Tech, UNC to meet for spot in NCAA Quarters

LUBBOCK, Texas – Fresh off a dramatic victory in Friday's Round of 32 against Princeton, the second-seeded Texas Tech Women's Soccer program will look to make history on Sunday, when they play host to the third-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels in the Third Round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

Fresh off advancing to the Round of 16 for the second time in program history and for the first time since 2014, Texas Tech will face UNC looking to advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the first time in program history.

Sunday's match is slated for a 1 p.m. first kick from the John Walker Soccer Complex, and will be the first all-time meeting between Tech and UNC.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
MATCHUP: No. 2 Texas Tech (16-1-5) vs. No. 3 North Carolina (12-1-8)
DATE: November 19, 2023
TIME: 1 p.m.
LOCATION: John Walker Soccer Complex (Lubbock, Texas)

LAST TIME OUT:
In front of a record-breaking crowd (2346), and on the backs of two big moments from Peyton Parsons and Madison White, the second-seeded Texas Tech soccer team downed the Princeton Tigers, 4-3 on penalty kicks to advance to Sunday's Third Round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

After battling tooth-and-nail over the first 110 minutes of play, it all came down to PKs for Texas Tech (16-1-5), as the Red Raiders and Tigers (10-5-4) each sent five players to spot in a scoreless game.

The teams traded body blows, as the first three scorers for each side found the back of the net.

After the teams each missed on their fourth attempts of the night, Princeton's Aria Nagia stepped to the spot and ripped an attempt that White was able to kick-save away from the back of the net.

With the chance to win the game and send the Red Raiders to the Round of 16, Parsons roofed a perfect shot that Tyler McCamey was unable to save before it bounded into the net.

McCamey made a pair of saves in game action and one save during penalty kicks in the setback.

What started as a physical affair turned into a war of attrition towards the end of the match, as Tech warded off 16 Princeton shots and White made a season-high six saves in her 13th clean sheet of the season and 39th all-time.

The goalkeeper now has 10 more shutouts than any player in program history.

Tech had the best chance of the opening 45 minutes of Friday's match, as a beautiful run from Gisselle Kozarski and a perfect cross from Kylie Bahr fell to Ashleigh Williams.

The forward trapped the ball and flicked a right-footed shot the narrowly missed the cross bar and the top-left corner of the net.

Following the halftime break, it was Princeton's turn to nearly score the ever important first goal, as Pietra Tordin dispossessed a Red Raider defender inside the Red Raider 18-yard box.

Tordin found herself one-versus-one with White, who quickly charged and forced Tordin to rip the ball just wide of the vacated net.

The chance for Princeton was the best opportunity for either side to score until 17 seconds into in the 89th minute when Hannah Anderson nearly sent the Red Raiders home victorious in regulation.

Off a perfect corner kick service from Sam Courtwright, Anderson directed one of her patented headers perfectly into the lower-left corner of the net. With just a defender to beat, Anderson's header was cleared off the goal line by Madison Curry.

Despite the three strong scoring chances, the Tigers and Red Raiders ended regulation scoreless.

After neither side really had a strong chance in the first 10 minutes of the extra session, it was the Red Raiders that again had the strongest scoring chance in the second overtime, as a dangerous cross narrowly missed a pair of Tech attackers and fell for a goal kick.

With neither side able to dent the scoreboard, the match headed to penalty kicks, where Tech used goals from Courtwright, Jillian Martinez, Alex Kerr and Parsons to advance to the Round of 16 for just the second time in program, history.

QUICK KICKS:
• For the first time in program history, the Texas Tech women's soccer program will host a Round of 16 match, as the Red Raiders will play host to the University of North Carolina on Sunday afternoon. Fresh off a dramatic victory over Princeton in penalty kicks, the Red Raiders will look to advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the first-time in program history. Tech is making its first appearance in the Round of 16/Third Round since 2014 when the Red Raiders fell on the road to Florida, 3-2.
• After nearly setting the John Walker Soccer Complex Postseason attendance record, Red Raider Nation showed out during Round Two of the NCAA Tournament, as Tech announced a facility-record crowd of 2,346 on Friday night.
• Fresh off the program's first victory in penalty kicks since 2019, the Red Raiders will play host to 22-time National Champion UNC on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. in the first all-time matchup between the two teams.
• Despite winning the match in PKs, the Red Raiders did see their home winning streak snapped at 13 consecutive matches. Entering the weekend tied for the longest-winning streak in the country, Tech's last true home loss came against Texas last Sept. 25, a span of 420 days.
• Following her 13th clean sheet of the season, Texas Tech goalie Madison White needs just one more shutout to record her 40th career shutout. White is currently tied for the most shutouts in the country with North Alabama's Adriana White and Clemson's Halle Mackiewicz. North Alabama did not make the postseason while Clemson will host Georgia this afternoon.

SCOUTING THE TAR HEELS:
• Looking for their 23rd all-time National Championship in women's soccer, the North Carolina Tar Heels enter Sunday's Third Round at 12-1-8 overall. After going 5-0-5 during ACC play, the Heels suffered their lone loss of the 2023 season at home in the ACC Quarterfinals to No. 11 Pitt.

• Led by legendary head coach Anson Dorrance who has won over 1100 games, the Tar Heels advanced to the Round of 16 of the NCAA
Tournament for the 40th-time in program history (42nd NCAA Tournament appearance). Carolina with a win would be making its 35th appearance all-time in the NCAA Quarterfinals.

• UNC advanced to Sunday's Third Round by virtue of Friday's 1-0 victory over fellow 2022 College Cup participant Alabama. In that match, the UNC backline held the Crimson Tide to just four total shots (two in each half) and no shots on goal. Tar Heel goalie Emmie Allen was not forced to make a save, as the Redshirt Sophomore recorded her seventh shutout of the season.

• For the fourth consecutive match, ACC Midfielder of the Year Ally Sentor found the back of the net, as her 19th minute strike off a strong run was all the offense that the Tar Heels needed to down Alabama. On the season Sentor has scored nine times to share the team lead with Avery Patterson. As a team, the Tar Heels have scored 43 goals this season.

• Sunday's match will also feature a battle between two of the best freshmen in the country, as UNCs Savvy King and Sam Courtwright will battle for the first time. The 2023 Big 12 Freshman of the Year, Courtwright has five goals and eight assists while King has logged 1850 minutes out of a possible 1890 minutes this season.

UP NEXT:
The winner of Sunday's match will advance to next weekend's NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals where the winner of No. 1 BYU and No. 5 Michigan State await. If BYU is victorious the winner of Tech and UNC will travel to Provo, but if BYU falls to Michigan State and winner of Sunday's match would host with a chance to go to the College Cup

Tech, UNC to meet for spot in NCAA Quarters

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Players Mentioned

Hannah Anderson

Sam Courtwright

Alex Kerr

Jillian Martinez

Peyton Parsons

Madison White

Ashleigh Williams