First year head coach Angela Kelly took her young Texas squad on the road for her first Big-12 Conference matches in style. The Longhorns experienced the comfort and convenience of a charter flight out of Austin, TX for their Friday night game at Iowa State and Sunday afternoon capper against rival Oklahoma.

“I think this luxury allows us to be more focused and streamlines our travel time,” junior midfielder Gabby Zarnegar said. “This gives us a longer period of time to adjust in the next state we are playing in, as well as the next opponent.”

Whether it was not having to drag a heavy duffel bag through security or the excitement of a new team starting to connect, the Longhorns found the focus, chemistry, and hunger early against their road opponents. In the 14^th minute, sophomore Sharis Lachapelle slipped a shot past Iowa State’s Andrea Swanson in goal off a nice ball from senior Hannah Higgins. The sharp service continued as the Horns would ultimately push across four goals in the first half and hold on for the 4-0 win.

"We all had a new energy coming into this game given the new slate," Lachappelle said. "We just wanted to start off conference play right. It was really exciting to see us execute the way we wanted to and, most importantly, get the win."

Lachapelle capitalized on her adrenaline after her goal and found teammate senior Kristin Cummins just under three minutes later to make it 2-0. The story of the weekend is perhaps the execution of corners in particular for UT. With 6’0” freshman Lindsey Meyer anchoring the midfield, the Longhorns have a dangerous weapon in front of goal on set pieces. With two goals already on the year off corners, Meyer continued her role of posting up inside the six yard box to put pressure on the goalkeeper in corner kick situations.

“My teammates have been playing great balls all year, so I just try to focus on getting away from my defender, locating the ball, and then heading it down," Meyer said. "But a lot of the credit should go to my teammates like Gabby (Zarnegar), Hannah (Higgins), and Sharis (Lachappelle) for serving great balls and making my job easy."

Meyer put two of Zarnegar’s bending balls into the net Friday, while Lachappelle scored her second of the weekend in Sunday’s match against Oklahoma when Zarnegar found her inside the box from the corner spot. In addition to Meyer’s tall presence, Lachappelle, Cummins, and sophomore defender Brooke Gilbert threaten in the air.

"I know I need to look for our target players, so I do that first,” Zarnegar said. “Mostly, I think I have confidence in our height and ability to score off the corner kick. As long as I can do my part and get a good ball in, the rest will be taken care of by my teammates and they'll score."

In addition to the five goals scored on the weekend, the Longhorns stabilized play in the back lead by freshman goalkeeper Abby Smith, recently returned from the U-20 Women’s World Cup. Smith earned the two shutouts in a conference known for its challenges on the road. With the victories, Texas moves to 5-6-1 on the year and 2-0 in Big-12 play.

Their toughest test of the 2012 season comes in the form of visiting Oklahoma State on October 5 at 7:00 p.m. The Longhorns will have the upcoming Saturday and Sunday off before the highly anticipated matchup the following week – the only game of the weekend for Texas. 

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