{"id":439784,"date":"2026-09-18T09:12:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T09:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/439784\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T09:12:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T09:12:09","slug":"soccer-earns-home-point-in-conference-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/439784\/","title":{"rendered":"Soccer Earns Home Point in Conference Opener"},"content":{"rendered":"

DENTON \u2014 The UNT soccer team’s American Conference opener on Thursday night had all the makings of the first match of league play.
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\nEvery ball was hotly contested, both the Mean Green and South Florida played a physical style that resulted in 27 combined foul calls that resulted in three yellow cards and a red card, and both teams gave everything they had to take points in the conference opener.
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\nAfter the 1-1 draw, both teams entered the weekend with one point in the conference standings, as the Mean Green fought back from a 1-0 halftime deficit to earn the tie.
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\nUNT (4-3-2, 0-0-1) outshot the Bulls (2-4-2, 0-0-1) 11-2 in the first half and were outshooting them 10-1 when McKenna Battilla hit a rocket into the upper-90 just out of UNT goalkeeper Sarah Margaret Seabrook’s<\/a> reach to give South Florida a 1-0 lead in the 28th minute.
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\nShots were tied 6-6 in the second half as the match became more physical, and on one of several instances when UNT junior forward Claire Niedermeier<\/a> was fouled and hit the deck, the referee awarded UNT a free kick just outside the penalty box in the 52nd minute.
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\nEnter sophomore forward Payton Annis<\/a>.
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\nThe dynamic Annis showed her skill on a brilliant right-footed rip into the upper-90 past South Florida keeper Gaby Rourke to even the score at 1-1 on her first goal of the season.<\/p>\n

“Payton came through with a huge goal for us tonight on an incredible upper-90 free kick,” head coach John Hedlund<\/a> said. “Both teams traded shots all night, but we just couldn’t find the game-winner. USF is a talented squad every year\u2014especially with their international kids in the lineup\u2014and for the second year in a row, we ended in a draw. We’ll shift our focus and get ready for Charlotte next week.”

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\nIn the closing moments, senior captain Mia Bernard<\/a> was given a red card, which forced the Mean Green to play with just 10 players for the final three minutes, but they were able to hold on and earn the point.

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\nThe Mean Green will now enjoy the weekend off before hitting the road to face a strong Charlotte team next Thursday at 6 p.m.

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