Texas Tech University Athletics
Tech Soccer Set for 2012 Spring Season
March 22, 2012 | Women's Soccer
The Red Raiders will begin their six-match spring season Saturday against LSU.
March 22, 2012
LUBBOCK, Texas - Fresh off of one of the most successful seasons in school history, the Texas Tech soccer team begins its spring season this weekend in a match against LSU on Saturday at 5 p.m. at the Awty International School in Houston.
The Red Raiders will play six matches throughout the spring with one home match scheduled for April 7. The lone home match will feature New Mexico at the John Walker Soccer Complex. A time has not yet been determined.
The spring schedule features a competitive slate of matches including two teams, New Mexico and LSU, who advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2011. Meanwhile, five of the six matches will take place away from home.
Texas Tech, under sixth-year head coach Tom Stone, concluded yet another banner season in 2011. The Red Raiders completed the season with their highest Big 12 finish in school history ending the year fourth in the highly-competitive conference. Tech capped off its home-schedule with a thrilling double-overtime victory over Texas on Oct. 16 at the John Walker Soccer Complex - the first win over the Longhorns since the 1999 season.
Texas Tech returns 20 players who saw action last season and accounted for 75 percent of the team's minutes. The returning core includes All-Big 12 Second Team selection and unanimous All-Big 12 Newcomer Team selection Jaelene Hinkle along with All Big 12-Newcomer selection Victoria Esson. Esson posted six shutouts in 2011 in front of the net in her first season with the squad. Offensively the Red Raiders return 70 percent of their scoring from the 2011 season.
The 2011 season marked the fifth-consecutive year in which the Red Raiders advanced to the Big 12 tournament where they earned a No. 4 seed. Stone and his staff have never failed to qualify for the Big 12 tournament during their tenure in Lubbock.
The three-week spring slate is scheduled to conclude April 15 at North Texas.
