No. 22 Tech Wraps Homestand With ORU, Travels To App. State

Match Notes | Live Stream - ORU | Live Stats

LUBBOCK, Texas – The No. 22 Texas Tech soccer team hosts Oral Roberts on Friday, Sept. 9, at 7 p.m. at the John Walker Soccer Complex, before hitting the road for the first time in the regular season to Boone, North Carolina, as they square off with Appalachian State on Sunday, Sept. 11, at noon.

Friday's contest will be available via live stream on TexasTech.TV and live stats provided on TexasTech.Statbroadcast.com.

The Golden Eagles (4-2-0) defeated Houston Baptist, 2-1, in double overtime and Missouri State, 3-1, last weekend. ORU is averaging 15 shots per game, while allowing their opponents to an average of eight shots each contest. Texas Tech is 6-3 all-time against the Golden Eagles, with a spotless 3-0 record under head coach Tom Stone. In those three matchups, the Red Raiders have outscored ORU, 10-0, including a 5-0 victory in their last meeting in 2014.

"Based on watching them and having played them the last couple of years: This is a really well-organized team, a really well-coached team and they can pass the ball," Stone said. "This is a team that can move the ball, they're not going to just come in and lump it forward. They can pass, so they make it difficult because they can get you chasing a little bit. Obviously, when you win it back, you want them to chase it a little bit. So it'll be a little contest of wills there to see who can get ahold of the ball and keep it."

The Mountaineers (4-2-0) are also coming off a 1-1 weekend, after dropping a 3-2 contest at Liberty last Friday, but then returned home and defeated Maryland, 2-1, in Boone. Before facing the Red Raiders for the first time in program history, Appalachian State will travel to Boiling Springs, North Carolina, to face Gardner-Webb on Friday, Sept. 9. Along with it being the first meeting between the two programs, it will also be the first time the Mountaineers have played a member of the Big 12 Conference.

Last weekend, the Red Raiders (4-1-1) suffered their first loss of the season to No. 19 Cal, 4-0, on Friday, Sept. 2. Tech got back in the win column on Sunday, Sept. 4, after recording a 3-1 victory over Abilene Christian.

Freshman forward Jade King kicked off the scoring for the Red Raiders in the ninth minute on Sunday, as she maneuvered around her defender and buried her third goal of the season in the top-right corner of the net. Nine minutes later, Tech would score again, this time from sophomore defender Cassie Boren after receiving a feed junior defender Rebekah O'Brien for Boren's first career tally. Immediately after halftime, freshman midfielder Jordie Harr located sophomore forward Gwennie Puente, who slotted the keeper and notched her first score of 2016.

Friday's contest will wrap up Tech's seven-match homestand to start the 2016 season. Since Stone's arrival in Lubbock, the Red Raiders have amassed an incredible 66-21-4 record at the John Walker Soccer Complex. This is his 10^th season at the helm of the Texas Tech soccer program. Sunday's match will start a four-game road swing to App. State, followed by a trip to California to face Loyola Marymount (Sept. 16) and San Diego State (Sept. 18), before opening conference play at Kansas on Sept. 23.

18 AND COUNTING
The Red Raiders dropped a few spots to No. 22 in this week's National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll, which was released on Sept. 6. It marks 18 consecutive weeks Tech has appeared in the top 25 of the rankings. The Red Raiders debuted at No. 19 in the preseason poll on Aug. 2, and were ranked 16^th and 15^th in each of the last two rankings releases. Two of Tech's opponents also appear in the latest poll, with two others receiving votes.

CAREER FIRSTS
Six Red Raiders have notched their first career goals during the 2016 season. Last weekend, Cassie Boren became No. 6 when she tallied the game-winner in the 18^th minute against Abilene Christian on Sunday after a feed from junior defender Rebekah O'Brien. While three are freshman, the other half have come from two juniors (Rebekah O'Brien & Natalie Schmutz) and a sophomore (Boren).

YOUNG FIREPOWER
Texas Tech freshmen have put up six of the team's 10 goals this season. Three have come from the team-leader in goals, forward Jade King, while midfielder Jordie Harr and redshirt freshman defender Gabbie Puente have posted two and one scores, respectively, in 2016.

KING'S KINGDOM
Freshman forward Jade King is a threat to put a ball in the back of the net every time she touches the ball. Last weekend, she notched her team-high third goal of the season nine minutes into the match against Abilene Christian. Not only do her shots per game (6.17) and shots on goal per game (2.67) lead the Big 12, but are also top 15 in the nation, checking in at No. 2 and No. 14, respectively.

-7.5
Tech's 2-0 shutout victory over Northeastern on Aug. 28 moved senior goalkeeper Lauren Watson's career shutout total to 21.5. Already sitting in second place in the all-time records at Texas Tech in career shutouts, she is now 7.5 behind school record holder Victoria Esson for the lead in the category.

BUILDING A WALL
Watson entered the season with 168 career saves, needing only seven to move into No. 5 on the career saves list at Texas Tech. After recording nine against Arizona and two more in the win over Northeastern, along with her four in the opening weekend, she took sole possession of the fifth spot in the standings with 183. Watson added eight more last weekend, giving her a total of 191 so far this season. She is now 22 saves away from Victoria Esson in fourth at 213.

No. 22 Tech Wraps Homestand With ORU, Travels To App. State

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Players Mentioned

Cassie Boren

Jordie Harr

Jade King

Rebekah O'Brien

Gabbie Puente

Gwennie Puente

Natalie Schmutz

Lauren Watson