Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
Kent State
No. 22 Tech to host Kent State for Senior Night Friday
September 10, 2026 | Women's Soccer
In what will be the Red Raiders non-conference finale, Tech will honor seniors Kylie Bahr, Kaitlyn Giametta, Emilie McCartney, Skylar Haase, Storie Sexton and Taylor Zdrojewski
LUBBOCK, Texas – Looking to close non-conference play unbeaten for the first time since 2023, No. 22 Texas Tech Soccer plays host to Kent State Friday night for the non-conference finale and senior night.
Prior to the match, Tech will honor its six seniors: Kylie Bahr, Kaitlyn Giametta, Emile McCartney, Skylar Haase, Storie Sexton and Taylor Zdrojewski.
Tech enters Friday's final match of non-conference play at 3-0-3 overall after a 2-1 win over Pac-12 foe San Diego State last Sunday night in which the Red Raiders reached two goals for the 50th time since the start of the 2022 season. Tech is 49-0-1 when reaching two goals in a match over those 50 instances and are 58-2-1 since 2021 and have now won 28-straight matches when scoring twice.
The Red Raiders also enter the matchup against the Golden Flashes unbeaten over the last 17 matches (12-0-5) contested in Texas and are 10-0-4 at the John Walker Soccer Complex since a 2024 loss to BYU.
BY THE NUMBERS:
17: In a streak that dates back to the conclusion of the regular season in 2024, Texas Tech enters Friday's match with Kent State riding a 17-match unbeaten streak in matches contested in the State of Texas. The Red Raiders are 12-0-5 in their last 17 matches held in Texas, once again dating back to the 2-1 home loss to BYU to close out the 2024 regular season (Oct. 25).
48: One of the best and most consistent programs in the country the last four seasons, Tech enters the fifth week of the 2026 season sitting at 48-9-15 (.771) over the programs last 72 matches (since the start of the 2023 season). Only five schools nationally have more wins than Tech over that span: Stanford (62), Florida State (57), North Carolina (53), Miss State (49) and Wake Forest (49). Tech is tied with TCU and UCLA for the most wins since 2023 at 48.
49: While putting the ball in the back of the net is the name of the game, scoring twice has been critical for the Red Raiders success as since the start of the 2022 season, the Red Raiders are now 49-0-1 (lone tie at No. 7 BYU in 2023) when scoring two goals. When you expand that mark out to the beginning of the 2021 season, Tech is 58-2-1 when scoring twice in a match. The Red Raiders have won 28-straight when scoring twice.
LAST TIME OUT:
On a night of milestones including the 125th all-time win at the John Walker Soccer Complex as well as the much anticipated debut of the new Black Gladiator Patrick Mahomes Uniforms, RV/No. 17 Texas Tech downed San Diego State, 2-1 in front of another crowd of 2800-plus at Ft. Walker.
Looking to return to form, it was a trio of seniors that set the tone for Texas Tech (3-0-3) who scored twice for just the second time this season through the first six matches to improve to 49-0-1 over its last 50 instances when scoring twice.
The Red Raiders also improved to 48-9-15 (.771) overall since the start of the 2023 season, moving Tech into a tie with TCU for the most wins in the Big 12 over the span.
Tech also improved to 29-2-6 (.865) at Walker since the installation of the natural grass surface and to 26-1-5 (.891) in the regular season at Ft. Walker. The lone two losses were to UNC (2023; Round of 16) and to BYU (2024) in the regular season finale.
After a flying start that featured a textbook set piece goal from a perfect service from Eleanor Hays that found her backline teammate Kylie Bahr wide open on the doorstep, Tech quickly struck again at the 17:17 mark. The goals were the two fastest goals of the season.
Wide open and with nothing but net in front of her, Bahr redirected a header into the left-hand corner of the net for her first career goal.
Playing in her 65th career match (all starts) Bahr went the full 90 minutes just a mere 72 hours after playing 82 minutes in Tech's 1-1 draw at SMU Thursday. The goal came on her 11th career shot-on-goal, as the defender eclipsed five thousand minutes for her career.
After putting her squad up 1-0, Bahr played a pivotal role in the Red Raiders ever-important second strike when she blew past the San Diego State (3-2-1) defense, turned the corner and delivered a strong ball to sixth-year Kaitlyn Giametta whose shot was blocked by the Aztecs backline.
The rebound from the deflection fell to the ever-dangerous Taylor Zdrojewski whose first shot attempt was saved by SDSUs Kailey Carlen before the striker buried her second attempt for career goal 30.
