Second-half surge powers Tech past St. Bonaventure

LUBBOCK, Texas —  An early first half  strike from Peyton Parsons and four second half goals, powered Texas Tech to a 5-0 win Thursday night at John Walker Soccer Complex.

After allowing just five total shots against CSUN on Sunday, the Red Raiders (2-1) none in Thursday’s dominant win, outshooting St. Bonaventure (0-3) 25-0.

The victory was Tech’s 14th-straight home regular season victory and marked the seventh consecutive home regular season clean sheet. The 14-match home regular season win streak dates back to 2022 (Sept. 25 vs Texas) while the home clean sheet streak dates back to last Aug. 31 and a 6-1 win over North Texas.

Including the postseason where the Red Raiders allowed just one total goal (vs. UNC, Roun of 16), Tech has now allowed just one goal in its last nine home matches. The Red Raiders are outscoring opponents 23-1 over that span.

As previously mentioned, the Red Raiders got off to a strong start on Thursday night, when Parsons went bar-down for her second goal of the season. The shot, which came from just outside the 18-yard box culminated a beautiful sequence that featured a strong one-two from Alana Harry and Molly Skurcenski.

The helper, proved to be an omen for not only Skurcenski, but three of the Colorado natives on the 2024 Red Raider squad, as sophomore Skylar Haase would score twice in the second half, and Skurcenski would add her second-career goal in the matches final 45 minutes.

Going to the half up just 1-0 despite dominating possession and the stat sheet, the Red Raiders quickly reversed course in the second half, using three goals in exactly 15 minutes, and a pair of goals in just 44 seconds.

The first goal, a left footed rocket from Skurcenski midway through the 55th minute, was set up by a perfect feed from freshman Peyton Dyess. The service from Dyess, earned the Lewisville native her first-career assist.

Riding the momentum from the Skurcenski goal, Tech made its lead 3-0 with nine seconds left in the 69th minute, when Haase dispossessed an SBU defender and ripped a left footed shot by the Bonnies Jael Schubert.

The unassisted goal was one of two that Haase would score on the night, as the forward scored not only her first career goals but also recorded her first career brace.

Just 44 seconds later, third-year sophomore Taylor Zdrojewski continued her strong week, as the forward buried a perfect cross from Skurcenski for her third goal in two matches. The service, which fell through the hands of Schubert landed right to a wide-open Zdrojewski who poked a shot into the bottom right corner of the net. Dyess also was credited with an assist on the play.

Not satisfied with four, the Red Raiders added a fifth for good measure with just seven seconds to play, when Haase buried a perfect service from freshman Kendall Jones. The play also included a strong run by Storie Sexton who also earned her first career point tonight.

In the end, three of the Red Raiders five goals were scored by sophomores, while four of the seven assists were by true freshmen.

HC TOM STONE:

“We warned them that they were going to sit back, and not to fall for the trap. The backwards and sideways passing was exactly what [St. Bonaventure] wanted us to do, and that’s what we did early. The first half was very frustrating from the standpoint of what we saw on video. We knew they were going to put numbers behind the ball, and we knew they were good at passing. After we scored, we took our foot off the gas like it was going to be easy. That led to a lot of frustration all the way up to halftime, and even in the locker room at halftime. The players addressed it at halftime, and we could hear them talking about it before we got in there. And then when we got in at halftime, we addressed the fact that the ball isn’t going towards our objective. They were giving us so much freedom to go sideways and backwards and we kept taking it. The problem was it was 1-0 and we had not put them away yet, and we needed to put them away. We kept using the word forward tonight, and eventually our team pushed it forward, challenged their defense and got down the flanks. Once that happened it was clear we were going to blow it open. Fortunately, we scored four in the second half. We had some great ‘second distance’ goals tonight which is one way to beat a team that sits in like that. Those second distance shots are available against a team like that. Peyton Parsons, Skylar [Haase] and Molly [Skurcenski] all hit them from downtown. When a team sits back and protects the rim, you have to shoot threes, and we had three of those chances tonight. And then, a great cross from Kendall Jones for her first career point on Skylar’s second goal.”

UP NEXT:

The Red Raiders face a stiff test on Sunday afternoon when they head to undefeated and receiving votes Utah State. The Aggies who were picked second in the Mountain West preseason poll, outscored Pepperdine (4-0) and Hawai’i (3-0) by a 7-0 margin thus far. First touch from Logan is set for 1 p.m. (CT)/Noon (MT).

Release Provided By Andrew Stern Texas Tech Athletics