Tech Embarks On Final Road Trip At No. 8 WVU, ISU

LUBBOCK, Texas – The Texas Tech soccer team hits the road for its final road trip of the regular season, taking on No. 8 West Virginia on Thursday, Oct. 19, at 4 p.m. and Iowa State on Sunday, Oct. 22, at 1 p.m.

Thursday's match between the Red Raiders (8-6-1, 1-4-1) and the Mountaineers (12-3-0, 5-1-0) will be televised on ESPNU and on the ESPN app. On Sunday, Tech and the Cyclones (2-11-2, 0-5-1) will stream on Cyclone.TV with a paid subscription. As always, live stats will also be available via TexasTech.Statbroadcast.com.

"We haven't played poorly in the last month, we've just gotten some tough results," head coach Tom Stone said. "We've out-shot most of the them and out-possessed most of them, but we've made some critical errors and I think in some cases, teams like Oklahoma State and Texas were smart enough to just absorb, counter and take good chances at the other end that we paid dearly for.

"We recognize that, there's some youth involved but that's no excuse. The team knows that we're not struggling in terms of our box-to-box but maybe at each end we just need to tighten the screws a little bit and try to do that this week."

The Red Raiders return to Morgantown for the second-straight season with sights set on snapping West Virginia's 37 match home conference unbeaten streak, which dates back to 2009. A victory would be the first road win against the Mountaineers in the short series history, which began in 2012.

In the three meetings in Morgantown, Tech has played WVU tight, with decisions coming at 3-2 (2012), 4-2 (2014) and 1-0 (2016). In 2012, the Red Raiders got behind 2-0 before halftime, but two Tech goals from Morgan Johnson (51') and Paige Strahan (73') tied the match, before giving up a PK to fall in West Virginia's first Big 12 match. Last season, the Red Raiders rattled off the first shot of the day, after Gwennie Puente found Jade King all alone in front of the goal, but her shot popped just over the crossbar. With nine minutes left in the match, WVU netted the only score of the game for the 1-0 win.

Last year, the Red Raiders' first conference win of the year came against the Cyclones in a 3-0 decision in Lubbock. King netted tallies in the 15^th & 26^th minutes of the contest, then Rebekah O'Brien drove in the final nail with a goal in the 57^th minute for the victory. It was the fifth-straight win over Iowa State and ninth in the last 10 meetings. The lone loss over that stretch came a 1-0 double overtime bout in Ames in 2011. Over the course of 10 dates, the Red Raiders have outscored the Cyclones, 25-7.

Tech enters the weekend in seventh in the conference standings with four points. The Red Raiders face both ends of the Big 12 leaderboard this weekend, first against the top of the standings at 15 points on Thursday, followed by the 10^th team on Sunday at one point.

"There's nothing solidified for us," Stone said. "The top four are fighting it out and everyone else is trying to jockey for position in Kansas City. We're one of those that has to have points. Fortunately, it's kind of in our hands because the other teams that need points are teams we're playing in Iowa State and Oklahoma. From that regard, we're in a good spot. But we need points and we have to get points in Morgantown."

Tech is one of seven teams in the Big 12 that rank within the top 78 of the latest NCAA RPI poll, checking in at No. 69. This week is the first since the debut poll five weeks ago that the Red Raiders have not improved their status in the standings, but have a great chance to do so with a win over No. 7 West Virginia on Thursday.

Last Friday, the Red Raiders faced the other half of the Big 12 leaders in No. 25 Oklahoma State in Lubbock, which was also the second consecutive season the two teams battled in Lubbock. After a scoreless first period, the Cowgirls found the back of the net in the 69^th minute after a goal from Marlo Zoller to push OSU past Tech, 1-0.

It was the third-straight match the Red Raiders had been kept off the scoreboard and just the second loss at home this season.

This year, the Red Raiders are led in nearly every offensive category by freshman forward Ally Griffin.
She tops the squad in points (11), goals (five), shots (47), shots on goal (24) and game-winning goals (four).

Griffin and fellow freshman Kirsten Davis, who has scored four goals, combined with the experience of sophomores Jade King and Jordie Harr, have rejuvenated Tech's offense to numbers that are near or have already surpassed last year's totals. With three contests left on the regular season schedule, the Red Raiders have recorded 19 goals through 14 matches, putting them within one of last year's 20 goals in 20 contests. Tech has pushed past its assist total of nine & point total of 49 by putting up 12 & 50, respectively, on the field in 2017. Harr has also passed her assist total from 2016, with four this season, after serving up three last year.

Through six matches, the Red Raiders sit in the top half in the Big 12 in almost every team offensive category, despite a rough stretch over the last three weeks. Tech is third in assists (six) and assists per game (1.00), fourth in goals per game (1.00), fifth in goals (six) & points (15) and sixth in shots (92).

Freshman Marissa Zucchetto made her first start in goal for the Red Raiders against the Cowgirls and became the first Tech keeper this season to play the duration of the match. She racked up four saves in the contest, with one goal given up in the 69^th minute. This season, she has 21 saves in 15 matches, with the first 14 games played coming in second half action. Zucchetto has helped Tech to six clean sheets in 2017.

West Virginia enters the weekend having scored 27 goals from 13 different players, with 13 goals coming in conference play. The Mountaineers lead the conference in every offensive category, as well as fewest goals allowed, having surrendered just three to conference opponents. Michaela Abam leads the way with five goals and three assists for 13 points, while Rylee Foster has started all 15 matches, collecting 30 saves & given up nine goals.

Iowa State squares off with TCU before matching up with the Red Raiders on Sunday. In 2017, the Cyclones have scored 10 goals and allowed 25. Klasey Medelberg tops the team with three scores, while Antonia Reyes and Dayja Schwichtenberg have split time in net, each playing in nine matches.

After this weekend's contests, the Red Raiders return home for the regular season finale against Oklahoma on Friday, Oct. 27, at 6 p.m. at the John Walker Soccer Complex.

Tech Embarks On Final Road Trip At No. 8 WVU, ISU

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Players Mentioned

Kirsten Davis

Ally Griffin

Jordie Harr

Jade King

Rebekah O'Brien

Gwennie Puente

Marissa Zucchetto