No. 4 Tech Falls in Big 12 Semis to Texas, 1-0

AUSTIN – In the highly anticipated rematch of the Sept. 21 matchup also in Austin and the Mike Myers Stadium and Soccer Field, the No. 4 ranked Texas Tech women’s fell 1-0 to Texas in the Semifinals of the Big 12 Championship Wednesday.

In what turned out to be a tightly contested defensive battle, it was Texas Tech (15-1-4) that came out on the short-end, as the Red Raiders not only suffered their first loss of the season but also were shutout for the first time since a 1-0 loss in the 2022 Big 12 Tournament Quarterfinals a season ago.

Unlike the previous two road contests at BYU and at UCF, and frankly all season where the Red Raiders were able to find either the equalizer, the go-ahead goal, or that moment of brilliance, no such goal or moment came tonight against Texas (14-4-2).

Instead, it was the Longhorns who flipped the script of the Sept. 21 matchup to an extent, using a world-class strike on their home pitch from forward Trinity Byars to seal a spot in the Big 12 Championship Match on Saturday night.

Texas will meet the winner of No. 6 BYU and UCF later on Wednesday evening in that aforementioned championship match.

The Red Raiders certainly had moments on Wednesday to try and either find the ever important first goal or the even more important equalizer.

In the very first minute of the match, the Red Raiders used a shot by Alex Kerr to set up a corner kick just 57 seconds into the match. On the attempt, Freshman Sam Courtwright served a strong ball that captain Hannah Anderson was able to high point. The defender made strong contact, but the attempt was right at Texas’ Mia Justus who made a clean save.

Just over 30 minutes later it was again Courtwright who set up a scoring opportunity, when she received a pass, turned her hips and fired a shot on target. But much like the Anderson header, the ball was struck right at Justus who made her final save of the night.

Heading into the break scoreless, Texas quickly took control, using the aforementioned strike from Byars in the 50th minute.

Seeking the equalizer, Tech continued to surge forward as Kerr had two strong chances in both the 55th minute and 60th minute to record Tech’s first goal of the match. The attempt in the 55th was the better of the two chances, and came off a strong feed from forward Ashleigh Williams who sprung Kerr free in the Horns 18-yard box.

Taking a dribble, the dangerous forward ripped a right-footed shot that skipped past both Justus and the left-post and wide of the frame.

Those two chances, combined with one last attempt in the 79th minute comprised the Red Raiders best scoring chances.

In her first setback since the 2022 Big 12 Tournament, goalie Madison White made four saves including a highlight reel stop 47 seconds into the 32nd minute on a rising shot from Byars that kept the game scoreless.

The third of those four saves for White was her 250th career stop, as the goalie became just the fifth netminder in program history to record 250 career stops.

HEAD COACH TOM STONE:
“It’s the 1-0 time of year and teams are winning by a close margin, and when it comes down to the few moments. They capitalized on their moment, and the best forward in the country did what she does. The rest of the time even though she got a couple of more chances, we did a good job of dealing with her one-on-one and blocking shots. Our defense is one of the best in the country, and they’re bothered we gave that goal up. On the other side we had a couple of chances of our own, although I think Texas really took control of the game with their first half. They deserve credit for that. They came out hard and were playing for their NCAA Tournament lives. If Texas didn’t win, they were probably out, because they won the game they’re probably in now. We understood that going in, but it’s hard to prepare a young team mentally to understand what that might look like or to face a team that’s playing for their survival. The interesting thing is now is that’s what we’re playing for, because we’ll be in the NCAA Tournament. But the where and who we get to play is to be determined. Every game will be do-or-die. I’m not looking for any moral victories here but there are somethings for our team to learn about. Specifically, how to come out and play in games that are survive or go home. Tonight, unfortunately was our first loss of the season and it doesn’t feel very good.”

UP NEXT:
With the Big 12 Regular Season title and Big 12 Championship behind them, The Red Raiders will now set their sights on the 2023 NCAA Tournament which will begin in earnest on Monday (Nov. 6) at 3 p.m., with the annual selection show streamed live on NCAA.com. During that show the entire field of 64 will be revealed as Tech is expected to earn a top-three national seed for the first time in program history.

–TECH–

Release provided by Andrew Stern Texas Tech Athletics