Texas Tech soccer earned their fifth-straight berth in the NCAA Soccer Championship, as they will travel to Salt Lake City to take on Utah in the opening round match on Saturday, Nov. 12, at 2 p.m. CDT, the NCAA announced Monday during the unveiling of the 64-team bracket.
It is the fifth time in school history the Red Raiders have played in the NCAA Tournament, but will be the first time they have started the opening round on the road. Texas Tech is 5-3-1 all time in NCAA Championship action.
“Five NCAA Tournament bids in-a-row is certainly a great feeling, and we didn’t want to be saying goodbye to our seniors today, so it was awesome to be able to look at them and say, ‘Hey, you have at least one more game and possibly more,’” head coach Tom Stone said. “This year, we really didn’t have any kind of idea because we were in that bubble group. So, we didn’t know if we were in, where we would go or who we would play. Look at the Big 12 RPI, its No. 1 in the country and I think the conference strength really helped us today.”
Saturday’s contest will mark the first meeting between the Red Raiders & the Utes and will also be the first time Tech has faced a PAC-12 opponent in the NCAA Championship.
The Red Raiders (9-8-2) went through an up and down 2016, powering through the non-conference slate with a 7-1-2 record and splitting the first two Big 12 matches. After a 3-0 rout of Iowa State, Tech hit a bit of a dry spell offensively, until breaking through in double overtime against then-No. 24 Oklahoma, 1-0, to wrap up the regular season.
Leading the team on offense for Tech this season is freshman Jade King, an All-Freshman conference team member, who has six goals and one assist for 13 points in 2016. The Red Raiders have had nine different goal scorers this season, while the defense has been anchored by senior goalkeeper and first team All-Big 12 honoree Lauren Watson. Tech also had sophomore midfielder Gwennie Puente (All-Big 12 second team) & Jordie Harr (All-Big 12 freshman team) earn all-conference nods this season.
Utah (11-3-5) put together a 6-1-4 record in PAC-12 action this season and were led on offense by sophomore forward Hailey Skolmoski, who recorded 13 goals and three assists for the Utes. Utah finished the year against five ranked conference opponents, while maintaining their own top 25 mark.
Tech is 4-0 in opening round contests, outscoring opponents 14-0 over that stretch, but will face arguably their toughest first round foe when they take on Utah on Saturday. The Red Raiders have advanced to the second round in all four of their NCAA Championship appearances. In 2014, Tech made it to the Sweet 16 round of the tournament.
“It’s interesting because it’s the first time for us to go on the road for a first round game, we’ve always been at home in the friendly confines of Lubbock, Texas,” Stone said. “But now we get to go to altitude and play a team that’s red hot. They’re one of the best teams in the PAC-12: very athletic, very well-coached, they’re the heavy favorite and I think we can sit in that spot and get ready for them and hopefully give one of our best performances of the year.”
Ticket information for Saturday’s first round NCAA Championship matchup can be found at UtahUtes.com. Pricing for the general public is $8, while youth tickets are $3.
