohio scored her goals less than 30 seconds apart.
Cincinnati, still in Virginia, lost Sunday afternoon to Virginia Tech 2-0. The Bearcats were outshot 18-3 by the Hokies as they fell to 1-1 on the young season.
Central Florida was defeated by Wisconsin 1-0. Senior forward Dani Rhodes scored the only goal of the game for the Badgers at the 63-minute mark.
UConn was defeated by Providence 2-1. Junior forward Hannah McNulty and junior midfielder Christina Rodgers each scored a goal in the first half for Providence. Redshirt sophomore forward Kess Elmore scored the only goal for UConn in the second half.
South Florida narrowly defeated Auburn 2-1 Thursday night. Senior forward Evelyne Viens scored the first goal for USF, which was later matched by Auburn senior forward Jessie Gerow. At minute 89, sophomore midfielder and forward Sydny Nasello scored the final goal of the night, which put USF on top.
Temple was defeated by Wake Forest Thursday night in lopsided fashion. The Demon Deacons won 3-0. Redshirt sophomore forward Hulda Arnarsdottir, graduate student forward Hayley Younginer and sophomore forward Shayla Smart all scored goals in the first half for Wake Forest. Temple only managed two shots the entire game.
SMU began its season Thursday night with a 1-0 win over Northwestern despite the Wildcats outshooting the Mustangs by five shots. Senior forward Allie Thornton scored the only goal of the game for SMU.
Just a couple days later on Sunday, SMU also defeated DePaul University 2-1. Sophomore midfielder Celiana Torres and junior forward Hannah Allred each scored their first goal of the season in the win.
ECU’s opener against George Mason Thursday afternoon was canceled due to inclement weather after the two teams played the first 45 minutes of the game.
