Soccer: Slavonic leads UNT past TWU

green_goblin · September 14, 2006

http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/...14.95adf82.html

Soccer: Slavonic leads UNT past TWU
Midfielder scores pair for Mean Green

08:59 AM CDT on Thursday, September 14, 2006
By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

Of all the players on North Texas roster, Dani Slavonic seemed like one of the least likely to bring the Mean Green’s potent offense out of its slumber on Wednesday.

DRC/Gary Payne
North Texas midfielder Dani Slavonic (3) tries to keep away Texas Woman's University midfielder Melissa Williams on Wednesday at the North Texas Soccer Field. UNT won the game, 6-0.
The junior went scoreless in UNT’s first five games of the season and had just four goals in her first two seasons before breaking out for a pair in the Mean Green’s 6-0 shellacking of cross-town rival TWU at the North Texas Soccer Field.
UNT led just 1-0 at halftime before exploding for five goals in the second half, a run Slavonic started with her two goals.
The junior’s performance helped the Mean Green (3-2-1) run away from their cross-town rival and end a three-game winless streak that included close losses to Big 12 power Nebraska and nationally ranked USC over the weekend.
“That is the difference between us winning another conference championship or not,” UNT coach John Hedlund said. “It’s going to come down to our offense. … We have to all be on the same page, start to see that chemistry between our offensive players and finish our chances. If we do that, this could be a special team like the last two years.”
Even though she is not one of the Mean Green’s top offensive threats, Slavonic could be a key element in the Mean Green’s pursuit of a third straight Sun Belt Conference title. UNT’s team captain is one of the midfielders the Mean Green depend on to get the ball to forward Heather Hutyra, one of the top scoring threats in the Sun Belt Conference.
Slavonic took a break from her role setting up her teammates and got into the action offensively after the Mean Green got off to a slow start.
Sophomore forward Kelli Lunsford scored on a shot from 20 yards out for the Mean Green’s only goal of the first half.
“The first half was good,” TWU coach and former UNT player Fleur Benatar said. “That has been the tradition in our games against UNT. … In the second half their speed took over.”
Slavonic single-handedly put the game out of reach by scoring on a shot from 20 yards out and then adding a second goal on a shot from 15 yards out after getting behind TWU’s defense early in the second half.
“It felt good to get those goals at home,” Slavonic said. “We turned it on in the second half. It was a totally different game.”
UNT continued to pour it on after Slavonic’s goals while posting 30 shots to just five for TWU (2-4-1). Mean Green goalie Kandice Ellis was forced to make only three saves all night, including one tough stop on a shot by TWU’s Natalie Grant.
UNT’s performance is one the Mean Green hopes prepares them for their Sun Belt opener on Sept. 22 at Louisiana-Monroe. UNT, which has won the last two conference titles, has just two games left before it begins defense of its title.
UNT will take on Northwestern State and Grambling State at the end of the week.
The only down side UNT’s match against TWU was losing freshman defender Lauren Shockey to a sprained ankle. UNT had already lost midfielder Brittany Cleveland to an injury over the weekend. Cleveland will not play this week.
“Conference play starts next weekend, so we needed this win,” Slavonic said. “We need to work all the kinks out and be ready to go next weekend in Louisiana.”
The most important of those kinks is producing offensively. UNT had scored just two goals in its last three games, both of which came in a loss to Nebraska.
UNT finished in a scoreless tie with SMU on Sept. 3 and then lost 2-0 to USC.
The Mean Green showed signs of breaking out of that slump when Hutyra, Kristen Campbell and Jamie Yates all scored second half goals following Slavonic’s two-goal outburst.
TWU failed to match UNT’s firepower, but benefited from the experience of facing the Mean Green.
“It’s a tough game for us, but we always get up for it because I am an alum and the girls want to show what they can do against the big Division I team across town,” Benatar said.
UNT also got what it wanted out of a match that helped the Mean Green recover from a tough stretch in their schedule and prepare for a run at a third straight conference title.
“I was happy with the way we played in the second half,” Hedlund said. “All the things we talked about before the game – playing with intensity, making good decisions with the ball and going to the goal in numbers – we started to do in the second half.”

