White Ties All-Time Shutout Mark as Tech Drops ACU

LUBBOCK, Texas – The Red Raider offense struck for three quick first half goals while Madison White tied the program record for most career clean sheets in Texas Tech’s 3-0 victory over Abilene Christian Sunday Afternoon at the John Walker Soccer Complex.

With the temperature close to triple digits, it was Texas Tech (5-0-1) who remained red-hot, handing the visitors of Abilene Christian (4-1-1) their first loss of the season.

The Tech offense provided the fireworks early, scoring just two minutes and nine seconds into the match. Armed with a multiple goal lead for the fifth consecutive match, White did the rest, recording a pair of saves her program-best 29th all-time clean sheet.

One match after recording a hat trick, senior Alex Kerr made her presence felt early when she made a strong run and slipped a pass to a wide-open Jillian Martinez. Hovering around 20 yards from goal, Martinez rocketed a left-footed shot into the right-side of the net.

The goal was special for Martinez as it was not only her first goal as Red Raider, but also her first career goal.

Just eight minutes later, the Red Raiders nearly doubled their lead when Kerr ripped a shot that ACU keeper Lili Ross was able to push away. After not conceding a goal for the first five matches, Ross allowed three goals and made four saves.

In the 19th minute, Tech quickly doubled its lead when Sam Courtwright ripped shot off the post. The rebound from the shot pinballed around the box and fell to Gisselle Kozarkski who buried her second goal of the season.

Armed with a 2-0 lead, Tech turned to its bench, who helped produce the decisive third goal. Following a strong through ball from defender Molly Skurcenski found a wide open Chloe Soto, Soto sliced through the Wildcat defense and swung a strong pass over to Northwestern State transfer Olivia Draguicevich.

Open in the middle of the 18, Draguicevich calmly ripped a shot into the back of the net. The goal was her 38th of her career, but first as a Red Raider.

Battling the heat and with a decisive 3-0 lead, the Red Raiders dug deep into the bench in the second half as eight of the Tech starters played 60 minutes or less.

With the win, Tech improves to 5-0-1 on the young season and now will take a 12-match regular season unbeaten streak (dating back to 2022) into next week’s action.

HC TOM STONE:
“Coach [Blair] Quinn mentioned today during our pregame that ACU hadn’t allowed a goal and hasn’t lost, and we how needed to change both of those stats. Our girls were happy to oblige. When you hear something like that, and a team is doing something right you need to be on your toes. I felt like again in the first 15 or 20 minutes we were sharp and came after them. Jill has now had that same exact shot three times now, where we’ve played it across to her and she has a chance to prepare it. She’s a lefty and she can smash it from there. This time she hit an absolute bullet, as soon as it left her foot we knew it was in. We’re so happy for Jill. Her story has been a roller coaster and she’s playing great right now. She’s an integral part of our teams rhythm. That was a just reward for how hard she’s worked this summer to get her game where it is.”

White on today’s performance:
“As a team we love recording clean sheets because it shows our defense is doing their job, and I cant record one without my defense in front of me. I had two saves today in 90 minutes which means the defense is keeping the opponent from getting to me. Which is exactly what we want because that leads to shutouts. Performances like today are good for our record and our RPI, and shows that what we’re doing is paying off. We have a really experienced backline lead by Hannah [Anderson] a fifth-year senior. And then we have Kylie [Bahr] who is a sophomore and two experienced juniors in Macy [Blackburn] and Cassie [Taylor]. And even though Kylie is a sophomore, the experience and knowledge she has is incredible. She knows what she’s doing, how to do it and when to do it. We have a lot of experience which makes me feel comfortable because I know have people in front of me that know what they’re doing and can get the job done.”

Martinez on scoring her first career goal:
“It was great because against North Texas [on Thursday night] I had two similar shots and I knew I didn’t put those away. I told myself if I get this opportunity again I need to follow through with my shot. I’m glad I did and I’m glad I scored. To score my first goal a senior shows that I’ve worked really hard for this moment and it was really rewarding.”

UP NEXT:
After spending the last two weeks at home, the Red Raiders hit the road for a Thursday night contest at Arizona. First kick from Tucson is set for 9 p.m. (CT)

–TECH–

Release provided by Andrew Stern Texas Tech Athletics