Tech closes homestand, non-con play with Thursday contest vs. Oregon

LUBBOCK, Texas – Riding a 16-match home winning streak, and winners four-of-five overall, Texas Tech Soccer welcomes Big Ten foe Oregon Thursday night, for the final non-conference match of the 2024 season.

Thursday's match will also be the Red Raiders annual 'Pups at the Pitch' night, as Red Raider Nation can bring their favorite four-legged friends to the 7 p.m. match.

As part of the festivities, Texas Tech Soccer will be giving out pup cups, 250 sets of trading cards and the match will also feature an autograph signing session with Texas Tech Softball.

Fans interested in bringing their pups for the contest with the Ducks will need to fill out the registration form attached above.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
MATCHUP: Texas Tech (4-2) vs. Oregon (3-2)
DATE: September 4, 2024
LOCATION: Lubbock, Texas (John Walker Soccer Complex)
TIME: 7 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT:

Peyton Parsons added her sixth and seventh goals of the season, while Macy Blackburn moved to within a singular assist of tying Taylor Lytle's program record, as Texas Tech Soccer rolled past ORU 5-0, Sunday afternoon at the John Walker Soccer Complex.

Not to be lost in the victory, were a pair of strong goals from junior Kaitlyn Giametta and freshman Alana Harry and three key saves from goalkeeper Sydney O'billovich.

With the win, Texas Tech (4-2) increased its regular season home winning streak to 16 straight matches, recorded its 10th straight home regular season shutout and coach Tom Stone recorded his 200th all-time victory.

After a physical start resulted in the first of three yellow cards on the afternoon when former Red Raider and ORU (1-4-1) midfielder Carty Kingsbury was booked in the 22nd minute, ORU nearly struck first in the 24th minute, when Audrey Weir ripped a rising shot that O'billovich was able to punch high for a strong save.

Looking to seize back momentum, the Red Raiders did just that, when a dangerous three-minute sequence ended in a penalty kick attempt, when Taylor Zdrojewski was taken out in the ORU box. Zdrojewski who was flashing across goal in the hopes of tracking down a beautiful cross from Harry, was ultimately decleated before the ball arrived.

As she has twice already this season, Parson stepped to the spot for the Red Raiders and buried a low rocket into the right-hand corner of the net and past a diving Alexa Riefer.

The goal was Parsons' seventh of the season, and gave Tech a 1-0 lead 19 seconds left in the 32nd minute.

With the lid off the goal lifted, the Red Raiders tallied two more goals to take a 3-0 lead into the break.

The first of the two goals, came off a beautiful sequence from Giametta, who ripped a shot that punched out by Riefer. The rebounded fell right back to Giametta, who one-timed a low shot by Riefer. The sequence was made possible by a beautiful run by Elise Anderson who delivered a perfect cross to Zdrojewski who back-heeled a perfect pass to Giametta.

With just over four minutes until half, the Red Raiders quickly made it 3-0 just 42 seconds later when Anderson hit Jill Martinez, who threaded a perfect through ball that found the left foot of Harry. With just Riefer to beat, Harry dribbled once to her left before depositing her second goal of the season.

Armed with a 3-0 lead after the late first half onslaught, the Red Raiders found the fourth goal of the afternoon when a perfect cross from Blackburn was redirected by Zdrojewski and into the back of the net. The goal was Zdrojewski's fifth of the season.

Looking for one last knock out punch, Parsons provided the honors, burying a deflected shot from Kate Liebel for her fifth goal of the week.

The goal, which came 40 seconds into the 58th minute, proved to be all Tech would need on Sunday, as the Red Raider closed out the 5-0 win, the 58th consecutive victory the Red Raiders have recorded when scoring three or more goals.

QUICK KICKS:
• The Red Raiders close the final homestand before conference play on Thursday night, when they welcome the Oregon Ducks for the first all-time matchup between the two schools. Oregon is the second and final Big 10 team that Tech will face this season, as the Red Raiders opened the season at Penn State.
• On the back's of Sunday's 5-0 win over Oral Roberts, the Red Raiders have now shutout 10 consecutive home regular season clean sheets. That streak encompasses a full and complete calendar year.
• The Red Raiders last conceded a home goal in the regular season last Aug. 31. Including the postseason last year, Tech is now outscoring its opponents 48-3 at Walker since the start of the 2023 season.
• With the 5-0 win on Sunday afternoon, the Red Raiders are now outscoring opponents 18-0 at home this season and have outshot opponents 106-19 over the four home matches.
• The Red Raiders have yet to concede a goal at home this season and enter the week as one of 47 schools in the country who have yet to concede a goal.
• Boasting the most dynamic scoring duo in the country, Texas Tech enters Thursday's contest against Oregon as the only school in the country with multiple five goal scorers.
• Peyton Parsons enters the Thursday contest with seven total goals, while Taylor Zdrojewski checks in with five goals.
• Parsons is the nations second-leading scorer while Zdrojewski checks in at No. 16 overall. Penn State's Kaitlyn MacBean leads the country with eight total goals. Parsons was named the Big 12's Player of the Week this week after scoring five times in Tech's 2-0 week last week.
• Having scored 18 times, the Red Raiders enter the week with a goal differential of +12 on the season, the 12th-best mark in the country and second-best mark in the Big 12.

UP NEXT:
The Red Raiders open their Big 12 Conference title defense on Sept. 12 at TCU. First touch from Fort Worth is set for 7 p.m.

Tech closes homestand, non-con play with Thursday contest vs. Oregon

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Players Mentioned

Elise Anderson

Macy Blackburn

Kaitlyn Giametta

Alana Harry

Peyton Parsons

Taylor Zdrojewski