No. 14 Texas Tech Looks for Second-Straight Big 12 Title Friday
LUBBOCK, Texas – Riding a 13-match unbeaten streak and winners of eight-of-nine, No. 14 Texas Tech Soccer returns home to the John Walker Soccer Complex on Friday night for the final regular season match of the season against BYU.
Needing just a victory to clinch the second-straight Big 12 title, the Red Raiders can clinch the Big 12 title with a win and either a loss or draw by TCU, or a draw and a loss by TCU. If both the Red Raiders and Horned Frogs are victorious, Tech would share the Big 12 title with the Horned Frogs.
As part of Friday’s regular season finale, fans are encouraged to arrive early and wear black. The first 500 fans to arrive through the gates of the Walker will receive the 2024 Texas Tech Soccer scarf.
Friday’s match will also be Autism Awareness night, as earlier in the week, Texas Tech Soccer partnered with the Burkhart Center for Autism Education and Research.
The match against BYU is also a “Wear Black” match and will feature a black tee-shirt giveaway for fans.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
MATCHUP: No. 14 Texas Tech (13-2-2, 8-0-2 Big 12) vs. BYU (7-5-5, 5-2-3 Big 12)
DATE: Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024
TIME: 7 p.m.
LOCATION: Lubbock, Texas (John Walker Soccer Complex)
LAST TIME OUT:
Taylor Zdrojewski had a goal and an assist and drew a key PK to help push No. 19 Texas Tech Soccer to a 3-0 win over Cincinnati Sunday at Gettler Stadium.
In the victory, Texas Tech (13-2-2, 7-0-2) got a beautiful first half goal from Kaitlyn Giametta as well as late goals from Peyton Parsons and Zdrojewski to close out their eighth win in nine matches and to extend their overall unbeaten streak to 13-straight (11-0-2).
On the week Zdrojewski factored in all four goals, as she scored, recorded an assist and drew two PKs.
Up 1-0 at the break after a beautiful combination play from Zdrojewski and Giametta, the Red Raiders earned the 81st-minute penalty kick when Zdrojewski was dragged to the ground in the box.
Stepping to the spot, Parsons slotted a rocket into the left-corner of the net and past Cincinnati (6-7-3, 2-5-2 Big 12) goalkeeper Anna Rexford. The goal for Parsons was her ninth of the season and fourth from the spot.
Armed with the 2-0 lead with less than nine minutes to play, the Red Raiders didn’t settle, as Parsons played Zdrojewski deep inside the UC 18-yard box. The forward took a couple of dribbles toward the goal and ripped a shot across the goal line and into the far corner of the net.
The strike was Zdrojewski’s seventh goal of the season.
In victory, goalkeeper Faith Nguyen made two saves to close out her third straight clean sheet and 10th total clean sheet. Nguyen’s 10 clean sheets in a season are the fifth-most by a Tech GK in program history.
Sunday’s win also improved the Red Raiders to 32-0-1 in their 33 matches when scoring at least twice and to 22-0-5 in their last 27 Big 12 matches. The 27-match unbeaten streak is the second-longest streak in the country trailing just St. Louis (28).
QUICK KICKS:
• Unbeaten in 13 straight matches (11-0-2) and winners of eight of nine, Texas Tech welcomes BYU for the first all-time home matchup in program history. With a victory, the Red Raiders would clinch at least a share of the Big 12 title for the second straight season.
• After going 8-0-2 a season ago in Big 12 play, the Red Raiders are 8-0-2 in Big 12 play again this season with one game to play.
• The Red Raiders have not trailed in a match since the Aug. 25 match against Utah State, a span of 13 matches or 1170 minutes. The Red Raiders since the 2-0 loss at Utah State, have outscored opponents 30-3.
• Tech’s 13-match unbeaten streak coincides with the return of Macy Blackburn. Blackburn who made her 2024 debut at Utah State was limited to just 32 minutes in that game. The last two seasons Tech is 23-0-5 when Blackburn plays at least 40 minutes.
• The Red Raiders enter the weekend riding three different impressive streaks. The first streak is a 27-match Big 12 unbeaten streak that dates back over two seasons. The Red Raiders are 22-0-5 in their last 27 Big 12 conference matches. That streak is the longest in the Power Four and the second-longest in the country trailing just St. Louis (27).
• The second streak that Tech will take into Thursday’s matchup at West Virginia is an 13-match unbeaten streak overall. The Red Raiders 13-match unbeaten streak is tied for the longest streak in the country with: Western Carolina (11-0-2) and Notre Dame (11-0-2) all have similar 13-match unbeaten streaks.
• Tech’s third and final streak is a 21-match home regular season unbeaten streak (20-0-1) dating back to a 2022 loss to Texas. The lone non-victory at home was a 1-1 draw against Colorado two weeks ago.
• Seeking its 30th win since the start of the 2023 season, Tech enters the week having recorded the fourth most overall victories in the country in that span. Tech trails just Stanford (33), FSU (32) and Memphis (30). Since the start of the 2023 season, the Red Raiders are 29-4-7 in the 40 overall matchups.
• Sporting an impressive 36-9 overall goal differential (+27) and a 13-2 (+11) goal differential in Big 12 play this season, the Red Raiders also enter the weekend rocking a goal differential of +64 the last two seasons. The +64 goal differential is the fourth-best in D1 since the start of the 2023 season trailing just FSU (+98), St. Louis (+86) and Arkansas (+84).
• Sitting on 39 total goals this season after last seasons 45 goal output, the Red Raiders need just one goal to reach 40 goals for the second-straight season. If successful, the Red Raiders would be the fifth program this season to reach 40 goals after scoring 40 a season ago.
UP NEXT:
The Red Raiders open the Big 12 Championship next Saturday (Nov. 2) at either 2 p.m. or 5:30 p.m. against an opponent to be determined.
–TECH–
Release provided by Andrew Stern Texas Tech Athletics