No. 19 Tech, WVU set for Thursday showdown in Morgantown

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Winners of six-of-seven and unbeaten since Aug. 25 (9-0-2), No. 19 Texas Tech Soccer hits the road for the final road trip of the 2024 season, when they head to RV West Virginia Thursday.

Traveling to Morgantown for the first time since 2021, the Red Raiders will look to extend a flurry of streaks on Thursday with a win over the Mountaineers.

The first streak is a 25-match Big 12 Conference unbeaten streak (20-0-5) that dates back to a Sept. 2022 loss at Texas.

The second streak that Tech will look to extend at WVU is their overall regular season unbeaten streak. Tech is 9-0-2 in its last 11 matches, dating back to the Aug. 25 setback at Utah State.

Tech's 11-match unbeaten streak is tied for the longest in the nation with No. 2 Duke (11-0-0), No. 12 Notre Dame (9-0-2), Fairfield (10-0-1), Western Carolina (9-0-2), South Dakota State (9-0-2) and Ohio (8-0-3).

Finally, Tech will look to extend its 14-match road unbeaten streak in Big 12 play (9-0-5). Tech's streak spans the entire 2022, 2023 and 2024 seasons. So far the Red Raiders are 3-0-1 in Big 12 play on the road.

Thursday's matchup is also a key opportunity for the Red Raiders to improve their NCAA Tournament resume, as the Mountaineers check in at No. 24 in the latest RPI. The Red Raiders sit at 39 in the RPI heading into the weekend of action.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
MATCHUP: No. 19 Texas Tech (11-2-2, 6-0-2 Big 12) at RV West Virginia (10-3-2, 6-1-1 Big 12)
DATE: Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024
TIME: 7 p.m. (ET)/6 p.m. (CT)
LOCATION: Morgantown, West Virginia (Dlesk Soccer Stadium)

LAST TIME OUT:
Looking to bounce back after a disappointing 1-1 tie on Thursday night, Texas Tech got a free kick goal from Macy Blackburn and PK goal from Ashleigh Williams to down Iowa State 2-0 on Sunday afternoon at the John Walker Soccer Complex.

On her senior day, Williams scored for the third consecutive match when she buried a penalty kick to give her Texas Tech (11-2-2, 6-0-2) side a commanding 2-0 lead.

With her goal today, Williams recorded the 78th and 79th points of her career, as the forward moved into fourth place on the all-time points lead passing Kristi Patterson. Williams now trails just Janine Beckie (130), Kirsten Davis (112) and Kristy Frantz (108) on the all-time points list.

After a frustrating opening half that again saw the Red Raiders dominate both possession and the shot count and a goal disallowed due to offsides, Tech came out on fire in second half, nearly taking the lead in the 49^th minute when a Blackburn free kick found a Taylor Zdrojewski in the box. The forward ripped a header that deflected off an Iowa State (3-7-5, 1-3-3 Big 12) defender and on frame.

With the ball rising and heading toward the upper corner of the net, ISU goalie Avery Gilahan was able to punch the ball over the bar and out of harm's way.

Not letting the frustration mount, the Red Raiders kept pushing deep into the 59th minute when Chloe Soto was chopped down by an ISU defender.

With the ball stopped parallel to the edge of the circle, Blackburn took a mighty swing with her right leg and unleashed a wicked ball that sailed through the six-yard box and off the right post before deflecting past Gilahan.

The goal was Blackburn's second of the season and fifth of her career.

Armed with a 1-0 lead, the Red Raiders, unlike Thursday, were quickly able to find the important second goal when an errant pass from Iowa State fell to a wide open Kaitlyn Giametta.

With nothing but green grass in front of her, Giametta raced by the ISU defense all the way into the 18-yard box. With the angle on the last ISU defender to beat, Giametta was hip-checked to the ground and a penalty kick was awarded.

Williams as she so often does, calmly stepped to the spot and drilled a perfect shot into the right-hand corner of the net and past Gilahan. The strike gave Tech the 2-0 lead.

Armed with the important two-goal lead, the Red Raiders held Iowa State to just one shot attempt and zero corner kicks over the final 23 minutes and change of action.

With the victory the Red Raiders improve to 20-0-5 in their last 25 Big 12 Conference games and are now unbeaten in their last 20 home matches (19-0-1).

QUICK KICKS:
• Unbeaten in 11 straight matches (9-0-2) and winners of six of seven, Texas Tech hits the road for its final and most important road trip when they head to West Virginia (Thursday) and Cincinnati (Sunday). Sitting tied atop the Big 12 table with TCU at 20 points, the Red
Raiders seek to win the Big 12 regular season title for the second straight season.

• In fact the Red Raiders have not trailed in a match since the Aug. 25 match against Utah State, a span of 11 matches or 990 minutes. The Red Raiders since the 2-0 loss at Utah State, have outscored opponents 26-3.

ª Tech's 11-match unbeaten streak coincides with the return of Macy Blackburn. Blackburn who made her 2024 debut at Utah State was limited to just 32 minutes in that game.

• The last two seasons Tech is 21-0-5 when Blackburn plays at least 40 minutes.
After scoring just once through the first nine matches of the season and scoring just twice through the first 12 matches, Ashleigh Williams has now scored in three straight matches.

• Williams scored the game winner against Baylor and scored the go-ahead goal in Thursday's 1-1 draw, before adding a PK in Sunday's 2-0 win over Iowa State.

• For her efforts this week, Williams was named the Big 12s Co-Offensive Player of the Week, as the forward earned her fifth all-time weekly honor. Williams' honor marks the sixth time that a Red Raider earned a Big 12 weekly honor this season.

• The draw Thursday ended a pair of impressive streaks as the Red Raiders saw a nation-leading 19-match home winning streak snapped and a 24-match winning streak when Williams scored snapped.

• Tech was previously a perfect 24-0-0 when Williams scored in a game. With Sunday's goal however, the Red Raider did improve to 25-0-1 all-time when Williams finds the back of the net in a match.

• The Red Raiders enter the weekend riding three different impressive streaks. The first streak is a 25-match Big 12 unbeaten streak that dates back over two seasons. The Red Raiders are 20-0-5 in their last 25 Big 12 conference matches.

• That streak is the longest in the Power Four and the third-longest in the country trailing just Xavier (34) and St. Louis (26). \

• The second streak that Tech will take into Thursday's matchup at West Virginia is an 11-match unbeaten streak overall. The Red Raiders 11-match unbeaten streak is tied for the longest streak in the country: Duke (11-0-0), Western Carolina (9-0-2), Fairfield (10-0-1), South Dakota State (9-0-2), Ohio (8-0-3) and Notre Dame (9-0-2) all have similar 11-match unbeaten streaks.

• Tech's third and final streak is a 14-match (9-0-5) unbeaten streak on the road in Big 12 Conference play. That stretch spans the entirety of the 2022 season, the whole 2023 season and the 2024 season. So far this season in Big 12 play, Tech is 3-0-1.

UP NEXT:
The Red Raider close out the two-match road swing on Sunday afternoon when they head to Cincinnati. First touch from Gettler Stadium is set for 1 p.m. (ET)/Noon (CT).

No. 19 Tech, WVU set for Thursday showdown in Morgantown

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Players Mentioned

Macy Blackburn

Kaitlyn Giametta

Chloe Soto

Ashleigh Williams

Taylor Zdrojewski