Texas Tech University Athletics
Friday, November 15
Lubbock, Texas
7 p.m.
Texas Tech Athletics
vs
LSU
Tech/LSU to meet in NCAA First Round Friday
November 14, 2024 | Women's Soccer
The Red Raiders will host the opening round for the second straight season and eighth time since 2012
LUBBOCK, Texas – For the second straight season and for the eight time since 2012, Texas Tech Soccer will open the NCAA Tournament at home, as this season the Red Raiders will play host to LSU Friday night at the John Walker Soccer Complex.
After hosting the First Round, Round of 32 and Round of 16 a season ago, postseason soccer will again return to the Walker in 2024 as Tech and LSU will meet for the first time in Lubbock since the 1995 season.
The matchup against the SEC foe will mark the first time a Power-Conference opponent will come to Lubbock in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament since 2013 when Minnesota came to Lubbock for the opening round. Tech won that match 3-0.
Tech's Friday clash with LSU also marks the first time an SEC program has played in Lubbock since 2015 (Aug. 28) when the Red Raiders played host to Georgia.
After a successful run to the Round of 16 a season ago, Texas Tech Soccer will make its ninth all-time appearance in the Big Dance. Last year the Red Raiders defeated FGCU (1-0) and downed Princeton (0-0) in PKs before falling to North Carolina 1-0 in the Round of 16. The matches against Princeton (2,346) and UNC (2,558).
With a victory, the Red Raiders would move on to the Round of 32 next Friday (Nov. 22) against the winner of Duke and Howard. If the Blue Devils are victorious against Howard, they would host both the Second and Third Round.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
MATCHUP: No. 8 Texas Tech (14-4-2) vs. LSU (9-8-3)
DATE: Friday, November 15, 2024
TIME: 7 p.m.
LOCATION: Lubbock, Texas (John Walker Soccer Complex)
LAST TIME OUT:
Despite enjoying a 17-11 shot advantage, No. 17 Texas Tech fell 2-1 Wednesday night to Kansas in the Big 12 Semifinal at CPKC Stadium.
Down 1-0 after an up-and-down first half, Texas Tech (14-4-2) quickly saw its deficit doubled in the 50th minute when Kansas (12-5-4) buried its second corner kick goal of the night.
Facing the largest deficit since a 2-0 loss to Utah State (Aug. 25), Tech quickly responded using a 64th minute goal from Ashleigh Williams to cut the deficit to just a goal.
Down the stretch, the Red Raiders had multiple chances to record the equalizer including in the 76th minute when Molly Skurcenski's was wide open in the box, but her shot went just high.
As the match continued to wind down, Tech had multiple chances including a Taylor Zdrojewski header off a free kick with just 32 seconds that was cleared off the line by a Jayhawk defender.
The Red Raider chances were plenty especially early as Tech forced a pair of early saves from Dawe.
In the second minute it was Williams who nearly struck for Tech while in the 14th minute it was a brillant one-two from Peyton Parsons and Zdrojewski that resulted in a strong Parsons shot that was saved by Dawe.
Despite the early momentum, Tech ultimately conceded first again for the second straight game, as the Red Raiders allowed a strong run from Kansas and a blocked shot to result in a corner.
On the ensuing corner, KU's Jocelyn Herrema ripped a shot in the middle of the 18 that was saved by Tech goalkeeper Faith Nguyen. Despite the initial stop by Nguyen, the rebound ultimately knocked home by Raena Knust.
After halftime, the Red Raiders had the first chance to score in the second half, when Kate Leibel lifted a shot in the 48th minute that went high.
Just 90 seconds later, KU doubled its lead when Olivia Page scored off a perfect Carolina Castans corner kick service.
Down by a pair, the Red Raiders quickly cut the deficit in half, when a perfect cross from Elise Anderson found a cutting Williams who stayed onsides in the Jayhawks box. Williams took one dribble, eluded Dawe and ripped a shot into the bottom-right corner of the net.
Riding the momentum, the Red Raiders continued to push forward in search of the equalizer, but were ultimately unable to convert.
