Holly Ward leads Longhorns to victory with four goals against Boston U

AUSTIN, Texas – The SEC tournament champion Texas Longhorns women’s soccer team opened the NCAA Division I women’s soccer tournament with a convincing 4-1 win over Boston University.

The First Round single-elimination game was held at Mike A Myers Stadium in Austin, and it was the visiting Terrier team that opened the scoring in the 20th minute when Morgan Fagan put the ball in the back of the net with a right-footed shot, beating goalkeeper Mia Justus.

But after that surprising start, it was all Longhorns, led by Holly Ward, who scored four goals in an impressive individual performance.

Ward’s first goal came in the 29th minute off an assist from Lexi Missimo, whose corner kick was mishandled by Boston Goalkeeper Bridget Carr and pounced upon by Ward.

The teams were even at halftime 1-1 with Boston putting up a valiant effort in the Texas state capital. But on his night, there was no containing Ward who opened the second half by scoring in the 62nd by finishing a ball fed in by teammate Jilly Shimkin and beating Carr once again.

But Ward was not done yet, and in the 67th minute, thanks to Madison Haugen‘s nice run from the left side of the field, Ward finished with her left foot and made history by scoring the first hat-trick for the program in the NCAA Tournament.

Ward’s amazing night was not over, and she capped it off with this amazing individual effort that sealed the victory and broke school and tournament records along the way.

What a night for Ward and for the Longhorns, who continue to peak at the right time, and will next take on Michigan State in the second round.

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