No. 15 Red Raiders to Meet Wolverines in Second Round

LUBBOCK, Texas – No. 15 Texas Tech will meet Michigan in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Friday afternoon in Chapel Hill, N.C. The four-seed Red Raiders will be playing for a trip to its second Sweet 16 in program history.

The Wolverines – one of three Big Ten teams remaining in the bracket – will make for an exciting opponent for the Red Raiders. At 16-5-1, Michigan is two wins from its program record. They went 8-2 in conference to finish third and advanced to the Big Ten Tournament final, where they were bested by Penn State. They booked their ticket to Chapel Hill with a 2-1 win over Bowling Green in Ann Arbor.

"They're a classic Big Ten team, but very technical," said head coach Tom Stone. "It's kind of the matchup you'd expect in the second round. They can beat most of the teams in this tournament just like we can. Their coach has done a fantastic job since she's taken over. They're legit, and it's going to be a good game."

Friday will mark the first meeting between the Red Raiders and Wolverines. It will be just the second time this season Tech has played a team it had previously never played before. The other came back in September during non-conference play, when the Red Raiders beat Arkansas State at home, 1-0.

Tech will travel to Chapel Hill riding the high of its dramatic penalty kick victory over Pepperdine in the opening round. The Red Raiders and Waves were one of three first round games across the bracket that needed penalties to be decided. Madison White made a career-high 11 saves before stopping two PK attempts to secure the victory. Penelope Mulenga scored just five minutes into her first career NCAA Tournament match, and Jordie Harr provided a second score on a free kick not seven minutes later. The Waves fought their way back and forced the shootout, where Tech would emerge victorious.

The moment called.

We answered.

??#WreckEm?? pic.twitter.com/A9SWIfsN5w
— Texas Tech Soccer (@TexasTechSoccer) November 16, 2019

Though the PK thriller will bring the young Tech team into Chapel Hill with plenty of excitement, this is not the first indication that this team is capable of fighting through adversity in a game.

"I think there have been several moments throughout the year where we had the advantage and the other team took it from us and we had to wrestle it back," Stone said. "Two that stand out to me are when we were up 2-1 at USF and had to defend with our lives and shut out one of the nation's best forwards.

"The other was when we were pretty much dead and buried in Austin with less than two minutes to go. We just wouldn't go down, equalized and then won it in overtime. That was big for us too just to see that we can come back from anything."

In relation to resilience, another key Stone believes is essential for his side to emerge victorious Friday afternoon is perspective.

"I think there's one thing that is important for any team to do well here [in the postseason]," he said. "When you have a team down, you try to keep them down. But, you have to recognize that everyone is so good that there is going to be moments where the other team just has a great player or great possession or good territory, and you've got to deal with it. And when you deal with it successfully and survive that moment, you're just on to the next one. It's a 90 minute game, and we don't have time to dwell or get on our heels. We've got to get to the next one."

First touch in Chapel Hill is set for 2 p.m. CT. The game will be streamed on ESPN3. The other second round match at Dorrance Field, No. 1 North Carolina versus Colorado, will begin at 5 p.m. CT following the Tech game.

No. 15 Red Raiders to Meet Wolverines in Second Round

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Players Mentioned

Jordie Harr

Penelope Mulenga

Madison White