Red Raiders Making Their Mark
September 24, 2010 | Women's Soccer
Sept. 24, 2010
By: Katie Yingling, Athletics Communications
Led by fourth-year head coach Tom Stone and junior captains Taylor Lytle and Casey McCall, the Texas Tech soccer team (7-2) is off to one of its best starts in school history.
The Red Raiders started off the year with a 5-0 record with five-straight shutouts for senior goalkeeper Colleen Pitts. Pitts now has eight total shutouts in her career. To follow that up, sophomore Erin Wikelius is credited with the other two shutouts for Tech, the first two shutouts of her career.
Tech defenders have assisted the goalkeepers by keeping opponents to an average of only 10 shots per game. All of Tech's opponents combined have only attempted 93 shots resulting in only three goals, which is only an average of .333 goals per game.
Stone never predicted that his impressive defense would only allow three goals in nine games, but he attributes it to his team as a whole and a just a little bit of luck.
"We certainly focused on defending from the first minute of the first team training this preseason," Stone said. "We have a great commitment from all our players to the effort, our pressure on the ball is organized and our keepers have been great, and we have had a little luck too which never hurts!"
The Red Raiders are yet to give up a second half goal. The defensive efforts of sophomores Haley Fowler and Morgan Johnson and juniors McCall and Whitney Sharpe are just a few reasons why.
"Defending is really a team concept," Stone said. "The back four are under the most pressure but it's the commitment to defending starting with the forwards that really makes for a solid defensive effort."
Fowler was named Defensive MVP at the Red Raider Classic. She has played in all nine games this season. In her freshman season Fowler was no stranger to the field, starting in nine matches, all during Big 12 play, and played in 14.
Johnson and McCall are the only two defenders who have started all nine matches for the Red Raiders. Sharpe, a transfer student from UCLA, started in the first eight matches before missing the Alabama match due to injury. One of Tech's most consistent defenders, McCall, has played a team-high 803 minutes, including seven matches where she played all 90 minutes - five of them coming in the last five contests.
The Red Raiders have had great success with their defense so far this season, and that combined with the stellar offensive play of the team led by Lytle, freshman Jessica Fuston and sophomores Sarah Ellison and Dawn Ward, just to name a few, Tech has a lot to look forward to entering Big 12 play.
The Red Raiders begin conference play this weekend against the Oklahoma Sooners (4-3-1) on Friday (Sept. 24) and the Oklahoma State Cowgirls (8-1-1) on Sunday (Sept. 26).
