Houston Soccer Secures Season Opener Win, 3-1

Thursday, August 19

Houston

7 p.m.

University of Houston

1-0-0, 0-0-0

Oklahoma

0-1-0, 0-0-0

Oklahoma

Houston

Photo by: Stephen Pinchback

8/19/2021 9:53:00 PM | Soccer

Box Score

Cougars defeat Oklahoma to kick off 2021 season

HOUSTON – Houston Soccer kicked off the 2021 season with a 3-1 win over Oklahoma, thanks to stellar performances from its redshirt freshmen class, on Thursday night from the Carl Lewis International Complex.

Redshirt freshman Ava Alaniz put the Cougars (1-0) on the board with a score assisted by Caitlyn Matthews in the 18^th minute. Houston then followed that with back-to-back goals in the second half.

The first half concluded with Oklahoma (0-1) tying the score 1-1 with a goal by Cailey England, assisted by Bri Amos. Heading into the second half, the Cougars were tied with the Sooners with five shots each; however, Houston had four corner kicks to Oklahoma's two.

The second half was huge for the Cougars with two goals to bring the score to 3-1. Early in the 64^th minute, Redshirt freshman Adriana Hutson delivered a goal with the assist by fellow redshirt freshman Nadia Kamassah. Quickly after the second goal was posted, redshirt freshman Cordelia "CC" Cross shot an unassisted breakaway third Cougars' goal. Houston was able to shut out Oklahoma the rest of the second period to grab its first win of the season.

For the second week in a row, goalkeeper Mikaela Gracia played the full 90 minutes, racking up three total saves to her career record. Preseason All-Conference honoree Jazmin Grant also added two shots to her career record. The Cougars ended the match with 11 shots to Oklahoma's nine.

UP NEXT
Houston will travel to Lake Charles, La., to face McNeese at 6 p.m. for its first road game of the season on Sunday. The Cougars return home at 7 p.m. Thursday to face Stephen F. Austin.

TICKET INFORMATION
Fans can purchase single-game tickets by clicking here, or by visiting the ticket office. Mobile tickets can also be purchased at game time at the ticket booth located at Schroeder Park (baseball), adjacent to the Carl Lewis International Complex. For more information on how to purchase tickets, call (713) Go-Coogs (713-462-6647).

STAY CONNECTED
Follow Houston Soccer on Twitter and Instagram at @UHCougarSoccer, and "Like" UHCougarSoccer on Facebook.

JOIN THE COUGAR RESERVES
Fans can help support the Houston Soccer program by joining the Cougar Reserves. To find out more information about the Cougar Reserves Club, click here or call Cougar Pride at (713) 743-GoUH (713-742-4684).

FOLLOW THE COUGARS!
Fans can keep up with the latest in University of Houston Cougar athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook.com/HoustonAthletics), Twitter (@UHCougars), Instagram (houstoncougars) and YouTube.com (Youtube.com/UHAthletics).