Williams' strike suffocates the defense and pushes Tech past BU, 1-0

LUBBOCK, Texas (NEWS RELEASE) – A 62nd-minute goal from Ashleigh Williams and a stifling defensive performance from the defense gave Texas Tech Soccer a 1-0 victory over Baylor on Friday night at the John Walker Soccer Complex.

In what was probably their strongest defensive performance of the season and in front of over 1,500 spectators, the backline of Texas Tech (10-2-1, 5-0-1 Big 12) and GK Faith Nguyen limited Baylor (6-5-3). , 1-3-2 Big 12) Attacking only four total shots and two shots on goal.

After outscoring Baylor 8-1 in the first half, the Red Raiders stayed the course in the second half as the Red Raiders finally broke through just 21 seconds into the 62nd minute when a rising shot from BU's Williams Goalkeeper Azul Alvarez deflected off the crossbar before falling into the bottom corner of the net.

The goal was Williams' 34th career goal and the 15th game-winner of her career. The forward needs just one more game-winning goal to tie Kirsten Davis, the former Big 12 Player of the Year and first-round NWSL draft pick, for second-most game-winning goals in program history. Williams also scored career points 74 and 75 for the strike, which was made possible by two strong passes from Elise Anderson and Kaitlyn Giametta.

After scoring twice in a 2-0 win in Waco, Williams was again the difference maker in the Red Raiders' third straight win over BU.

With the 1-0 lead, the Red Raiders, again led by their defense, were able to record their 23rd straight Big 12 result (19-0-4), their 19th straight home win in the regular season and their 10th Big Finishing 12 in a row without conceding a goal at home.

With tonight's second-half goal, the Red Raiders are now outscoring teams 26-1 at Walker this season and have outscored teams 17-1 in the second half. The Red Raiders also increased their lead over the Big 12 to +8 (9:1) this year.

Head Coach Tom Stone:

“This isn't 'coaching speak', but I think we're far from finished. We talk about it quite a bit. We win games and play passionate and organized defense at the end of games to finish them off, but we haven't seen a complete performance from the team yet. They know that. We don't let our heads down and are happy about who we are and where we are. We also know there is still work to be done, as this is the start of a run that includes West Virginia, BYU, Cincinnati, Colorado and Iowa State. This is the beginning of this whole run. Luckily we let one down, but there are five left.”

To Williams:

“Ashleigh put in a very complete performance tonight. She defended first tonight, which took a lot of work because Baylor is an excellent passing team and they hold the ball well, which makes the forwards work. To break them, start with your strikers. I thought she was leading the charge there and Z (Zdrojewski) did well, as did Alana (Harry), who was at the front. Ash was exceptional defensively, which led to a lot of turnovers. Then she started getting the ball in dangerous places. When we got the counterattack and pushed her out wide and she was one-on-one, we knew she was going to make one of two moves. She has a few good maneuvers and chose one of them. It freed her. I couldn't tell if it would get over the goalkeeper, but luckily it did. It’s just another game with an Ashleigh Williams winner.”

NEXT:

The Red Raiders continue their important three-game homestand with a matchup against No. 14 Colorado on Thursday night. Walker's first touch is scheduled for 7 p.m

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