LUBBOCK, Texas – No. 14 Texas Tech fought Kansas to a scoreless draw Sunday in front of the home crowd at the John Walker Soccer Complex. The Red Raiders have now played overtime in three of their last four games.
The 0-0 tie brings Tech to 11 points after adding on the three secured in the Red Raiders’ first-ever win in Morgantown on Thursday. Still, the Big 12-leading Tech team was hungry for the full six points – an attitude head coach Tom Stone likes seeing.
“Four points on the weekend is nothing to sneeze at, but I couldn’t talk them into being happy about it,” Stone said postgame. “No matter how hard I tried, they didn’t want to hear about four points because they wanted six so bad. I like that about this group – they’re not satisfied and they’re hungry. They see they’ve got something and want to hold on to it.”
On a blistering day down on the turf, the Red Raiders’ hunger was evident as they grinded out yet another overtime contest. Despite not punching in the golden goal, Tech did well to prevent a strong Kansas attack from doing the same. The back line held the conference’s second-leading points scorer, Katie McClure, to just one shot the entire game.
Captain Gabbie
Puente said the team has used September’s 1-1 home tie with
Oklahoma as motivation to bear down late in the game. The Red Raiders’
chance at a home sweep on the Big 12 opening weekend was thwarted when
OU’s Kaylee Dao nailed an 84th-minute
score to send it to overtime, where it would end in a draw.
“As much as it [the Oklahoma game] hurt, it was really good for us to
grow,” said Puente, who played all 110 minutes and was a big factor in
holding the back line strong in the Sunday heat. “We’ve known since then
that in the second half we cannot take our
foot off the gas. We’ve go to be able to play 90-plus.
“You have to be happy with a shutout in the Big 12. That means it wasn’t
just good goalkeeper and back line play, but the whole team defended so
well. We’re definitely disappointed we didn’t get one in the back of
the net, but it shows huge growth shutting
down a team like that.”
On the opposite end, Kirsten Davis – the Big 12’s leading points scorer with 28 – got off four shots and helped create even more. The best live chance came when Davis found Demi Koulizakis open up top in the first half. Though she was open deep, Koulizakis unleashed a strong shot that carried just over the cross bar. It was one of 13 the Red Raiders took to Kansas’ 11.
The biggest opportunity came during a stoppage of play, though, when Hannah Anderson had a chance at a penalty kick in the 41st minute. The PK was awarded when a charging Macy Schultz was taken down inside the box, but Anderson’s ensuing chance was saved by KU’s Sarah Peters. Anderson, whose second-half penalty lifted Tech over West Virginia on Thursday, has taken all of the team’s penalties this season. The freshman is now 3-for-4 on the year.
“We probably asked Hannah to take one too many,” Stone said. “She [Peters] obviously knew where she was going. She hit it a little bit lower than she likes to, and if she hits it top shelf it always goes in. We have to own that as a coaching staff, but overall the game was there to win.”
Peters made four strong saves for the Jayhawks to prevent the Tech weekend sweep. Her counterpart, Madison White, was strong for the Red Raiders, tying her young career’s high in saves with seven. This included a great diving stop in the first overtime period to keep it scoreless.
Standing atop the Big 12 through the first half of the conference schedule, the Red Raiders will host TCU in an exciting Friday night matchup under the lights at home. First touch is set for Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. at the John Walker Soccer Complex. Tickets are available here.
Courtesy of Texas Tech Athletics Communications Department
