Amalia Villarreal scored for the fifth straight match as Texas stayed unbeaten with a 1-1 road draw against Arizona State in Tempe.
Texas soccer didn’t get the win Thursday night, but the Longhorns left Tempe with something nearly as important: proof that their early-season momentum is real.
Texas battled Arizona State to a 1-1 draw at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium, staying unbeaten at 2-0-1 under first-year head coach Margueritte Bates. And once again, Amalia Villarreal was right in the middle of everything.
Villarreal struck in the 18th minute after pouncing on a mistake in Arizona State’s defensive end. She collected a loose ball, created enough space to beat a closing defender and finished with a right-footed shot into the left side of the goal.
It was Villarreal’s third goal in as many matches this season, but the bigger number is five.
Dating back to last year, Villarreal has now scored in five consecutive matches, tying the second-longest goal-scoring streak in Texas women’s soccer history.
She joins Niki Arlitt, Trinity Byars and Lexi Missimo in that group.
That’s serious company, and Villarreal is quickly becoming the player opposing defenses have to identify first.
Arizona State answered in the 30th minute when Lucy Fazackerley headed home a corner kick from Addison Baltodano, ending Texas’ season-opening scoreless streak at 209 minutes, 46 seconds.
From there, though, the Longhorns largely took control.
Texas dominated possession and pressure after halftime, outshooting the Sun Devils 9-3 over the final 45 minutes.
Arizona State goalkeeper Kennedy Zorn was forced to make four second-half saves to keep Texas from finding the winner.
For the match, Texas finished with a 14-9 edge in shots. Ava McDonald and Callan Harrington combined for seven attempts, giving the Longhorns multiple dangerous options around Villarreal.
The result may technically go down as a draw, but there were plenty of encouraging signs for Texas.
The Longhorns handled adversity on the road, generated chances after surrendering the equalizer and continued to look comfortable under Bates’ system.
Most importantly, they didn’t let one defensive breakdown turn into a larger problem.
And Villarreal keeps scoring.
Texas now closes its four-game road swing Sunday at Grand Canyon, with kickoff scheduled for 9 p.m. CT.
Three matches into the season, the Longhorns still haven’t lost.
And with Villarreal this hot, they’re becoming increasingly difficult to keep off the scoreboard.
