Tech Set To Host Oklahoma State, Baylor In Lubbock

Friday, October 7

Lubbock, Texas

6:00 P.M.

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Tech Set To Host Oklahoma State, Baylor In Lubbock

October 06, 2016 | Women's Soccer

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The Red Raiders return to action to face Oklahoma State & Baylor this weekend at the John Walker Soccer Complex.

LUBBOCK, Texas – The Texas Tech soccer team returns to action after a bye week to continue the Big 12 slate against Oklahoma State on Friday at 6 p.m., followed by Baylor on Sunday at 1 p.m., both inside the confines of the John Walker Soccer Complex.

Friday's contest will be the first television match for the Red Raiders this season, as it will be broadcast on FOX Sports Southwest Plus and on the FOX Sports Go app. The first 500 fans in the gate on Friday will receive this year's Texas Tech soccer scarf. Sunday's tilt will be streamed live on TexasTech.com/Watch/.

The Cowgirls (6-5-2, 1-2-0) are coming off a 2-1 double overtime win over Texas on Sept. 30. It was their first conference victory of the season, after dropping a pair of matches to Iowa State (1-0) and Baylor (2-1 OT) the week before. Senior forward Courtney Dike leads the league in points (19) and points per game (1.46), while also sharing the conference lead in goals with seven this season. Three of the last four meetings between the Red Raiders and the Cowgirls have ended in a draw, with last year's bout in Stillwater a 2-2 tie. As a whole, Oklahoma State leads the conference in goals scored with 33.

The Bears (8-4-1, 1-1-1) will face No. 22 Oklahoma on Friday in Norman before traveling to Lubbock. Last weekend, Baylor traveled to Morgantown to face then-No. 4 West Virginia and fell to the Mountaineers, 2-0. The Bears secured their first conference win of the season on Sept. 25 in a 2-1 overtime win at Oklahoma State. Sophomore forward Lauren Piercy leads the team in goals with six and points with 14, which put her at third & fourth, respectively, in the conference standings. Two of the last three contests between the Red Raiders and the Bears have resulted in draws, while the 2014 meeting ended in a 1-0 Texas Tech victory.

Before the bye week, the Red Raiders began Big 12 play with a 1-1 record, falling at Kansas, 2-1, then routing Iowa State at home, 3-0. In Lawrence, junior defender Cassie Conarty scored the team's fastest goal this season, as she dribbled the ball down the field and sent a shot from 20 yards out past the diving keeper in the sixth minute of the match. However, a pair of penalty kicks for the Jayhawks would be enough to finish off the Red Raiders.

In Sunday's match vs. the Cyclones, Tech came out firing as freshman forward Jade King recorded her fourth and fifth goals in the season before the midway point of the first half, giving Tech a 2-0 lead. Twelve minutes after halftime, junior defender Rebekah O'Brien rifled a free kick to the upper 90 to help down Iowa State, 3-0.

The Big 12 schedule is a daunting eight-match slate, with all but the first two dates coming during the month of October. After this weekend, Tech will hit the road for a three-match stretch at No. 3 West Virginia (Oct. 14), Texas (Oct. 21) & TCU (Oct. 23). The Red Raiders will conclude the regular season at the John Walker Soccer Complex against No. 22 Oklahoma on Oct. 28, before the conference tournament the following week.

AWARD SEASON
After the first week of the season, the Red Raiders earned Big 12 Freshman of the Week thanks to midfielder Jordie Harr's two-goal performance. After the first week of the conference slate, Texas Tech had two more Big 12 honorees in Jade King & Rebekah O'Brien. King corralled Offensive Player of the Week behind a multi-goal match against Iowa State, while O'Brien earned Defensive Player of the Week for helping the Red Raiders to a shutout victory in that match, playing all 90 minutes of the contest and tallying the third score of the day. King was the first freshman to win the award this season and the first Red Raider freshman since Janine Beckie in 2012. O'Brien's accolade marks the first defensive honor for Tech since Lauren Watson in 2014. That year is also the last time the Red Raiders have claimed both the offensive & defensive awards in one week.

SPREADING THE WEALTH
Tech has had nine different goal scorers in 2016. Two weeks ago, No. 9 came from junior defender Cassie Conarty, who found the ball at midfield against Kansas, dribbled it up near the Jayhawk box, then fired a shot to the right-side of the goal for the score.

CAREER FIRSTS
Seven Red Raiders have notched their first career goals during the 2016 season. The last to do so was sophomore midfielder Jordan Duke, who tallied the lone goal over ORU with a header after locating a corner kick from sophomore defender Margaret Begley from the far side of the field. While three are freshman, the other half have come from two juniors (Rebekah O'Brien & Natalie Schmutz) and two sophomores (Cassie Boren & Duke).

YOUNG FIREPOWER
Texas Tech freshmen have put up eight of the team's 19 goals this season. Five have come from the team-leader in goals, forward Jade King, while midfielder Jordie Harr and redshirt freshman defender Gabbie Puente have posted two and one scores, respectively, in 2016.

KING'S KINGDOM
Freshman forward Jade King is a threat to put a ball in the back of the net every time she touches the ball. She notched her team-high fourth & fifth goals of the season against Iowa State on Sept. 25 in Tech's 3-0 win over the Cyclones. Her two scores are the most by an individual player in a conference match this season. With the bye week, she dropped to second in overall in the league in shots (55) and shots per game (4.58), while maintaining her top 20 NCAA ranking in the latter at No. 18.

-4.5
Senior goalkeeper Lauren Watson posted her fifth shutout of the season on Sept. 25 after a 3-0 victory against Iowa State. Her total ranks second in the conference standings and ranks 28^th in the NCAA. Already sitting in second place in the all-time records at Texas Tech in career shutouts, she is now 4.5 behind school record holder Victoria Esson for the lead in the category with 24.5.

BUILDING A WALL
Watson entered the season with 168 career saves, needing only seven to move into No. 5 on the career saves list at Texas Tech. After recording nine against Arizona and two more in the win over Northeastern, along with her four in the opening weekend, she took sole possession of the fifth spot in the standings. Two weeks ago, she racked up nine more saves, five on the road at Kansas and five vs. Iowa State, giving her a career total of 216. Her nine saves against Arizona on Aug. 26 are tied for the most in a single-match by a Big 12 goalkeeper this season. In the Iowa State match, she passed Victoria Esson for fourth all-time at Texas Tech at 213. The third-place keeper, Megan Knauss, put together a career mark of 266 saves from 2002-05.