ACU hit the road to take on Texas Tech, where they fell to the Red Raiders, 6-0.
Going into this matchup, the Wildcats knew they were going to have to play their best against a strong team like Tech.
Within the first half, the Wildcats weren’t too far behind Tech with shots being 3-7. Although the Wildcats were down 0-2 at the half, Lily Foster, sophomore goalkeeper from Coeur d’Alen, Idaho, had a save, holding the Red Raiders from scoring again.
“We had a lot of build on our offensive side,” said head coach Casey Wilson. ” It just came down to us being able to do something with the final pass to make those shots, but they just weren’t dangerous enough.”
Starting the second half, Tech took the opportunity to take a bigger lead. The Red Raiders scored four goals within the first eight minutes, making it 0-6. The Wildcats only gained one more shot, while Tech gained 10. Yet, Foster made an impact by making three more saves, putting Tech to a stop.
“I can’t take anything away from Tech,” Wilson said. “They’re a great team with some dangerous players, but it all comes down to us having the confidence to take those final opportunities and make them dangerous going forward.”
Wilson kept some of his most experienced players in for the majority of the game. Along with Foster playing a full 90 minutes, Natalie Jones, junior midfielder from Lubbock, and Hannah Gage, sophomore defender from Waco, played 72 minutes. On average, Wilson left his defenders in for the longest time to stay strong and hold up against Tech’s offense.
“We’ve played some tough teams where we’ve been more defense-focused,” Wilson said. “But I would like to see Caylen Wright get some more shots and maybe some other players out there just so we’re not having our offense focus on Jones and Arteaga.”
Despite the challenge, the Wildcats’ offense did not stop pushing forward. Jones tallied two shots while several players tallied one shot against Tech. Players who tallied one shot include Christina Arteaga, senior forward from Pflugerville, Megan Paul, redshirt senior midfielder from Wylie, Grace Ornelas, freshman defender from Weatherford, Jordan Michie, junior forward from Arlington and Brianna Diaz, redshirt junior forward from Anaheim, California.
With this loss, ACU now has an overall record of 1-2.
The Wildcats head back home to play Texas State at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Elmer Gray Stadium.
