Complete Effort, Giametta’s First Goal, Propels No. 14 Tech Past Cincinnati

LUBBOCK, Texas – Powered by a goal and assist from both Katilyn Giametta and Sam Courtwright, the No. 14-ranked Texas Tech women’s soccer program remained red-hot, downing Cincinnati, 3-0 at the John Walker Soccer Complex.

Battling windy conditions, Texas Tech (11-0-2, 5-0-0 Big 12) found a way to pull out the commanding win on Sunday, using the 32nd strike from Giametta to take a 1-0 lead into the halftime break.

The reserve played a season-high 42 minutes and recorded her first-career goal. Giametta is now the ninth different Red Raider to score a goal this season. On the goal, Tech defender Macy Blackburn picked up the secondary assist, and now has 11 assists this season. Blackburn moved into a tie with Red Raider great Taylor Lytle for second-most assists in a single season.

With the wind in their favor, the Bearcats (2-6-4, 1-2-2 Big 12) came out of locker room at halftime and nearly found the equalizer, recording their first three shots of the contest over the first 3:31 of the second half.

The three-shot sequence included two of Cincy’s six corners, but goalie Madison White and the Tech line never cracked before ultimately turning away the Bearcats best threat to score.

White recorded two more saves in her fourth straight home shutout and NCAA-best eighth clean sheet of the season. The goalkeeper has now allowed one goal or fewer in 21 consecutive matches and lowered her goals-against-average this season to an outstanding 0.38.

Tech quickly regained the momentum moments later, when Blackburn was fouled inside the Bearcats defensive third.

On the restart, Blackburn found a wide open Courtwright who took a pair of dribbles and swung a pass in the direction of Giametta.

The Prosper native turned her body and slipped a strong pass to Jillian Martinez, who with a deft swing of her left leg buried her third goal of the contest.

The strike gave Tech a 2-0 lead 48 seconds into the 53rd minute.

Just over 10 minutes later, the Red Raiders put the game to bed for good, when Courtwright found the back of the net for the third time this season.

And while outside back Kylie Bahr’s pass ultimately set up the goal, the opportunity wouldn’t have been possible if not for a good initial run by Giselle Kozarski.

Armed with a three-goal lead, Tech was able to manage the remainder of the 20 minutes on the clock, to close out a sixth straight victory overall and 11th straight home victory.

With the win, Texas Tech has now earned a win or draw in 22 consecutive regular season matches overall and in 11 straight Big 12 Conference tilts.

This season overall, the Red Raiders have now outscored foes 36-5 overall, including 29-2 at the Walker. Over the first five Big 12 Conference games, Tech has outscored its five opponents 12-1.

In the two wins this weekend, Tech outscored Oklahoma and Cincinnati 5-0, to improve to 5-0-0 overall in Big 12 Conference play. Through the midpoint of the conference slate, the Red Raiders sit atop the tables with 15 total points, two clear of second-place TCU who downed formerly unbeaten OSU 1-0 on the road today. The Cowgirls and Red Raiders were the only two teams to enter the day’s action perfect in conference play.

HC TOM STONE:
On his teams’ ability to breakdown different defensive strategies or tactic:
“You can’t just be talented, which we are pretty talented on the offensive end, but the biggest thing is you’ve just got to stay the course. You’ve got to deal with whatever it is they’re dishing out. You’ve got to get comfortable with it. You’ve got to suffer a little, but not get scored on, and not start pointing fingers at each other. Then the staff has to stay calm, which you know, I’m always the one that they’re worried about in that regard. We’ve got to stay cool and give them (our team) a chance to let the game unfold and be a little more professional and a little less rah, rah. When it does unfold, we generally find a player in a good spot and hopefully we get a chance out of it. I think that’s the key, when you play two teams that came in and did a lot to make the game hard. You’ve just got to let the game play out, and 90 minutes is a long time. Our team believes in that, even though they’re really young. They’ve grasped that concept pretty well.”

On what he’s expecting at BYU:
“I think our team will appreciate that it’s just a great environment. You know, you can go in scared to death of it, which is understandable. Or you can go in and be like this is awesome for college women’s soccer. And we’ll take that approach if we can, and we know their crowd and atmosphere will make it tough. We know they’re incredible at home, but we’re glad they’re in the conference. You know we lost some good teams when those first group of teams went to the SEC but now with BYU and UCF this year. And Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah coming next year, our league is going be incredible next year. And BYU, they’ve been the shiny new team this year, and they’ve been out in front for most of it and had some great results. We all saw them play for the national championship just a couple of years ago. So, we know what we’re up against, and we’re excited about it. Although obviously we’re really aware of our good they are.”

UP NEXT:
Tech hits the road later this week for a crucial contest at No. 6 BYU. First kick from Provo is set for 8 p.m. (CT).

–TECH–

Release provided Andrew Stern Texas Tech Athletics