Rain showers in the morning with scattered thunderstorms arriving in the afternoon. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 76F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..
Tonight
Rain showers in the evening with thunderstorms developing overnight. Low near 65F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.
North Texas midfielder Manami Okada (15) passes the ball to a teammate as Texas A&M forward Andersen Williams defends during an exhibition game at the Mean Green Soccer and Track & Field Stadium earlier this month. UNT will open its season on Friday with a home game against Southern.
North Texas midfielder Manami Okada (15) passes the ball to a teammate as Texas A&M forward Andersen Williams defends during an exhibition game at the Mean Green Soccer and Track & Field Stadium earlier this month. UNT will open its season on Friday with a home game against Southern.
North Texas is rarely an underdog when it comes to the race for the Conference USA women’s soccer title after winning a record eight championships since joining the league in 2013.
This season will be one of those times.
The Mean Green were picked to finish second in C-USA’s West Division in the league’s preseason coaches’ poll that was released Thursday. UNT’s longtime rival Rice was picked to win the division.
The Owls finished two points ahead of UNT in the division standings last season and went on to win the conference tournament.
Rice received 12 first-place votes. UNT garnered two.
The Mean Green will open their season on Friday when they host Southern in a 7 p.m. game at the Mean Green Soccer and Track & Field Stadium.
UNT had two players named to the Preseason All-C-USA team that was released in conjunction with the poll. Senior defender Brooke Lampe and junior forward Allie Byrd were both named to the team.
Lampe anchors UNT’s defense as its central defender and has helped the Mean Green post 18 shutouts over the last two seasons. She scored a goal at Rice and added two assistants in an 11-game spring season that was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
UNT never found its footing and finished 7-3-1 after falling to Charlotte in the opening round of the C-USA tournament.
UNT added several key players to its returning core in the offseason, including former Vanderbilt goalkeeper Sarah Fuller and Manami Okada, a midfielder who earned NJCAA All-American honors last season at Navarro College.
The Mean Green played two exhibition games leading up to its season-opener and came away with impressive results in both. UNT battled ninth-ranked Texas A&M to a 1-1 tie and hammered Brookhaven 10-1.
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BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870 and via Twitter at @brettvito.
