No. 16 Texas Tech Blanks Northeastern, 2-0

Sunday, August 28

Lubbock, Texas

7:00 P.M.

Texas Tech Athletics

3-0-1

Northeastern

1-2-1

Northeastern

Texas Tech

No. 16 Texas Tech Blanks Northeastern, 2-0

August 29, 2016 | Women's Soccer

Box Score

First career goals by Natalie Schmutz & Gabbie Puente highlight Tech’s 2-0 win Sunday.

LUBBOCK, Texas – The No. 16 Texas Tech soccer team picked up its third victory of the season on a weather-delayed Sunday night, shutting out Northeastern, 2-0, at John Walker Soccer Complex.

The Red Raiders' (3-0-1) two goals were the first career tallies for junior forward Natalie Schmutz (61') and redshirt freshman defender Gabbie Puente (76').

"It's amazing," Schmutz said on her goal. "It's really unlike anything else to get the first one, it's kind of like a 'Finally,' kind of thing. Jordie Harr made an amazing shot and I was just happy to reward her for her hard work."

Schmutz and Puente's goals were just two of 10 shots Tech had on goal Sunday night. The Red Raiders totaled 20 shots overall, posting 10 in each half.

"I think it was a tale of two halves," head coach Tom Stone said. "They had the wind and that put a lot of pressure on us in the first half. We just made some changes in the second half: moved some people around, changed our shape and were just able to wrestle control of the game away.

"Once we did that, we felt like it was going to happen sooner or later. Jordie Harr tried to trick the keeper, it came off the crossbar and Natalie was running in like a forward is supposed to and followed it and finished it. I felt like once we scored, we would win, but that second goal from Gabbie gave us some breathing room."

For the second-straight weekend, Tech was hit with a weather delay. After an hour and 50 minutes, the two teams took the field, with the Red Raiders immediately going on the attack. Tech found themselves with two corner kicks and three shots within the first eight minutes. Northeastern would only get two shots on net during the match, both coming before halfway through the first frame, with senior goalkeeper Lauren Watson corralling both opportunities.

After halftime, Schmutz had a great opportunity with a strike from the far side of the field that bounced off the left post. However, 10 minutes later in the 61^st minute, she would find the back of the net, after Harr's shot hit the crossbar and fell right in front of Schmutz, who buried it to give Tech a 1-0 lead.

"Natalie has been on a two-and-a-half year mission to earn the minutes she's getting now, which she totally deserves and she scored the game-winner," Stone said. "I don't think there's a single player on the team that isn't thrilled about her success. She had to sit behind some really good players that were older than her and now that she has the chance, she's making the most of it. Natalie did that for eight years as a youth player and she was hurt a little bit once she got here. Now she's 100 percent healthy, she looks like a Ferrari and runs like one too."

The Red Raiders stayed on the offensive, earning three more corner kicks and recording several shots before Gabbie Puente notched Tech's second goal off a feed from Jade King in the 76th minute. Her goal helped seal the third victory of the season for Texas Tech and the first overall win in the all-time series between the two programs.

With their assists, Harr & King lead the team in points with five each over the four matches played in 2016. It also gave Watson shutout No. 21.5, pulling her to 7.5 away from the all-time lead for career shutouts in Texas Tech history.

Up next for the Red Raiders is a date with No. 21 California, as the Red Raiders continue their seven-match homestand at the John Walker Soccer Complex on Friday, Sept. 2, at 7 p.m.

"This is the best Cal team they've ever had," Stone said about their next opponent. "Neil [McGuire] has been around long enough to get everybody right and exactly where they want them to. They're legit. They're a PAC-12 contender and they'll push for the title, so we know we'll have our hands full there. We beat them a couple years ago when we were the more mature team and now I think we've found that they're going to be the more experienced team, so we have to be our best on Friday."