Huskers Defeat No. 5 Texas, 2-1, in Overtime in the Big 12 Tournament

San Antonio, Texas - Senior Christine Latham refused to let the Nebraska soccer team lose to No. 5 Texas Thursday night in the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament as she put in two breakaway shots to defeat the Longhorns, 2-1, in overtime at the Blossom Soccer Stadium in San Antonio, Texas.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

Latham scored the game-winning goal just 55 seconds into the first overtime period on her second breakaway of the night.  She beat her defender and left the Longhorns watching her from behind when she went one-on-one with the goalkeeper and shot the ball perfectly into the middle of the net.

 

"That's what an all-American does, not just Christine's goals, but the way she plays and how she competes," Coach John Walker said.  "It was a great performance. I'm very proud of the team."

 

The Huskers put on one of their best performances of the season for the third consecutive game, as the defense played solid throughout, led by an outstanding Christy Harms. 

 

Texas scored the first goal of the game at the 31:59 mark when Kati McBain passed the ball to Kelly Wilson and she served it right on target to Kelly McDonald who put it past an outstretched Erin Miller from four yards out.

 

Latham, however, came back 10 minutes into the second half for her first breakaway of the night when Kori Saunders passed her the ball and she left all Longhorn defenders in her dust.  Texas goalkeeper Alex Gagarin had no chance against the firing senior.

 

"I tried to stay up top and play as offensively as I could," Latham said.  "A couple of times I had some lucky breaks and I had good ball handling by the midfielders and Nikki (Baker), and I just popped it in.  I scored two goals, but I don't even put it on me. It was a total team effort."

 

Texas had several chances in the last few minutes of the regulation period, but Nebraska's defense was ferocious and turned away shot after shot.

 

The Longhorns outshot Nebraska, 26-10, for the contest, and more than doubled NU's shots on goal, 9-4.  The Huskers won the battle along the goal line, however, taking nine corner kicks to Texas' five.

 

"It's like I've said all along, we have a great team," Walker said. "Young teams struggle early, but we always believed.  We have great leadership from Kori (Saunders), Christine (Latham) and Christy (Harms).  It's one of those games you have to fight and hang around.  It was a great effort and a great comeback by the team."

 

Miller and the Nebraska defense posted eight saves on the evening, while Gagarin grabbed two saves in the contest.

 

Nebraska will play Texas A&M in the Big 12 Tournament Championship at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Blossom Soccer Stadium in San Antonio, Texas.  The game will be televised tape-delayed by Fox Sports Net.