AUSTIN, TX – A pair of standout student-athletes from the No. 15-ranked Texas women’s soccer program have been selected to the preseason All-Big 12 Conference team as Trinity Byars and Lexi Missimo were appointed to the 11-member team Wednesday morning, the league announced.
The recognition marks the second consecutive season the pair of Byars and Missmo have picked up preseason all-conference honors and the seventh consecutive year the Longhorn women’s soccer program has had at least one selection to the preseason All-Big 12 team. Since the first preseason All-Big 12 team in 2000, Texas has had at least one student-athlete be selected in 22 of the 24 years.
Additionally, both Byars and Missimo were the only unanimous selections among the 11-member team this year. Meanwhile, Texas was one of three different women’s soccer programs to have multiple student-athletes selected to the league’s preseason all-conference team.
Last season, Byars became just the second student-athlete in program history to earn the Big 12’s Offensive Player of the Year, joining Cyera Hintzen who won the award in 2018. The Richardson, Texas native concluded her 2022 campaign by becoming the program’s new single-season goal scoring record holder with 17, breaking Kelly Wilson’s mark of 16 set throughout the 2004 season. She also finished her sophomore season just three points back of Wilson’s single-season program mark of 46 points set back in 2004.
Missimo finished her 2022 season by setting the program’s single-season mark with 15 assists en route to earning All-Big 12 First Team honors and United Soccer Coaches All-Midwest Regional First Team recognition. The Southlake, Texas native, who led the NCAA with a 0.88 assists per match mark last season, will enter the 2023 campaign already holding the top two single-season assist marks in the program’s history and just 11 assists shy of breaking the program’s career assist record held by Wilson (41).
The Texas Longhorn women’s soccer program will kick off its 2023 season with an exhibition match against Texas A&M – Corpus Christi inside Mike A. Myers Stadium at 7 p.m. CT on Saturday, August 12. The Longhorns will then begin their regular slate of matches the following week on Thursday, August 17, when Texas plays at Long Beach State at 9 p.m. CT / 7 p.m. PT.
Preseason All-Big 12 Conference Team
GK Kayza Massey, West Virginia
D Laveni Vaka, BYU
D Hannah Anderson, Texas Tech
D Olivia Hasler, TCU
MF Jamie Shepherd, BYU
MF Gracie Brian, TCU
MF Lexi Missimo, Texas*
F Trinity Byars, Texas*
F Camryn Lancaster, TCU
F Brecken Mozingo, BYU
F Dayana Martin, UCF
*unanimous selection
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