Houston coach Ben Williams receives a celebratory ice bucket shower from the soccer team after beating Texas, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025, in Houston, Texas. | Raphael Fernandez/ The Cougar.
Drenched in gallons of Powerade, Ben Williams and his rebuilt Houston team celebrated the first signature win of his Cougar era: a commanding 4-1 rout of Texas Sunday night.
The win marked Houston soccer’s first over Texas in nearly 25 years, when the Cougars defeated them on the road 3-2 in overtime on Sept. 3, 2000.
It was also Houston’s first-ever home victory against Texas since the two programs first faced off in 1998.
Houston’s four goals were the most by the Cougars against a Power Four program since scoring five against Auburn on Sept. 5, 1999, in a 5-1 win.
And for the second consecutive matchup, it was by virtue of four different goal-scorers, putting the depth Williams assembled on full display.
“It doesn’t matter the position… how tall you are… how smart you are. It does not matter,” senior forward Cameryn Maddox said. “Anybody is good enough to play any position, no matter the time of the game; everyone is putting their best foot forward.”
Maddox was instrumental in Houston’s second-half turnaround, nailing the go-ahead goal in the bottom-right of the net, spurred by a handball on Texas freshman midfielder Sadie Hoch.
Just minutes later, Maddox assisted on a goal by sophomore forward Blake Hodgson, giving the Cougars the breathing room they needed against a Texas team that increased its second-half shot attempts, but to no avail.
As easy as the scoring was for Houston in the final 45 minutes, it was the opposite going into halftime, with only three shot attempts and facing a 0-1 deficit.
There was no special message from Williams at the half, and he urged his team just to keep their composure and play “the way they know how to,” Maddox said.
An aggressive brand of soccer, Williams has ingrained in his players, leading to 14 total shot attempts against a Texas team expected to contend for an SEC title, and above all, an early exclamation point on his Houston tenure.
Houston will continue the second leg of its three-game homestand against ULM at the Carl Lewis International Complex on Aug. 31.
sports@thedailycougar.com
