Late Goal Pushes No. 7 Tech Past No. 23 TCU, 1-0
LUBBOCK, Texas – Powered by a late second half goal from senior Alex Kerr, and another clean sheet from goalie Madison White, No. 7 Texas Tech soccer downed No. 23 TCU, 1-0 on Sunday afternoon at the John Walker Soccer Complex.
In a battle between the two teams tied atop the Big 12 standings, it was Texas Tech (12-0-3, 6-0-1 Big 21) that earned a key 1-0 win that pushes the Red Raiders three points clear of TCU (9-4-2, 5-1-1 Big 12) with just three matches remaining in the regular season.
The difference in the match was a 72nd minute goal from Kerr that came off a TCU turnover. The forward received a perfect pass from reserve Kaitlyn Giametta who slotted the ball to the wide-open Kerr deep in the Horned Frogs 18-yard box.
Kerr took two dribbles and ripped a left-footed shot into the right-hand corner of the net.
Up a goal, Tech held off a flurry of TCU chances including an 84th minute dangerous ball from AJ Hennessey that White was able to get a piece of to keep the ball out of the net.
White made a season-high five saves to record her 35th career clean sheet overall and NCAA-leading ninth of the season.
With the victory, the Red Raiders are now a perfect 9-0 this season at home and have won 11 straight home games, the second-longest streak in program history (12; 2013-14).
The win also extends a pair of streaks for the Red Raiders who are now unbeaten in their last 22 matches overall (17-0-5) and 14 straight Big 12 Conference matches (11-0-3).
HC TOM STONE:
“We’re thrilled to win. But we recognize that we were under pressure quite a bit today and a lot of things carried us, A veteran backline, an unbelievable save by Maddie White, Hannah Anderson the being the leader of the decade and one of the best players in the country. And then, very opportunistic, who would you rather have on a breakaway besides Alex Kerr or Ashleigh Williams? The planets lined up for us when we read it, stole it, and turned their error into a goal. Yet when we made similar errors, we buckled down, we had emergency defending, and we held the line.” The other factor that just has to be said is what an unbelievable Sunday crowd we had. I mean, this has got to be one of the biggest Sunday crowds we’ve had in years, and that propels us. Red Raider fans are loud, and they’re proud. They could tell we were digging into the fight to try to at least get a shutout. When we got the go-ahead goal, they were nuts, and they kept cheering for us all the way to the finish line. So, the fans had an assist tonight, there’s no doubt, the emotion was poured from them into us, and we responded really well to that.”
Kerr on her expanded role:
“Like Madison [White] said earlier, it’s a team effort. We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t have our great backline defenders and everyone up the field that gets me the ball and makes those run-in behinds. I’m really appreciative of everyone on the field who helped me score those goals. I wanted to go out with a bag on my fifth year and so this is exactly what I wanted. I’m really proud of everyone and just happy and excited for the road that is to come.”
UP NEXT:
The Red Raiders return to action on Thursday afternoon for a clash at UCF. First-kick from Orlando is set for 5 p.m. (CT).
–TECH–
