The No. 15 Texas Tech soccer team returned to the win column after recording a 3-1 win over Abilene Christian on Sunday afternoon at the John Walker Soccer Complex.
The Red Raiders (4-1-1) racked up the first three goals of the match, coming from freshman forward Jade King (9’), sophomore defender Cassie Boren (18’) and sophomore forward Gwennie Puente (47’). The lone goal for the Wildcats (1-4-1) came in the 51st minute thanks to junior midfielder Leslie Snider.
“It was a good response,” head coach Tom Stone said on his team’s play after Friday’s loss to Cal. “We knew we had to win today and with the wind, we put a lot of pressure on them to score goals and not be too complacent with the ball. We got the two in the first half, even though it came on 15 shots.”
After a couple of early shots from King and fellow freshman forward Tatum Barton, the Red Raiders broke through in the ninth minute with a goal from King to go up 1-0. King found the ball on the left side of the field, danced around her defender and lifted her shot to the right corner of the net and over the goalkeeper for her third tally of the season.
Nine minutes later, junior defender Rebekah O’Brien sent a ball to the middle of the field, where Boren drove it home to give Tech a 2-0 lead. It was Boren’s first goal of her Red Raider career.
Texas Tech built up 15 shots in the first half, compared to Abilene Christian’s three, who did not log a shot until 33rd minute of the match. Although the Red Raiders held a two-goal lead at halftime, Stone said one of the biggest moments of the match came after the break.
“I think the key to the game was us scoring two minutes into the second half,” Stone said. “We sprung Jordie Harr free in the flat zone in front of their back line and she played a great ball into Gwennie. Then, Gwennie slotted the keeper and that kind of did it for us. Now, we gave up one on the other end and that made it a little tighter down the stretch, but that third goal right out of the break probably won it for us.”
Puente’s marker in the 47th minute was her first of the year and fourth overall as a Red Raider.
In the 51st minute, ACU’s Chloe Fifer found midfielder Leslie Snider, who sent a header to the back of the net to cut Texas Tech’s lead to 3-1. However, it would be the only successful strike for the Wildcats on Sunday afternoon, as Tech would hold ACU to just three more shots through the final 39 minutes of action.
The victory moved Texas Tech to 2-0 all-time against Abilene Christian, with their first meeting in 2014 ending in a 2-0 Red Raider victory. This weekend also marked the first time the Red Raiders had competed in a Sunday midday match following a Friday night contest in 2016.
Texas Tech wraps up the seven-match homestand on Friday, Sept. 9, with a date with Oral Roberts at 7 p.m. at the John Walker Soccer Complex. The Red Raiders will then hit the road for the first regular season away contest in 2016 when they take on Appalachian State at noon in Boone, North Carolina.
(COURTESY: Texas Tech Sports Information Department)