The No. 19 Texas Tech soccer team posted a 1-0 victory over Missouri State on Sunday night at John Walker Soccer Complex, improving to 2-0-0 after the first weekend of the 2016 season.
 
The lone goal for the Red Raiders came from freshman forward Jade King, her first of the season, in the 25th minute of the match. Her tally is the third by a freshman this year, as midfielder Jordie Harr netted two in Friday’s contest vs. New Mexico.
It also marked the first shutout of the year for the Red Raiders and senior goalkeeper Lauren Watson, bringing her career total to 20.5. She ranks second all-time at Texas Tech in career saves, moving to 8.5 behind Victoria Esson in the school’s record books.
 
“I liked the fact that Jade King, who has been scoring goals all spring and all preseason got her first goal tonight,” head coach Tom Stone said. “She also came very close to getting goal two and goal three, so we’re excited to see Jade rolling. She’s been our most dangerous player and tonight she got the game winner in her second college game, so we’re thrilled with that.
 
“I’m also excited that freshmen have all three of our goals. That makes us think the future is going to be very bright around here.”
 
The first meeting between the two programs started off with a strong offensive outpour from the Red Raiders, who logged eight shots and three corner kicks in the first 22 minutes of action. Tech finally broke through in the 25th minute, after sophomore forward Gwennie Puente used her head to redirect a pass from deep in the Red Raider territory right ahead of King, who buried it past the goalkeeper to the left side of the net for the goal.
 
 
 
“I am so happy,” King said on her scoring her first collegiate goal. “Coach Stone instills that in us every practice to go to the goal, get your shot off and score. Without scoring, we can’t win. So he’s invested a lot of time in the forwards so that we know what kind of shots to take, from where to shoot it and when to pass it.”
 
The Red Raiders would have several more scoring opportunities before the break, going into halftime with 14 shots. Missouri State did not record a shot in the first frame and would not put one toward the net until the 82nd minute, when the Bears had two, both corralled by Watson.
 
Missouri State’s two shots would be the last pair in a frame filled with 14 fouls and two yellow cards, one from MSU’s Brooke Zenner in the 69thminute and the other charged to Texas Tech’s Natalie Schmutz in the 76th. Tech added six shots in the second half, four on net, totaling 20 overall Sunday night.
 
“We’ve had two teams come in with the objective to slow us down,” Stone said. “They’ve made it not necessarily harder for us to dominate the flow of play, but for us to put it away. If we had gotten goal two and goal three, it would’ve been over.
 
“But, credit Missouri State, they fought hard. We got a lot of balls at them, we out-shot them 20-to-2, but their two shots were good. Lauren Watson had to make two saves, so they deserve credit for that. They didn’t play Friday night and we did, so we knew they were a fresh team. Overall, we’re happy to be 2-0, but probably a little dissatisfied with our execution today.”
 
With the first weekend in the books, the Red Raiders turn their focus toward a ranked matchup against No. 20 Arizona on Friday, Aug. 26, at 7 p.m. at the John Walker Soccer Complex. Two nights later, Tech will host Northeastern in Lubbock, which is also slated for a 7 p.m. start time.