QUICK KICKS
• Fresh off a run to the semifinals (fifth time in six years) at the Big 12 Championship and a second place finish in the Big 12 regular season, Texas Tech Soccer will host the First Round of the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in 12 seasons. The Red Raiders are 6-1-2 all-time in home Postseason matches and have won eight of the nine total matches. Those eight wins include a pair of PK victories over Pepperdine (2019) and Princeton (2023).
• Despite being a contributor to last season's team that won 14 regular season matches and won the first Big 12 Regular Season title in program history, Texas Tech junior Macy Blackburn will finally make her NCAA Tournament debut for the Scarlett and Black this weekend. Blackburn, who missed last season's postseason run to the Round of 16, has made her return from injury in 2024, and has scored twice and recorded assists. The 2024 Big 12 Defender of the Year, Blackburn is the all-time assist leader in Texas Tech history, as the Keller native has recorded 31 career assists. Blackburn ranks 26th in the country in assists per game (0.47) and leads the Big 12 in that category.
• Friday's match up against LSU will be a bit of a historic one, as it will mark the first time time that the Red Raiders will host an SEC school at home in the Postseason, and just the third all-time Power-Conference postseason match up at the Walker. The Red Raiders of course hosted ACC powerhouse UNC last season and played Big 10 foe Minnesota back in 2013.
• The Red Raiders will host an SEC foe at the John Walker Soccer Complex for the first time since the 2015 season when the University of Georgia traveled to Lubbock back in 2015.
• Scoring has been a good omen for the Red Raiders as despite losing two of the last three matches when scoring a goal, the Red Raiders are still 30-2-9 when scoring at least once in a match since Sept. 30, 2021. The two losses when scoring at least once in that span have come within the last three matches.
• Despite allowing a pair of goals in two of the last three matches, and allowing five goals in their last three matches, the Red Raiders still rank amongst the nation's top defenses, as the Red Raiders rank 21st in the country in goals-against-average (0.70) and 14th in the country in shutout percentage (60.0).
In what will almost assuredly will be their final match of the season at the John Walker Soccer Complex, the Red Raiders will look to be victorious at Ft. Walker for the 34th time since the start of 2021 season. Tech is 33-5-5 at home in their 43 home matches since 2021.
After hosting the First Round, Round of 32 and Round of 16 a season ago, postseason soccer will again return to the Walker in 2024 as Tech and LSU will meet for the first time in Lubbock since the 1995 season.
The matchup against the SEC foe will mark the first time a Power-Conference opponent will come to Lubbock in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament since 2013 when Minnesota came to Lubbock for the opening round. Tech won that match 3-0.
Tech's Friday clash with LSU also marks the first time an SEC program has played in Lubbock since 2015 (Aug. 28) when the Red Raiders played host to Georgia.
After a successful run to the Round of 16 a season ago, Texas Tech Soccer will make its ninth all-time appearance in the Big Dance. Last year the Red Raiders defeated FGCU (1-0) and downed Princeton (0-0) in PKs before falling to North Carolina 1-0 in the Round of 16. The matches against Princeton (2,346) and UNC (2,558).
With a victory, the Red Raiders would move on to the Round of 32 next Friday (Nov. 22) against the winner of Duke and Howard. If the Blue Devils are victorious against Howard, they would host both the Second and Third Round.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
MATCHUP: No. 8 Texas Tech (14-4-2) vs. LSU (9-8-3)
DATE: Friday, November 15, 2024
TIME: 7 p.m.
LOCATION: Lubbock, Texas (John Walker Soccer Complex)
LAST TIME OUT:
Despite enjoying a 17-11 shot advantage, No. 17 Texas Tech fell 2-1 Wednesday night to Kansas in the Big 12 Semifinal at CPKC Stadium.
Down 1-0 after an up-and-down first half, Texas Tech (14-4-2) quickly saw its deficit doubled in the 50th minute when Kansas (12-5-4) buried its second corner kick goal of the night.
Facing the largest deficit since a 2-0 loss to Utah State (Aug. 25), Tech quickly responded using a 64th minute goal from Ashleigh Williams to cut the deficit to just a goal.
