THAT'S HOW YOU DO THAT! In front of almost 1,800 rowdy Red Raiders, Texas Tech stormed to a 2-0 first half lead off goals from sophomores Taylor Zdrojewski and Skylar Haase to take down the LSU Tigers 2-1 in their second consecutive season hosting a NCAA Round 1 game in Lubbock. Next up the team will travel to Durham, N.C. to take on the number one overall seed Duke on Friday at 5:30 pm CT.
It was a back and forth match for the first 10 minutes or so as each team was feeling each other out and perhaps calibrating the 20 mph wind gusts as well. In that time each team had chances at goal but LSU had the games first true dangerous moment, dangerous that is if you don't have Faith DAWG Nguyen in goal to handle the job.
From this moment on Texas Tech started working through the ever terrifying outside back duo of Macy Blackburn + Elise Anderson who both began to pepper the Tigers on the outside. Kate Leibel, Peyton Parsons (had a game, more on her later) and Kaitlyn Giametta also settled in to have their way through the middle helping to connect with the aforementioned Blackburn and Anderson and soon enough the first goal for the Red Raiders arrived.
Really no way to explain this ball from Blackburn other than sorcery, magic, IS THERE A MAGNET ON THE BALL?! This thing was headed STRAIGHT for the LSU keeper, so much so she came well off her line thinking she could grab it only to realize her mistake mid-way out when the ball sliced sharply to the foot of Taylor Zdrojewski. And can I get a sheeeesh for the finish from Z thereafter? One touch, backside beauty - THAT'S THE TAYLOR ZDROJEWSKI WE BEEN WARNING Y'ALL ABOUT. Now the redshirt sophomores 10th goal of the year, and her fifth off an assist from Blackburn. A feat that's pretty spectacular seeing as Blackburn missed the offseason recovering from an injury and these two have been building their chemistry in game during the season instead. Scary hours moving forward, I fear.
Texas Tech seemed to have the Tigers on a string for the rest of the half, doing as they pleased through the middle, on the outsides and it was only a matter of time before that led to the second goal with about three minutes remaining. It started with freshman Millie Elwood (video in game notes down below) doing what she does, just being a tactical wizard on the ball dipsey doo'ing a defender in close quarters before getting the ball to Blackburn who once again got loose up the right side. There's nothing more to say than we already have on Blackburn's service, she's just the best there is in this phase of the game and she sent another perfect ball into the box that sophomore Skylar Haase finished with one of the better headers you will see. Perfect placement, good pace...and it gets passed the diving Tiger keeper for what would end up being the game winning goal.
The second half started about as bad as it could for Texas Tech with LSU scoring off a mistake by the Red Raiders but credit the Tigers for seizing the opportunity and getting on the board 25 seconds into the half to make it 2-1.
They came out of the locker room and scored to make it interesting. We were rattled for about 15 minutes after that, then once we settled down and started to pass and move the ball, the game settled into our rhythm again. Their rhythm is very direct and very chaotic. And then Faith had an unbelievable fingertip save. An 'are you kidding me' type save. That ball was hit about as hard as you can hit a soccer ball. And it was going to hit the crossbar and maybe the bottom of the crossbar. She tipped it over and saved the day as well." - Head Coach Tom Stone.
The "are you kidding me type save" Coach Stone was talking about:
LOL. Faith DAWG BUNNIES Nguyen strikes again. And that was really the game, Texas Tech settled in as head coach Tom Stone noted from there and really took back control of the game in the final 20 to get the win.
Game Notes:
The crowd was rocking, it was "only" the 5th largest postseason crowd in Texas Tech history but it sure sounded like the largest. Red Raider faithful was in prime form and brought the juice just like the team from the jump....and hung around to the end to celebrate.
Freshman Millie Elwood was calm in her first postseason game and while it isn't shown in the full highlight above, she was awarded her first postseason assist on the games second goal because of this gorgeous work on the ball to get it to Blackburn down the side.
Peyton Parsons looked in complete control all game. Locked in. Doing her job and annoying the heck out of the purple tigers from start to finish. Our twitter feed unintentionally became a Parsons highlight reel as she pulled off another near Olympico and also had a really creative idea go just high into the wind on a cross field pass to a streaking Alana Harry in the box. Then to round it all off, she pulled off this silly rainbow flick that had the crowd and the Tigers in a tizzy as the game came to a close.
We've already covered the magician that is Macy Blackburn but y'all need to see this combo between her and Kaitlyn Giametta that came just moments before the first goal of the game. I can't confirm the meg was the beginning of the end for the Tigers but I can say: LOL.
Shout out to the entire Texas Tech coaching and support staff this week as Tom Stone was away from the team during training for personal matters. Postgame he credited everyone on the staff from coaches, to S&C team and everything in between for handling business this week while he was away. Team effort to the max.
Up Next:
Texas Tech travels to the alma mater of head coach Tom Stone and the No. 1 Duke on Friday at 5:30 pm CT. Game will be streamed on ESPN+ with prematch coverage to come early this week on our youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@seeingscarlet_
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