Red Raiders Set for Opening Weekend at Home

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech soccer is set to host its home opener this week, welcoming Oral Roberts to town Thursday before hosting North Texas on Sunday. The pair of matches is the beginning of a four-game home stand, which will extend through next weekend as well. The home opener comes after Tech split its first two contests, finishing the opening road trip with a 1-1 record to show for it.

In 12 home openers, head coach Tom Stone's squad has sent the Red Raider faithful home happy 10 times. The John Walker Soccer Complex has proven to be a tough place to play for non-conference opponents as Stone owns a 55-9-2 record over them at home. Last year was no different, as the Red Raiders won all four home non-conference games while outscoring opponents 14-1.

"I think everybody is most comfortable at home," Stone said. "I think where we have our advantage is the environment we've been able to create here. The fan support is fantastic and we have a beautiful facility. The girls enjoy playing in front of the home crowd."

Each opening weekend match will provide unique challenges for a young but very talented and poised Red Raider squad.

"We've played Oral Roberts several times in the past," Stone said of the first team on Tech's home schedule. "It will present a unique challenge because this isn't a team we see very often. They're well organized and well coached."

The Golden Eagles rounded out 2018 with five losses in their last seven games to finish 8-12 on the season. They posted a 1-9 record on the road. This year, Tech will be second of three Big 12 squads ORU has packed onto its fall schedule. After Thursday's match in Lubbock, they will head to tough Neal Patterson Stadium in Stillwater for a showdown with in-state foe Oklahoma State. The Golden Eagles' first game action of the season was on Aug. 17, when they lost an exhibition game to Kansas State.

Ask anyone on the Red Raider roster – coaches included – and they will tell you that Sunday's match will be a grind. Tech's second visitor this weekend will be North Texas, who is notorious for packing several big programs onto their non-conference schedule. The atmosphere on the field will be familiar but intense, as 40 percent of Tech's roster hails from the Dallas area, while 65 percent of the Mean Green roster calls the DFW home. Many players from both squads have played with or against each other at several points in their careers.

"This game has the full attention of both the North Texas team and staff and our team and staff," Stone said. "We both have so much knowledge on each other. It's an early season high stakes game: you know North Texas is going to be a favorite in their conference and have a high RPI, so the winner of this game will benefit a lot from it."

Tech's history with the Mean Green spans back to the Red Raiders' first year as a program in 1994. Since then, the two have met 11 times, with the Red Raiders holding a close 6-4-1 advantage over the visitors from the DFW. Tech has played North Texas just twice in the last seven years, both coming much later in the season.

Both matches, the former of which was Tech's program debut in NCAA Tournament play, resulted in Red Raider victory.

Tech is one of three top-25 teams the Mean Green has added to its schedule this year, the other two being American Athletic Conference front runners South Florida and Memphis. Like Tech, UNT was an NCAA Tournament team last season. They took No. 16 Texas A&M into overtime before losing on a golden goal.

Tech's opening weekend will feature several promotions for all fans. Thursday's home opener is Freshman First Night, where the first 200 students will receive a free Texas Tech t-shirt. On Sunday, any fan presenting a ticket from Saturday's Red Raider football game versus Montana State will receive free admission. Students will have another promotion for the contest, which is presented as Back to School Night: the first 200 students will receive vouchers for a free meal at the concession stand.

First touch on both evenings is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tickets are available for purchase here.

Texas Tech University Athletics

Red Raiders Set for Opening Weekend at Home

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