No. 24 Texas Tech Travels West To Face LMU, SDSU

Friday, September 16

Los Angeles, Calif.

9:00 P.M.

Texas Tech Athletics

Loyola Marymount

No. 24 Texas Tech Travels West To Face LMU, SDSU

September 15, 2016 | Women's Soccer

The Red Raiders return to the road for a two-match California swing to play LMU & SDSU this weekend.

Notes | Live Stream & Stats (LMU) | Live Stats (SDSU)

LUBBOCK, Texas – The No. 24 Texas Tech soccer team hits the road for a pair of matches in the golden state, facing off with Loyola Marymount on Friday, Sept. 16, at 9 p.m. CDT, followed by San Diego State on Sunday, Sept. 18, at 8 p.m. CDT.

Friday's contest will be available via live stream on TheW.TV.

The Lions (4-2-1) are coming off a 7-0 victory over Saint Francis last weekend. LMU rides into the weekend with a 13-match win streak at Sullivan Field. The Aztecs (1-4-0) picked up their first victory of the season last weekend in a 1-0 win at Cornell. Before the Red Raiders come to town, SDSU will square off with Weber State at home on Thursday night. This weekend's matches will be the first time Tech has ever battled either opponent in the program's 23 years.

"It's the biggest weekend of the non-conference season," head coach Tom Stone said. "These are both teams that are picked to win their conference, both NCAA Tournament teams and both playing at home. We know we have our work cut out for us. Strategically, this came at the end because we knew it would take us this long to hopefully be ready. We look ready, the question is how will it be when the referee blows the whistle.

"We've always loved going on the road, getting to go to cool places, play great teams and get in different environments. There's nothing like playing here, but after seven in-a-row at home, it was time to get going. We were glad to get that one under our belt and now we have a nice four-day weekend in southern California, so that's tough to beat too."

Last weekend, the Red Raiders (6-1-1) posted a spotless 2-0 record, first with a win at home against Oral Roberts, 1-0, to wrap a seven-match homestand. Tech then went on their first road trip of the regular season to Boone, North Carolina, where they came away with a 2-1 come-from-behind win over Appalachian State.

Tech finished their seven-match homestand to start the 2016 season with a 5-1-1 record. Since Stone's arrival in Lubbock, the Red Raiders have amassed an incredible 67-21-4 record at the John Walker Soccer Complex. This is his 10^th season at the helm of the Texas Tech soccer program.

19 AND COUNTING
Despite a perfect 2-0 weekend, the Red Raiders dropped two spots to No. 24 in this week's National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll, which was released on Sept. 13. It marks 19 consecutive weeks Tech has appeared in the top 25 of the rankings. The Red Raiders debuted at No. 19 in the preseason poll on Aug. 2, and were ranked 16^th and 15^th the next two weeks, respectively, before slipping to No. 22. Two of Tech's opponents also appear in the latest poll, with three others receiving votes.

CAREER FIRSTS
Seven Red Raiders have notched their first career goals during the 2016 season. Last weekend, sophomore midfielder Jordan Duke tallied the lone goal over the Golden Eagles 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).

SPREADING THE WEALTH
Tech has had eight different goal scorers in 2016. Last weekend, No. 8 came from sophomore midfielder Jordan Duke, who scored the lone goal against Oral Roberts off a header. The Red Raiders almost had their ninth in freshman forward Tatum Barton in their match at Appalachian State, after her shot was saved by the goalkeeper, then bounced in front of the net and was kicked in for an own goal by a Mountaineer defender.

YOUNG FIREPOWER
Texas Tech freshmen have put up six of the team's 13 goals this season. Three 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. Two weeks ago, she notched her team-high third goal of the season nine minutes into the match against Abilene Christian. Not only do her shots per game (5.25) and total shots (42) lead the Big 12, but she also ranks top 30 in the country in shots per game in seventh and shots on goal per game (2.25) in 30th.

-6.5
Senior goalkeeper Lauren Watson posted her third shutout of the season last weekend after a 1-0 victory over Oral Roberts. Her total ranks second in the conference standings. Already sitting in second place in the all-time records at Texas Tech in career shutouts, she is now 6.5 behind school record holder Victoria Esson for the lead in the category with 22.5.

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. Last weekend, she racked up five more saves, three against ORU and two at App. State, giving her a career total of 196. She is now 17 saves away from Victoria Esson in fourth at 213.