Down the stretch, the Red Raiders had multiple chances to record the equalizer including in the 76th minute when Molly Skurcenski's was wide open in the box, but her shot went just high.
As the match continued to wind down, Tech had multiple chances including a Taylor Zdrojewski header off a free kick with just 32 seconds that was cleared off the line by a Jayhawk defender.
The Red Raider chances were plenty especially early as Tech forced a pair of early saves from Dawe.
In the second minute it was Williams who nearly struck for Tech while in the 14th minute it was a brillant one-two from Peyton Parsons and Zdrojewski that resulted in a strong Parsons shot that was saved by Dawe.
Despite the early momentum, Tech ultimately conceded first again for the second straight game, as the Red Raiders allowed a strong run from Kansas and a blocked shot to result in a corner.
On the ensuing corner, KU's Jocelyn Herrema ripped a shot in the middle of the 18 that was saved by Tech goalkeeper Faith Nguyen. Despite the initial stop by Nguyen, the rebound ultimately knocked home by Raena Knust.
After halftime, the Red Raiders had the first chance to score in the second half, when Kate Leibel lifted a shot in the 48th minute that went high.
Just 90 seconds later, KU doubled its lead when Olivia Page scored off a perfect Carolina Castans corner kick service.
Down by a pair, the Red Raiders quickly cut the deficit in half, when a perfect cross from Elise Anderson found a cutting Williams who stayed onsides in the Jayhawks box. Williams took one dribble, eluded Dawe and ripped a shot into the bottom-right corner of the net.
Riding the momentum, the Red Raiders continued to push forward in search of the equalizer, but were ultimately unable to convert.
QUICK KICKS
• Fresh off a run to the semifinals (fifth time in six years) at the Big 12 Championship and a second place finish in the Big 12 regular season, Texas Tech Soccer will host the First Round of the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in 12 seasons. The Red Raiders are 6-1-2 all-time in home Postseason matches and have won eight of the nine total matches. Those eight wins include a pair of PK victories over Pepperdine (2019) and Princeton (2023).
• Despite being a contributor to last season's team that won 14 regular season matches and won the first Big 12 Regular Season title in program history, Texas Tech junior Macy Blackburn will finally make her NCAA Tournament debut for the Scarlett and Black this weekend. Blackburn, who missed last season's postseason run to the Round of 16, has made her return from injury in 2024, and has scored twice and recorded assists. The 2024 Big 12 Defender of the Year, Blackburn is the all-time assist leader in Texas Tech history, as the Keller native has recorded 31 career assists. Blackburn ranks 26th in the country in assists per game (0.47) and leads the Big 12 in that category.
• Friday's match up against LSU will be a bit of a historic one, as it will mark the first time time that the Red Raiders will host an SEC school at home in the Postseason, and just the third all-time Power-Conference postseason match up at the Walker. The Red Raiders of course hosted ACC powerhouse UNC last season and played Big 10 foe Minnesota back in 2013.
• The Red Raiders will host an SEC foe at the John Walker Soccer Complex for the first time since the 2015 season when the University of Georgia traveled to Lubbock back in 2015.
• Scoring has been a good omen for the Red Raiders as despite losing two of the last three matches when scoring a goal, the Red Raiders are still 30-2-9 when scoring at least once in a match since Sept. 30, 2021. The two losses when scoring at least once in that span have come within the last three matches.
• Despite allowing a pair of goals in two of the last three matches, and allowing five goals in their last three matches, the Red Raiders still rank amongst the nation's top defenses, as the Red Raiders rank 21st in the country in goals-against-average (0.70) and 14th in the country in shutout percentage (60.0).
In what will almost assuredly will be their final match of the season at the John Walker Soccer Complex, the Red Raiders will look to be victorious at Ft. Walker for the 34th time since the start of 2021 season. Tech is 33-5-5 at home in their 43 home matches since 2021.
Players Mentioned
Defender
/ Women's Soccer
Defender
/ Women's Soccer
Midfielder
/ Women's Soccer
Goalkeeper
/ Women's Soccer
Forward/Midfielder
/ Women's Soccer
Defender
/ Women's Soccer
Forward
/ Women's Soccer
Forward
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