green_goblin · September 14, 2006

http://www.meangreensports.com/ViewArticle...0&ATCLID=607036

DENTON, Tex. (9/13/06) – The North Texas soccer team found the perfect remedy for its two-game losing streak in cross town rival TWU as the Mean Green crushed the Pioneers 6-0 at the North Texas Soccer Field. Five-second half goals fueled the North Texas (3-2-1) win as junior Dani Slavonic notched her first career multi-goal game with two scores.
“This was a nice win because I was able to get a lot of different players in the game and use up most of my bench,” said North Texas head coach John Hedlund.
Sophomore Kelli Lunsford scored in the 20th minute to give North Texas a 1-0 lead that they carried into the break.
The Mean Green came out with a flurry in the second half as Slavonic tallied her first goal of the year in the 47th minute of play. Slavonic added her second goal of the night to make it 3-0 North Texas in the 62nd minute of play with a shot from the right side of the box.
The Mean Green continued to add to its lead as Kristen Campbell netted her second goal of the year in the 69th minute of play. Heather Hutyra made it 5-0 on a breakaway in the 71st minute and Jamie Yates tallied her first goal of the season in the 87th minute of play.
North Texas out-shot the Pioneers (2-5-1) 30-5 in the game while goalkeeper Kandice Ellis made three saves to notch her ninth career shutout.
North Texas returns to action on Friday, September 15 with a home game against Northwestern State at 7 p.m.

meangreendork · September 14, 2006

That was awesome to watch, especially in the 2nd period. The women's team went out after the half and drove more than the extra nail into TWU's coffin, with two shots being from exactly the same spot on the field.

nortx9 · September 15, 2006

That was awesome to watch, especially in the 2nd period. The women's team went out after the half and drove more than the extra nail into TWU's coffin, with two shots being from exactly the same spot on the field.
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Real good half indeed. We also had three shots blocked or deflected that could easily have been goals . Juett was denied point blank on 1v1 with keeper in 2nd half, and Waters hit the cross bar in first half on restart from about 25 yards. Hutyra had three straight volley/rebounds blocked from outside the six on one play sequence in first half too. Couple of breaks and the first half could have looked like the second. I was also very impressed with the way the bench players moved the ball when they subbed into the game first and second half. I thought they actually connected passes and moved the ball player to player better than the starters did! See everyone there tonight. Come out and support the team. There may be some key recruits there tonight too, so lets try to show a warm, lively home crowd attendance so we do our part to impress!!!

September 15, 2006

This is not really meant to be a serious comment, in fact it's sarcasm, but were we running up the score on hapless TWU?

It's downright humiliating to lose to someone 6-0! They probably felt a little like we did when Texas ran the score up on us. I'd guess that we substituted our entire bench and you can't ask them not to do their best.

I say that if you're not competitive enough to play it close then don't complain about the score.

nortx9 · September 16, 2006

This is not really meant to be a serious comment, in fact it's sarcasm, but were we running up the score on hapless TWU?
It's downright humiliating to lose to someone 6-0! They probably felt a little like we did when Texas ran the score up on us. I'd guess that we substituted our entire bench and you can't ask them not to do their best.
I say that if you're not competitive enough to play it close then don't complain about the score.
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Bench players got about 15 minutes each half, substituted entire bench each half all at once. It just got rolling second half, we buried some really good shots. Halftime was close. Bench needed to get some extended minutes before conference, it was a good game for that.

nortx9 · September 16, 2006

This is not really meant to be a serious comment, in fact it's sarcasm, but were we running up the score on hapless TWU?
It's downright humiliating to lose to someone 6-0! They probably felt a little like we did when Texas ran the score up on us. I'd guess that we substituted our entire bench and you can't ask them not to do their best.
I say that if you're not competitive enough to play it close then don't complain about the score.
←

Bench players got about 15 minutes each half, substituted entire bench each half all at once. It just got rolling second half, we buried some really good shots. Halftime was close. Bench needed to get some extended minutes before conference, it was a good game for that.

nortx9 · September 16, 2006

This is not really meant to be a serious comment, in fact it's sarcasm, but were we running up the score on hapless TWU?
It's downright humiliating to lose to someone 6-0! They probably felt a little like we did when Texas ran the score up on us. I'd guess that we substituted our entire bench and you can't ask them not to do their best.
I say that if you're not competitive enough to play it close then don't complain about the score.
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Hey, you should wait for the Grambling game on Friday. Beat them 6-0 last year at home, and we did call the dogs off on that one. If we get 32 shots off against them Sunday, that could be a double digit win.....should be a laugher.