Zdrojewski’s Brace, first goal from Harry, Pushes No. 8 Texas Tech to bounce back 4-0 win over CSUN

LUBBOCK, Texas – No. 8 Texas Tech Soccer recorded its first win of the season Sunday, dropping CSUN 4-0 at John Walker Soccer Complex.

After a tough opener at Penn State, the Red Raiders (1-1) came out flying on Sunday, using a pair of goals in each half to earn a comfortable and easy win.

The victory featured multiple firsts, as freshman Alana Harry scored her first career goal in her first career start, while third-year sophomore Taylor Zdrojewski scored her first two goals of her young career.

In another strong effort, junior Peyton Parsons scored and recorded an assist, while Faith Nguyen earned both her first career win and first career clean sheet in the win.

For the match, the Red Raiders outshot CSUN (0-2) 31-3 and took all six of the matches corners.

It didn’t take long for the Red Raiders to get on the board on Sunday, as a quick rocket shot from Jillian Martinez was guided away by CSUNs Riley Liebsack. The rebound fell perfectly to Harry who roofed one into the wide-open net.

The goal, which was Harry’s first, gave the Red Raiders a 1-0 lead just 5:52 seconds into the match.

Armed with the lead, Tech used the momentum from Harry’s strike to quickly double its lead in the 19th minute, when Harry slipped a pass to Kaitlyn Giametta. In her first career start, Giametta slipped a perfect pass Parsons, who deposited the ball into the net for the second goal of the match.

The two goals combined with a clutch save from Nguyen gave the Red Raiders a 2-0 lead at the break.

Looking to add on, Tech used a perfect corner kick service from Parsons and a strong header from Zdrojewski to triple its lead just four minutes and 19 seconds into the half.

With her first career goal scored, it didn’t take Zdrojewski long to tally her second career goal, as the sophomore buried a rebound off an Elise Anderson shot for the Red Raiders fourth and final goal of the night.

In the victory, 22 total Red Raiders saw action, as Tech outshot CSUN 15-2 in the opening half and 16-1 in the second half.

The Red Raiders are now 20-1-6 (.852) in their last 27 regular season matches and have won 13 straight home regular season matches.

On what he said to Nguyen after Thursday’s loss at Penn State:
“There wasn’t a conversation. The kid is so confident and she’s so comfortable with both the opportunity and the challenge that is in front of her. She played really well against Penn State, and the goals were not on her. She felt like she could have saved the breakaway, but other than that one we let her down. She had a great couple of days and was ready to go. If you dwell on that too much you’re making too much out of something that didn’t fall on her.”

On Starting Harry:
“We’re looking for the right person to pair with Ashleigh [Williams], and whoever that partner is need to be able to get behind people and pacy enough to get there. And it made sense to let Alana be that person. Storie has done it and now Alana has done it. Alana scored her first college goal which is great. We were excited for that.”

UP NEXT:
Tech closes out a two-game homestand on Thursday night when St. Bonaventure visits the Walker. First touch is set for 7 p.m.

Release provided by Andrew Stern Texas Tech Athletics