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Aug. 9, 2012

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Complete Notes | Quote the Horns (Aug. 9) | Two Longhorns Placed On Preseason All-Big 12 Team

Texas State (0-0-0) at Texas (0-0-0)
Friday, Aug. 10 • 7 pm (Central) • Longhorn Network • Gametracker
Mike A. Myers Stadium (20,000) • Austin, Texas

The University of Texas Soccer program opens the 2012 campaign Friday with a 7 p.m. exhibition match against Texas State. The contest serves as the debut for Longhorns' head coach Angela Kelly, who spent the last 12 years at the University of Tennessee.

Following Friday's exhibition contest, the Longhorns kick off the 2012 regular season next Friday, Aug. 17, hosting Dayton for a 7 p.m. match. The Flyers have made three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances and claimed the last three Atlantic 10 Tournament titles. They went 19-4-0 in 2011.

The Longhorns Against The Bobcats ...
Friday's exhibition contest will be the first meeting between Texas and Texas State, despite the programs being located just 35 miles apart.

A year ago, the Bobcats posted a 14-6-1 record and earned the program's fifth NCAA Tournament appearance by winning the Southland Conference Tournament championship with a 1-0 victory against Stephen F. Austin. Texas State joins the Western Athletic Conference this season and will be led by sophomore forward Felicia Leask. She was the squad's lone First-Team All-Southland Conference selection in 2011 after pacing the squad with eight goals and 22 points.

Texas Versus First-Time Foes ...
Since the beginning of the 2009 campaign, the Longhorns have gone 8-4-1 against first-time opponents. A year ago, Texas went 3-2-0 in such matches, topping Cal State Northridge 5-1, Georgia 3-0 and Seattle 1-0 but falling to San Diego State 1-0 and, in the final match of the year, South Carolina 1-0 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

UT Against The Western Athletic Conference ...
After claiming four Southland Conference regular season and five more Southland Conference Tournament titles, Texas State moves to the Western Athletic Conference for the 2012 campaign.

Texas has a record of 5-0-0 against current members of the Western Athletic Conference, beating Seattle in the only meeting between the two programs and topping UTSA in all four matches. The Longhorns have outscored WAC foes a combined 15-1 with the Roadrunners of UTSA owning the only goal, scored Aug. 27, 2010.

Priming For The Season With Exhibition Matches ...
A year ago, the Texas soccer team played a pair of exhibition contests, defeating TCU 3-0 in Austin (Aug. 10) before falling 2-1 at Florida State (Aug. 14).

Since the start of 2009, the Longhorns have gone 2-2 in preseason contests. In 2009, UT lost its only exhibition match, dropping a 2-1 decision at LSU. One year later, the Tigers returned the preseason trip and Texas claimed a 2-1 victory.

A New Era Arrives ...
Texas Soccer begins a new era Friday as it marks the debut of head coach Kelly. After spending 12 years guiding the University of Tennessee program, Kelly was hired to take over the Longhorns on Dec. 19, 2011. Kelly brings a 160-84-20 (.644) record into Austin along with five NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearances, four Southeastern Conference Championship titles and a trio of SEC regular season crowns.

She was a four-year letterwinner at the University of North Carolina (1991-94) under head coach Anson Dorrance. Kelly helped the Tar Heels to a 97-1-1 record during her career to go along with four NCAA Tournament titles, four Atlantic Coast Conference regular season crowns and four ACC Tournament championships.

A Close-Knit Staff ...
Joining Kelly on the sidelines as assistant coaches are Keeley Dowling and Jaimel Johnson, who both played for Kelly at the University of Tennessee. Dowling (2001-04) was the program's first All-America selection and a two-time Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy semifinalist (2003-04). She was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004 and captured the Women's Professional Soccer title with Sky Blue FC.

Johnson, a goalkeeper, helped the Lady Vols to four-straight NCAA Tournament appearances (2005-08) and was an All-America selection in 2007. She was nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award in the spring of 2009 and was a 2007 ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District IV honoree.

A Challenging Schedule Ahead ...
Following Friday's exhibition match against Texas State, the Longhorns kick off an 18-contest regular season schedule that features eight opponents who advanced to the 2011 NCAA Tournament: Dayton, Toledo, Virginia, New Mexico, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Baylor and West Virginia. Four foes also won their respective conference tournament titles a year ago: Dayton (Atlantic 10), Toledo (Mid-American), New Mexico (Mountain West) and West Virginia (Big East).