Second half surge powers Tech to 1-0 win over Baylor
September 19, 2025 | Women's Soccer
The Red Raiders got a 72nd-minute PK from Peyton Parsons and four key saves from Faith Nguyen to win the Big 12 opener in dramatic fashion
WACO, Texas – If this is what the rest of Big 12 play is going to look like in 2025, Red Raider Nation buckle up.
Facing its stiffest test so far in 2025, Texas Tech Soccer (7-1-0, 1-0-0 Big 12) got a 72nd-minute PK winner from senior Peyton Parsons while goalkeeper Faith Nguyen delivered four key saves including a jaw-dropping 85th minute stop to power the Red Raiders to victory.
Locked in a scoreless game and throwing haymakers, Texas Tech continued to press forward after a scoreless first half.
Following the break, Tech nearly drew first blood when a rising 60th-minute shot from Peyton Parsons that was somehow punched wide by Baylor's (5-1-2, 0-1-0 Big 12) Azul Alvarez. The save was one of six that the BU keeper made on the night.
Then came a 65th-minute shot from All-American Sam Courtwright that beat Alvarez before clanging off the cross bar and bouncing out.
Not deterred, the Red Raiders showed the resolve of a team that after tonight has now won six-straight road Big 12 contests outright and ran their road Big 12 regular season streak to 17-straight contests.
After knocking on the door time-and-time again, the door was finally kicked down when Courtwright was fouled two steps into the Baylor 18-yard box after a beautiful slip pass from Taylor Zdrojewski.
Originally ruled outside the box, the referee made the universal sign for VAR and went to replay-review to determine if a PK should have been awarded.
Following a brief but tense couple of moments, the referee emerged from the review and with an outstretch right hand pointed to the spot, awarding the Red Raiders a justly earned PK.
Showing the deftness and experience of a senior, Parsons stepped up and with one might and powerful swing of the right foot that has produced time-and-time again, delivered a perfect strike to her right and away from the diving BU keeper.
Goal Red Raiders.
Advantage Red Raiders.
With the task not finished and the hungry and then-undefeated up-start Bears seeking the equalizer, the Red Raiders looked to salt away a painstaking 18 minutes.
As the seconds turned to minutes, the Red Raiders stayed steady, despite a dangerous BU chance in the 80th minute.
Five minutes later, the Bears once again nearly equalized, when BUs Theresa McCullough hit the perfect 30-yard volley.
If Red Raider head coach Tom Stone has mentioned once, he's mentioned it a thousand times
The item in question?
One of "those" saves.
You know, the kind where the other team has their hands raised to the air only to be left "shocked, stunned and downright disappointed."
The save, that for lack of a better and more fitting term "saves" the game.
Enter Nguyen, stage right.
As she has done countless times in training sessions and matches throughout her brief and effective Tech career, Nguyen sprang into action, flashing across her six-yard box and punching the shot wide.
Consider the threat extinguished and the three points saved for the moment.
Both literally and figuratively.
When the ball cascaded out of bounds for a throw-in for Baylor, the clock read 85:33.
After a Nguyen goal-kick moments later, the clock showed 86:07.
What started as a 90-minute task, turned into an 18 minute and 29 second task after the Parsons goal.
Then a 10-minute task after the 80th minute shot.
Following the Nguyen save, a four-minute and 38 second task.
278 seconds.
That's all that separated the Red Raiders from the 1-0-0 conference start.
A start that eluded the Red Raiders a year ago 90 miles up the road in Fort Worth when the Red Raiders and TCU shared the three points after a scoreless draw.
372 days later and 90 miles south, and with a goal to the good, the Parsons penalty kick and the Nguyen save proved to be enough.
Enough to power Tech to a 7-1 start.
Enough to push the Red Raiders to a top-15 (Baylor entered the night 14th in the RPI) RPI win.
Enough to record Tech's fourth-straight win following a setback at San Francisco a month ago.
Enough to push Tech's Big 12 record to 22-2-7 (.823) in their last 31 Big 12 matches.
And enough, to send the Red Raiders, back to Lubbock three points to the good. Â
HEAD COACH TOM STONE:
"The first thing that stands out is how good Baylor is and how they played for the first 25 minutes. They really put us under the gun, they were on the front foot and were really dictating a lot of what the game had to offer. Even though we got back into it before the half, I think the half was a good turning point for us. To say it was spirted would be the understatement of the year. There just wasn't enough for us and player-to-player we weren't giving enough to the game which is unacceptable. Especially in a Big 12 opener. They knew it and we played way more aggressive and way more assertive in the second half. Our backline was way better at dealing with their entry passes. We disrupted that which was killing us in the first half. So that was a good thing. Then Storie [Sexton], Raliegh [Greason], Lana [Harry] and Z, their press went up a notch. Which caused turnovers and broke up their possession game. And then the final piece to take over the game was our possession game started moving. We got them to back up and we started passing and connecting. Macy was dangerous and Sam hit the crossbar. And Peyton had a shot that Azul made a great save on. So, there were moments. When those moments started turning our way you could feel confidence building in our team. It felt like we were going to score. We would have preferred it to be in the run of play, but we ultimately don't care. And Sam made a great slashing run, and Z had the ability with seven people around the box to pick her head up and pick out Sam, whose first touch took her into the 18. And when they fouled her, we knew that we had one of four people we could choose from. Peyton stepped up and buried it. It's important. Big 12 games are not easy, and nobody is going to give you one. There's nobody in this league that's going to give you a game, especially on the road. Baylor was undefeated and this was their first loss. We were certainly happy to give to them, but it certainly wasn't without a fight."
On Nguyen's save:
"Good teams are going to get a chance late. You don't want to give them three or four but they're going to get one because they're pushing so many people forward. When the ball popped up, I thought [McCullough] was going to take it down. Our team kind of hesitated but she smacked and volleyed it out of the air. Faith saw it the whole way, and you talk about vision, she saw it the whole way. She's super explosive and pushed it wide. That was the moment for Faith to save the game for us. She can do that, and so that also discouraging to the other team, when it looks like you're going to equalize, and the other team does that it can be really hard. So we're thankful for Faith."
On starting 1-0 in Big 12 play:
"Points are going to be hard to come by in this league this year. Look at the teams who are better this year. Baylor is for sure better; Kansas is building upon what they did in the tournament last year. Arizona State just beat BYU. Teams are better. Houston is way better. It's not an easy league and points are going to be hard to come by. So we're thrilled to take away three points from Waco tonight."
UP NEXT:
With another one-match week behind them the Red Raiders return home on Thursday night (Sept. 25) for a clash with Houston. First touch from the John Walker Soccer Complex is set for 7 p.m.
