Soccer opens 2022 season at North Texas

DENTON, Texas – The 16th season of Abilene Christian Soccer begins Thursday night on the road at North Texas, and head coach Casey Wilson's team is ready to get back to real game action for the first time since last November. The Wildcats open their 2022 campaign against the Mean Green of Conference USA Thursday night at 7 p.m. at the UNT Soccer and Track & Field Stadium. ACU enters its second season as a member of the Western Athletic Conference, and loves the non-conference schedule it built to get it ready for WAC play next month. Thursday's game will air on ESPN+ at 7 p.m.

SERIES HISTORY VS. NORTH TEXAS

• ALL-TIME | 6th meeting (UNT leads, 5-0)
• LAST MEETING | UNT 2, ACU 0 (Sept. 12, 2021 - Abilene)
• STREAK | UNT, w5
• IN ABILENE | UNT leads, 3-0
• IN DENTON | UNT leads, 2-0
• NEUTRAL | n/a
• POSTSEASON | n/a

ACU STORYLINES

• RETURNERS – ACU brings back 19 players from the 2021 roster, including previous all-conference performers at each level. Natalie Jones headlines the returners at the midfield spot, while Caylen Wright leads the offense and Ellen Joss paces the defense. Lily Foster returns in net for her redshirt sophomore year, while forwards Jordan Michie, Nicole Barham, and Chayse Thorn are back for more as well. Defensively with Joss comes Hannah Gage along with Macie Stephens, Faith Husbenet, and Sami Brown. Jones is joined in the midfield by returners Grace Ornelas, Taylor Denn, Jazzy Torres, and Brennan Reuland. It's an experienced group that played over 10,000 minutes on the pitch last season.
• NEWCOMERS – The Wildcats bring in 11 new players, and look out for goalkeeper Lili Ross, forward/mid Hannah Vetromile, forward/defender Jillian Beck, and defenders McCarly Holloman and Olivia Bos. It's a star-studded freshman class that brings a lot of talent to the table.
• THE COACH – Head coach Casey Wilson enters his 16th season as the only coach in program history, making him just one of 11 coaches in the country still with the program they started from scratch. Joining him on that list is North Texas head coach John Hedlund.
• HISTORY BOOKS – Senior Natalie Jones is currently eighth all-time at ACU in career goals scored with 17. She also ranks seventh in program history with 12 career assists, and her 126 career shot attempts rank ninth all-time. Senior Caylen Wright has scored 15 times in her career, the ninth-most ever.

SCOUTING NORTH TEXAS

• The Mean Green went 8-5-4 in 2021, finishing 3-3-2 in Conference USA, and then lost to UTSA in the conference tournament, 1-0, following an own goal in the 107th minute.
• UNT is a 16-time champion in Conference USA, and are lead by 28th-year head coach John Hedlund, who has 373 wins as the only head coach the program has had.
• UNT joined Conference USA in 2013.

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#SACRFCE | #GoWildcats