Despite an unbeaten start to the year, North Texas head soccer coach John Hedlund had stressed to Aaliyah Nolan and her teammates all week that they needed to improve the offense in order to get to the level he believes his defending Conference USA championship team is capable of reaching.
Nolan and her teammates took on Southeastern Louisiana and did just that as they rolled past the Lady Lions 4-0 at home.
The University of North Texas put the pressure on early with goals, something they hadn't done well in its previous two matches, and scored three in the first 30 minutes of the match. They converted on opportunities, another thing they struggled with in the first two matches, as they scored the three first half goals on just six shots.
The Mean Green nailed the coffin shut in the 60th minute when Nolan netted her second goal of the match, third of the year, to give North Texas the 4-0 win.
North Texas' defense was its typical top-notch self. They not only shutout a Lady Lions team that scored eight goals in their last match, but they also contained them to just eight shot attempts and only one was on goal.
The four goals matched the Mean Green's season total for the year and the three different women that scored a goal had already scored on this year.
Senior Taylor Torres scored the first goal, the 2017 C-USA Tournament Offensive MVP found the back of the net 10 minutes in off of a turnover and an assist from Maci Schoonover. Torres, who led the team in goals last year, moved into a tie for 24th on the program's all-time goal scoring list with what was her second goal of the year and 15th career goal.
Nolan scored the second and fourth goals against the Lady Lions. It was the senior's first division I multi-goal performance. Nolan transferred from Navarro College after the 2016 season.
The Mean Green's third goal came off the head of sophomore Elle Marie DeFrain. It was the midfielder's second goal of the year, which surpasses her freshman season total of one. Additionally, she didn't score her lone goal last season until conference play.
