DENTON -- Carly McDowell scored a shot from inside the six-yard box on a pass from Kendall Juett to give North Texas a 1-0 victory over Sam Houston State in a non-conference women's soccer match Friday night at Eagle Field.

The Mean Green totaled 17 shots to seven for the Bearkats and had eight cornerkicks and Sam Houston had one. The Bearkats bounced back in the second half with strong effort. Three Sam Houston offensive breakaways provided the team with scoring opportunities but the North Texas defense held.

"You never like to lose but the performance in the second half by our young team was such an improvement that we feel like we really made some progress," Sam Houston assistant coach Topper Cogan said. "The team really played together with the kind of intensity and effort that it is going to take to be successful in the Southland."  

The match was the season opener for North Texas, a team that has won 86 of their 97 matches on their home field since the 2000 season. Sam Houston stands 0-2 for the year, falling in its season opener at Oklahoma 3-0 last Sunday.  

Bearkat goalkeeper Jenny Pence had another strong showing, making nine saves. Freshman Shelby Grissett led the Sam Houston offense with three shots, two of her tries ending in North Texas saves.  

Sam Houston will continue its season opening road swing with a 1 p.m. match at Prairie View A&M Sunday afternoon.