Number 10 ranked TCU Soccer kicked off their Big 12 conference season with a 1-0 win at home over Utah this past Friday. Seven Castain provided the go-ahead goal for the second consecutive game as TCU did a solid job defensively, limiting Utah to just four shots on goal all game. The Frogs moved to 7-1-0 with the win and continued to show no fear in close games as this marked their sixth one goal win of the year.
The TCU offense created the first chance of the game with a corner kick and a shot from
Morgan Brown in the fourth minute. Olivia Geller, who started in goal for the Frogs, was then tested by a shot on goal by Utah which she handled in the seventh minute. Utah retained possession for a few minutes afterwards but did not record another shot on goal during that offensive push. Starting in the tenth minute, the TCU offense took control with three corner kicks and shots from Emma Yolinski and Sydney Becerra before Castain gave the Frogs the lead in the 19th minute with a header off of a great feed from Becerra. Cameron Patton made a nice pass to set up the play and also picked up an assist. Utah immediately pushed back with back to back shots on goal in the 20th and 23rd minutes that were both saved by Geller. Following those chances, both defenses settled in and limited chances from either side as the next shot on goal wasn’t until the 38th minute when Geller again turned away a Utah attempt. Lainey Swanson pushed back for TCU with a shot off the left post and another shot that missed high in the 40th and 41st minutes. Utah led the Frogs in shots on goal at halftime by a margin of 4-1 as Geller did well for TCU to protect the one goal lead.
The Utes recorded the first shot of the second half before Yolinski barely missed a goal with a shot that hit off the crossbar to keep the game at 1-0. The TCU offense kept the pressure up with a shot on goal from AJ Hennessey and shots from Morgan Brown and Seven Castain. Castain had another chance in the 62nd minute with a shot on goal that was turned away by the Utah keeper. TCU continued to control possession and chances throughout the second half as Grace Vest and Kaela Martinez both recorded shots as Utah struggled to create offense. TCU had two more high danger chances with shots on goal from Morgan Brown and Grace Coppinger in the 74th minute. While Utah did their best to make a push down the stretch, the Utes were held without a shot on goal in the second half as TCU played well defensively to protect the one goal lead. The Frogs again were able to stay calm in a close game and come away with a victory but will need to do a better job of finishing high danger chances with goals in the future. Castain has been the only Frog recently to consistently find the back of the net and against better teams, TCU will need goals from more players.
The Frogs will hit the road for their next two games, both taking place in the Sunflower state as they will take on Kansas State this Thursday at 6:30 pm and number 14 ranked Kansas this Sunday at Noon.
