Tech, Utah to meet Thursday for Big 12 home opener

LUBBOCK, Texas – Riding an 18-match unbeaten streak in conference play and winners of 17 straight at the John Walker Soccer Complex, Tech Soccer welcome new Big 12 foe Utah Thursday night for the Big 12 home opener. First touch is set for 7 p.m.

Looking to build upon Thursday's result at TCU, the Red Raiders seek a key three-points against Utah, who sits atop the Big 12 standings after one match.

The match against Utah will be both international and executive night at Walker and will feature a Texas Tech flag giveaway, as well as a Lego building contest and a Lego Lounge.

The Red Raiders are Utes have played just once before in program history, a Round of 64 match up in the 2016 NCAA Tournament. The Utes won in Salt Lake City, 1-0, on a 97th-minute golden goal.

Entering Thursday, the Red Raiders are a perfect 15-0-0 in home regular season matches the last two seasons and have outscored opponents 59-3 in that span. Dating back to a Sept. 25, 2022 loss to Texas, the Red Raiders have won 17-straight home matches and have outscored opponents 64-3 overall.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
MATCHUP: Texas Tech (5-2-1, 0-0-1 Big 12) vs. Utah (4-2-2, 1-0-0 Big 12)
LOCATION: Lubbock, Texas (John Walker Soccer Complex)
DATE: Sept. 18, 2024
TIME: 7 p.m.

QUICK KICKS:

• Riding a 17-match home regular season winning streak (17-0-0) and an 18-match Big 12 unbeaten streak (15-0-3), Texas Tech Soccer returns home on Thursday night for the Big 12 home opener against Utah.

• In just the second all-time meeting between the Red Raiders and Utes, Texas Tech Soccer will seek to move up the Big 12 tables following the draw at TCU last week.

• The Red Raiders have played their best soccer both lately and at home, as Tech has won four-of-six (4-1-1) overall including Thursday's draw at TCU.

• Dating back to a 2-0 loss to Texas back on Sept. 25, 2022, the Red Raiders have won the aforementioned 17 straight home regular season matches. The Red Raiders are outscoring opponents 64-3 in that stretch, and have recorded 14 clean sheets in the 17 match stretch.

• In total, 11 of those 17 home matches have featured at least three goals, while eight have featured four goals or more.

• Inching closer to returning to form, defender Macy Blackburn continues to prove to be one of the most valuable players in the country.

• Despite missing parts of the last two seasons due various injuries, Blackburn has recorded 15 assists in her last 20 games played.

• The all-time program co-leader in assists, Blackburn needs just one more assist to break Taylor Lytle's program record for career assists.

• If Blackburn does record an assist on Thursday, she will record her program-record 28th assist in just her 43rd game played.

• The Red Raiders are 11-0-1 the last two seasons when Blackburn records at least one assist, and are 26-8-8 in her 42 appearances. Tech is 15-1-4 the last two seasons when she plays, and 14-0-4 when she starts in a game.

LAST TIME OUT:
Opening Big 12 play on the road, Texas Tech Soccer earned a key point against the TCU Horned Frogs Thursday night at Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium.

Riding a 17-match unbeaten streak in conference games, Texas Tech (5-2-1, 0-0-1) found a way to extend it to 18 on Thursday night, holding its opposition to just limited dangerous chances.

The Red Raiders themselves had multiple chances to score, maybe none more dangerous than an 85th minute header from Taylor Zdrojewski off a corner kick. Zdrojewski, skied in the air and connected on a strong header that whizzed past the post and out of harms way.

Tech's best chance to dent the score sheet in the first half came early in the 14th minute, when a streaking Peyton Parsons ripped a shot that was punched by TCU (4-2-1, 0-0-1 Big 12) goalkeeper Megan Plaschko.

The rebound found Ashleigh Williams, but the forwards shot was once again punched wide by Plaschko.

In goal, UCLA transfer Faith Nguyen was steady once again, as she needed to make just one save in her third clean sheet of the season.

Nguyen's lone save of the night came in seventh minute on a low shot from TCUs Bella Dioro.

In the end, both sides managed just nine total shots. Four of Tech's nine shots went on goal, as compared to just one for the home Horned Frogs.

UP NEXT:
The Red Raiders begin a three-match road trip on Sunday afternoon at Oklahoma State. First touch from Stillwater is set for 1 p.m.

Tech, Utah to meet Thursday for Big 12 home opener

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Players Mentioned

Macy Blackburn

Faith Nguyen

Peyton Parsons

Ashleigh Williams

Taylor Zdrojewski