Zdrojewski became just the six all-time Red Raider to reach 30 goals and moved into a tie for fifth with Kristi Patterson for fifth on the all-time goal list. Zdrojewski needs just one more shot to tie Patterson for sixth on the all-time shot list and needs 10 points to reach Patterson's 78 career points.
Up 2-0 at the break, the Red Raiders nearly made it 3-0 in the 66th minute when a rising Raleigh Greason rocket eluded Carlen before clanging off the crossbar.
In control and less than 20 minutes away from a clean sheet, the match turned upside down just four seconds into the 71st minute when SDSUs Emma Fuller was yanked down by Bahr.
Originally called no foul, match referee Jake Joyce went to the VAR monitor and awarded a PK to SDSU. The PK was the first time an opponent has been awarded a PK against Tech since Oct. 17, 2024 at WVU when former GK Faith Nguyen stopped a penalty in the 1-0 win over the Mountaineers.
The attempt was buried down the middle by SDSUs Katie Senn.
With the momentum, SDSU continued to surge forward forcing Tech goalkeeper Addie Todd to make a pair of comfortable saves.
In the 85th minute Tech reserve Sophie Neves tallied the 18th and final shot of the game when she nearly clipped the upper corner of the net on a header.
Still holding onto the one-goal lead, Tech nearly conceded its second penalty kick of the game when Joyce went back to the monitor for another VAR review this time for a potential Lauren Alvarez challenge on SDSUs Alannah Gonzales was taken to video review before the replay showed Alvarez clipping a piece of the ball before contacting Gonzales.
The potential chance for the Aztecs was the final by either side as the match went final at 2-1.
With the win, Tech improved to 12-0-5 in the State of Texas since the 2024 loss to BYU and to 13-0-1 when following a loss or tie. Tech also ran its unbeaten streak overall to 5-0-6 and the home unbeaten streak to 14 (10-0-4).
QUICK KICKS:
• RV/No. 22 Texas Tech closes non-conference play on Friday night when the Golden Flahses of Kent State make the trip to Lubbock for the first all-time meeting between the two schools in program history.
• Sporting one of the nation's best home non-conference unbeaten streaks, the Red Raiders moved to 2-0-1 at Ft. Walker this season by virtue of Sunday's 2-1 win over San Diego State. The win was also Tech's 125th all-time win at the John Walker Soccer Complex since the facility opened in 2008.
• Overall, the Red Raiders are 16-0-2 in their last 18 home non-conference matches dating back to a 1-0 loss to Arizona back on Aug. 21, 2022. Including Big 12 play, the Red Raiders are now unbeaten in their last 14 home matches (10-0-4) and are 38-1-2 in non-conference play since a 2016 home loss to then ranked No. 19 Cal, 4-0.
• Entering the week having played three times at home this season, the Red Raiders currently sit No. 2 in the country in percent capacity (Excluding Georgia's contest at Samford Stadium that drew over 25000 fans) and are fourth in the country in total attendance if you exclude UGAs contest at Samford Stadium.
• The Red Raiders have drawn back-to-back 2800 person crowds for the two largest total crowds in program history. After breaking a facility record against Pepperdine (2971), Tech drew 2801 people on Sunday night for the contest against SDSU.
Known for a bounce back ability, the Red Raiders enter the weekend riding an impressive streak of finding a way to get a result in their next match following a setback or draw as Tech is 13-0-1 following either a draw or setback dating back to 2023 when Tech drew Princeton (advanced on PKs) before losing 1-0 in the Round of 16.
• The Red Raiders went a perfect 6-0-0 a season ago when following a loss or draw, and 5-0-0 in 2024. The Red Raiders are 17-1-1 since the start of the 2023 season after a loss or draw and 1-0-1 this year. Big 12 Defender of the Week Kylie Bahr scored her first career goal on Sunday playing a full 90 minutes after an 82-minute performance against SMU. The goal was Bahr's first career goal.
• In addition to Bahr scoring her first career goal, the Red Raiders also saw Taylor Zdrojewski score her 30th career goal becoming the sixth player in program history to reach 30 goals. Tech improved to 19-1-1 in the 21 matches in which she has scored.
UP NEXT:
The Red Raiders open Big 12 play on the road on Thursday (Sept. 17) at UCF. First touch from Orlando is set for 7 p.m. (ET)/6 p.m. (CT).
