Courtwright and Kerr push No. 7 Tech to 2-2 draw

Thursday, October 5

Provo, UT

8 p.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

11-0-3, 5-0-1

No. 7 BYU

10-1-3, 3-0-3

Texas Tech

BYU

Courtwright and Kerr push No. 7 Tech to 2-2 draw

October 06, 2023 | Women's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF) Postgame Presser

Tech scored back-to-back goals to earn a point in Provo, remain unbeaten in 2023

By: Andrew Stern

PROVO, Utah – In the premiere matchup in the country on Thursday night, the seventh-ranked Texas Tech women's soccer program battled fellow No. 7 BYU to a 2-2 draw Thursday at South Field.

Down a goal for the first time this season, Texas Tech (11-0-3, 5-0-1 Big 12) showed its championship resolve, using a first half goal from freshman Sam Courtwright to tie the match at 1-1 with 6:30 to play in the first half.

The Cougars (10-1-3, 3-0-3 Big 12) had taken the 1-0 lead midway through the 18th minute when Jamie Shepherd scored her first goal of the season off a Cougar corner. As previously mentioned, the goal was the first Tech had conceded in a game all season, as the Red Raiders joined Penn State as the only two teams in the country to have not trailed this season entering the days action.

Following the halftime break, Tech quickly found a go-ahead goal, when senior Alex Kerr took a perfect pass from Ashleigh Williams. The senior knifed through the box and ripped a shot into the net, for her ninth goal of the season just 19 seconds into the 61st minute.

BYU quickly answered with its second goal of the night less than two minutes later when Ellie Walbruch buried her sixth goal of the season.

Both teams had their chances to score a decisive third goal over the final 25 minutes of the match, but neither side was able to find the back of the net, as the two sides played to a 2-2 draw.

Goalie Madison White made four saves on the night, tying her season high in saves.

With the draw, Texas Tech ran its unbeaten streak to 21 consecutive matches and is now unbeaten through 14 matches overall this season.

The draw also extends Tech's Big 12 unbeaten streak to an impressive 13 in-a-row.

HEAD COACH TOM STONE:
"The atmosphere tonight lived up to the hype. The crowd is amazing, and BYU plays a unique brand of 'all out' attacking soccer. They're super athletic and make it super hard on their opponents. It was the first time that we've been behind in a game all year, but we kept our composure and scored the equalizer. We went up 2-1, and I thought we had a shot to grind out the win, but unfortunately, they just put in one too many dangerous crosses across the box. But quite frankly we made it a little bit easier for them to score, not just on the second goal, but all the way down the field. But otherwise, I thought our defense was awesome all night, and our goalkeeping was great. What can you say about Alex Kerr. What a goal she scored to put us up 2-1. The first goal from Sam was brilliant. We're disappointed to only walk away with one point, but we're certainly happy to take that point and get on home with how hard our schedule will be the next few weeks."

ON COURTWRIGHT'S PERFORMANCE AND CONTINUED MATURITY:
"We've been on Sam to understand when to take chances and when to be mature about risking the ball. She's has all these 'tricks' she'd love to play every time she gets it, but I thought tonight was her overall best performance. She was really calm and composed on the ball and did a great job of setting people up and creating chances for us on the wing. And her goal was beautiful. But three freshmen for us tonight had outstanding performances. That was Storie Sexton's best game, that was Chloe Soto's best game and then probably Sam's best as well. Those are three freshmen that are really giving us a lift, because the veterans are killing it, but they can't do it by themselves. It's great when the younger players step up."

ON RECOVERING AND TRAVELING HOME FOR SUNDAY'S MATCHUP WITH TCU:
"We had a massive game here tonight [at BYU] and will have to travel three-times as far to get home as TCU will have to travel to get to Lubbock. But we'll be ready. That's the whole Thursday-Sunday rhythm of conference play. We're excited about it and know that TCU will be too. BYU and TCU are the two best teams we've seen so far, so it's going to be another good one at Walker. Hopefully our fans will as they have and make it hard on them."

UP NEXT:
The Red Raiders close the weekend with a home date with No. 23 TCU. By virtue of tonight's results, Tech and TCU are tied atop the Big 12 standings with 16 points.