Niedermeier nets second career hat trick in win for UNT soccer

LAKE CHARLES, La. — Claire Niedermeier scored the first goal of the season for the Mean Green in Thursday night’s slugfest win over Louisiana-Monroe and kept up the trend on Sunday with a hat trick in 4-2 win on the road at McNeese State.

The Mean Green (2-1-0) won their second straight match on a balmy afternoon in the bayou behind the three-goal outburst from Niedermeier and a fourth goal just before half by junior midfielder Rydlii Rives.

Niedermeier notched the second hat trick of her career, with the first coming back on Sept. 26, 2024, against conference foe Temple, and it made her the first UNT player to have multiple hat tricks since UNT Hall of Famer Rachel Holden had her second of her career in 2016.

Niedermeier got the scoring started in the 16th minute when a cross from Mya Mitchell was bobbled by the McNeese State goalkeeper leaving the ball at Niedermeier’s foot right in front of the net. Eight minutes later, she struck again after a long pass from Lily Cunningham caught the Cowgirls off-guard and she made a long, free run at goal and put the ball in the back of the net to give UNT a 2-0 lead in the 24th minute.

After Rives’ goal in the 44th minute put the Mean Green up 3-1 at halftime, the Cowgirls (3-1-0) scored on a penalty kick in the 48th minute to cut the deficit to one, but Niedermeier put the game away in the 64th when a nice ball from senior midfielder Mia Bernard set her up just inside the 18-yard box and she put it away in the upper right corner of the goal to finish off the hat trick.

In total, UNT outshot the Cowgirls 24-13 and put 14 of those shots on goal, forcing Cowgirl keeper Celeste Marijnissen to make 10 saves.

Fifth-year UNT goalkeeper Sarah Margaret Seabrook had another strong outing following her first career shutout on Thursday. She finished with five saves, and the Cowgirls’ two goals came off a fantastic shot from McNeese State’s Victoria Mitre and on a penalty kick.

UNT coach John Hedlund credited Niedermeier and Seabrook, among others, for their toughness in humid conditions where the heat index reached 112 degrees. He also gave credit to McNeese State’s first-year head coach Alexsis Cable, who was at UNT as an assistant coach for the past five seasons and played the final two seasons of her college career for Hedlund in Denton.

“Tough conditions for both teams today with the humidity at 90%,” Hedlund said. “I’m proud of Claire for getting the hat trick and Sammy for coming up with three big saves to help us get the win. McNeese just wouldn’t go away throughout the entire match. Credit to Cable for what she has brought to that program in such a short amount of time. Her team fights and scraps for 90 minutes, and that reminds me so much of her as a player when she was under me. She’s built that same toughness into her team.”

The Mean Green will return home Thursday to face Oral Roberts at Norma Knobel Hunt Stadium, with kickoff set for 7 p.m.