AUSTIN, Texas – An impressive 2022 campaign that saw Texas soccer post a 15-3-4 overall record while securing the program’s first Big 12 Conference regular-season title since 2001 has led to a No. 15 ranking in the final Top Drawer Soccer Top 25 poll of the season.
National champion UCLA (20-2-1) led the way in the final listing with runner-up North Carolina (20-4-1), Alabama (22-2-1), Florida State (17-3-3) and Notre Dame (17-3-3) rounded out the top five. Virginia (16-4-3), Arkansas (13-4-5), Duke (15-5-3), Stanford (17-2-3) and Penn State (15-5-3) held down spots 6- 10.
Texas ended the year as one of just two Big 12 Conference programs ranked in the final national poll as TCU (14-5-5) came in just behind the Longhorns at No. 16 overall.
The Burnt Orange & White made the 2022 season a memorable one by going 15-3-4 overall to post the second-highest winning percentage in program history (.773). Along the way, the Longhorns secured the program’s first Big 12 Conference regular-season title since 2001, registered a second consecutive unbeaten league regular-season slate and beat rival Texas A&M in postseason play on the way to a berth in the NCAA Second Round.
From an individual standpoint, sophomore forward Trinity Byars was named a Top 15 national semifinalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy. The Richardson, Texas, native was also chosen as the Big 12 Conference’s Offensive Player of the Year and became just the second first-team United Soccer Coaches All-American in program history after setting a new single-season school record with 17 goals to go. with nine assists.
Overall, four Longhorns reaped United Soccer Coaches All-Midwest Region honors as Byars, sophomore midfielder Lexi Missimo and sophomore defender EmJ Cox each earned first-team accolades, while sophomore midfielder Jilly Shimkin was selected to the third team. Missimo scored six goals while leading the Big 12 Conference and setting a new school single-season record with 15 assists. Cox scored seven goals and helped the Longhorns defense register eight shutouts on the way to earning Big 12 Conference Defensive Player of the Year honors. Shimkin scored seven goals and dished seven assists to finish top five in the league with 21 total points.