Texas Tech Athletics
Vanderbilt
Harrison Does It Again as Texas Tech Tops Vanderbilt
September 11, 2009 | Women's Soccer
Sept. 11, 2009
LUBBOCK, Texas - Brittney Harrison netted the go-ahead goal in the 79th minute, while Conner Williams added an insurance goal with two minutes left in regulation as Texas Tech topped No. 25 Vanderbilt, 3-1, Friday in the opening match of the Auburn Soccer Classic.
Harrison's goal stopped Vanderbilt's (5-1) previously unbeaten streak and moved the Red Raiders to 4-2 for the first time since 1997, with all four of those victories coming off Harrison game-winning goals. With one more, Harrison will tie Kristi Patterson on the school's all-time career chart as the senior now has 10 game-winning goals over her four seasons.
Tech had not defeated a ranked opponent since the 2007 season when it dropped Oklahoma State, 1-0, during the 2007 season.
"We worked on one thing all week - defending," Tech head coach Tom Stone said. "We needed to be better defensively as a team, and tonight we stood tall against a very good attacking team. Erin (Wikelius) made a huge save to keep it tied, and that changed the momentum as we struck two nice goals to put the game away."
After 30 minutes of scoreless action, Sarah Ellison got the Red Raiders on the board in the 33rd minute, taking a Morgan Johnson pass and firing from 35-yards out to find the upper-left corner of the net. The goal was Ellison's third of the year, while Johnson earned her first career point on the play.
The Red Raiders headed into halftime tied, however, as Dana Schwartz connected on the equalizer only three minutes later. Tech had previously entered the half with the lead in four of five matches this season.
With both teams going back-and-forth, Zhaleh Rezaie got the ball in possession at the midfield and slipped a pass to a streaking Harrison, who flicked the ball from 10-yards out to beat goalkeeper Jessica Amlaw as Tech took a 2-1 lead with 10 minutes remaining.
Despite being closely guarded all through the match, Taylor Lytle was able to find some open space to hit Williams racing down the right side as the freshman netted her first career goal to the lower-right corner, putting the match away for the Red Raiders with 1:27 remaining. The assist was Lytle's Big 12-leading seventh of the season and moved the sophomore into sole possession of third on the school's career chart.
In goal, Wikelius collected five second-half saves, and the Tech backline held strong and withstood Vandy's 25 total shot attempts to hold the Commodores to its lowest scoring output of the season. Wikelius ended the match with a season-high eight saves.
"I thought the backline played very well tonight with Casey McCall starting to find her form from last year," Stone said. "Vandy was obviously concerned with Taylor and threw a lot of players at her, but credit Taylor for never wavering over 90 minutes and when the game was on the line, she was great. Taylor's assist on Conner's goal was just a reward for her efforts."
Tech's one goal allowed was its lowest total since opening the season with a 5-0 win over UTSA. Vanderbilt maintained a 25-9 shot advantage, while also attempting eight corner kicks to Tech's four.
The Red Raiders look for their first weekend sweep since the 2007 season when its faces host Auburn at 2:30 p.m. Tech returns to the John Walker Soccer Complex on Sept. 18 to face Alabama as part of the Red Raider Classic.
