Nguyen, Red Raiders record 3rd straight shutout
October 05, 2025 | Women's Soccer
LUBBOCK – Faith Nguyen saved shot after shot, diving left and right, securing lasers hit right at her, jumping as high as she can and punching the ball over the net. It was a relentless attack from assistant coach Blair Quinn in warmups. The rest of the afternoon was fairly relaxing for the Texas Tech goalkeeper.
For the third straight game and seventh this season, the result was a shutout. This time, a 2-0 win over No. 21 Kansas on Sunday at the John Walker Soccer Complex to take the No. 18/13 Red Raiders to 10-1-1 on the season. Nguyen finished with a season-high five saves in the game, one in the first half and four more with the Jayhawks going with a strong wind in the second half.
"Being in my position, you really want to have a pessimistic attitude and be ready for any shot that might come through," Nguyen said. "You always have to be ready. Even when a team isn't really attacking us too much, you never know when a deflection might come, so in my mind the ball is always going to get to me. I just have to know that I'm ready to make the stop. Our coaches always stress to me not to have any surprises and to anticipate what can happen."
Kansas traveled to Lubbock following a 4-1 win over Kansas State on Thursday and after putting up two goals in a 3-2 loss against nationally-ranked TCU. The Jayhawks, who had only been shutout two times in 12 games entering the day, took nearly 40 minutes before their first shot on Nguyen. It was an easy save and took the game into halftime with the Red Raiders leading 1-0 after an early goal from Taylor Zdrojewski.
"For us, 1-0 is never enough, but with the way our defense is playing it's a great feeling knowing that we've got the early advantage in the game," Nguyen said. "I always think about games where a team goes up 1-0 against us and it's not over. We just keep playing with a mindset that the game is 0-0 all the time. Everything remains the same for me, staying locked in and not wanting anything to get through."
Nguyen would eliminate four shots by the Jayhawks in the second half, two by way off diving efforts and the final one coming with one minute remaining in less dramatic fashion as she calmly secured the ball and casually went to the grass before kicking it deep to run out time. A major factor in the shutout was the strong play from her teammates, including back-to-back blocks from Eleanor Hays in a first-half sequence by the Jayhawks in futile attempt for the equalizer and on a KU corner kick when Zdrojewski got her head on it and Kylie Bahr cleared it. On one play, a Kansas player had forward momentum toward Nguyen in goal but was swarmed by four Red Raiders. A Kansas fan in the stands yelled, "We're coming to get you, goalie". The attempt resulted in another Bahr clearance and no shot at the Tech goalie.
"It gives me a lot of confidence knowing how strong our backline is and how they always have my back," Nguyen said. "I say it to them every game, 'I got you and you got me'. We've really lived that every game this season. They're out there blocking shots and crosses give me nothing but confidence. I know they have that same confidence in me when a shot does come my way."
The 2-0 win followed a 4-0 win over Oklahoma State on Thursday and a 2-0 win at Iowa State. Against OSU, she only had to make one save in the shutout while at Iowa State she made two. A Costa Mesa, California native, Nguyen also has shutouts this season against San Diego State, SMU, New Mexico State and Baylor. For the season, Nguyen has made 34 saves after the clean sheet against the Jayhawks who were averaging 7.5 shots on goal per game.
"Shutouts feel so good. The best thing about them is that it's a team thing. It's something everyone on the team can take pride in. The forwards who are pressing, our midfield doing tackles and winning aerial balls, and our defense blocking shots. When it all comes together and we win with a shutout it's just an incredible feeling knowing we did it all together."
Nguyen is in her second season at Texas Tech and has now recorded 17 shutouts in 32 games played in her career. She earned All-Big 12 First Team honors last season as a junior after recording 10 shutouts after playing her first two seasons at UCLA. The shutout against the Jayhawks on Sunday was her 32nd start in goal for Tech and now gives her 95 career saves going into a week where the Red Raiders will host TCU at 7 p.m. on Friday. The game against the No. 7-ranked Horned Frogs (10-2, 4-1 Big 12) will be a challenging test but one Nguyen and the Red Raiders are looking forward to – especially with how the defense has established itself through 12 games and coming off three clean sheets.Â
"We are really owning our aerial presence right now," Nguyen said. "We have to keep that up. I think it's discouraging for teams right now how well our defense is taking away their strengths. We're doing a great job of out-battling and being more physical. Our team is playing really tough and that encourages us and discourages our opponents."
Six games remain on the schedule before the postseason and Nguyen knows they're all going to be tough in pursuit of winning the program's third Big 12 championship. On Friday night, she'll go through the same warm-up routine as she did against Kansas, and have the same mentality to always be ready and focused – to stop every ball that comes her way.
"There are some days when the shot-stopping I have to do in warmups is the hardest part of my day," Nguyen said with a smile. "Blair does a great job of getting me ready. He thinks that is one of the best ways to get my feet ready and open up my hips faster. He's such a great coach with so much experience. Everything we do in practice and before games has me ready to go in games. Even when we're playing our best, teams can still get that one shot off and score though. I always have to be ready. We were all ready today."
