Texas Tech’s Kylie Bahr dribbles the ball past two Princeton defenders in the second round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech’s Lauren Woodruff and Taylor Zdrojewski hold the edges of a group hug after Texas Tech advances to the third round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech celebrates defeating Princeton in the second round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech’s Cassie Taylor and Elise Anderson jump with their guns up after advancing to the third round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech soccer head coach Tom Stone walks past two hugging players after advancing to the third round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech’s Jillian Martinez hops on Kylie Bahr’s shoulders after advancing to the third round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Madison White kicks the ball back in after a blocked shot. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech fans hold their guns up after advancing to the third round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech’s Molly Skurcenski dribbles the ball past Princeton’s Aria Nagai in the second round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech’s Ashleigh Williams runs to defend Princeton’s Marissa Hart in the second round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech’s Ashleigh Williams dribbles the ball towards the goal in the second round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech’s Peyton Parsons takes a shot at the goal. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech’s Lauren Woodruff throws the ball back in bounds during the second round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Princeton’s Aria Nagai walks back to mid-field after missing a penalty kick. (Photo an Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech’s Hannah Anderson dribbles the ball past Princeton’s Lexi Hiltunen in the second round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech’s Ashleigh Williams kicks a penalty kick. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech’s Alex Kerr stares down Princeton’s Zoe Markesini in a second round matchup in the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech’s Macy Blackburn jumps up to hug head coach Tom Stone after advancing to the third round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Princeton’s penalty kick get deflected by a sprawled out Madison White. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech’s Alex Kerr rears back to take a shot in the second round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Kylie Bahr looks to her team after passing the ball in the second round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech’s Jillian Martinez sneaks her penatly kick past Princeton’s Tyler McCamey in the second round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Hannah Anderson holds her hand on her head after a questionable call. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech’s Sam Courtwright yells to Alex Kerr after passing the ball to her. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Princeton’s Aria Nagai jumps up after Texas Tech’s Alex Kerr kicks a corner kick. (Photo by Andrew Watters)
As she got ready to take Texas Tech’s fifth penalty kick at the John Walker Soccer Complex on Friday, Peyton Parsons said Princeton fans were telling their goalkeeper what direction Parsons was going to go.
They must have said Parsons was going left, because Parsons said they were correct.
Thing is, it didn’t matter that they knew. The sophomore midfielder only played 29 minutes, but her impact felt bigger as the No. 2 seed Texas Tech Red Raiders (16-1-5) advanced to the Sweet 16 over the No. 7 seed Princeton Tigers (10-5-4) 4-3 on penalties after a 0-0 tie in 110 minutes.
The Red Raiders now have to go up against No. 3 seed North Carolina (12-1-8) Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Walker after North Carolina beat Alabama earlier Friday.
It’s only Tech’s second Sweet 16 appearance as a program.
White six saves, huge penalty save
Madison White made a season-high six saves to help push Tech to a matchup against 3-seeded North Carolina with a trip to the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer quarterfinals on the line. Those six saves don’t include saving Princeton’s final penalty.
After both teams made their first three penalties but missed their fourth, Zoe Markesini was up for Princeton.
Markesini went to White’s left, but the ball went a bit closer to the middle. White almost dived too far to her left, but she made a kick save to stop it and set up Parsons’ game-winner.
White talked about her mindset before the save.
“I read her that way, I read her to my left and I went and she just hit it a little bit too inside, and I had no way to get there with my hands so I just shoved my feet out there, honestly,” White laughed. “I just went to kick at it because that’s all I could do, and that’s the only thing that would have kept the ball out of the net, so that’s what I had to do.”
Strange flow, no score
It was a strange game as Princeton outshot Texas Tech 4-3, including the only two shots on goal to that point.
Princeton then outshot Texas Tech 12-0 for most of the second half before Tech finally got a Hannah Anderson header that was on-line but saved by Princeton defenders.
Stone said adjustments are more for halftime and during the flow of a game for certain reasons, but overtime is more about reminding the team what will get them beat and what will get them on top.
In overtime, it was Texas Tech who outshot Princeton 5-0, getting more shots in the last 20 minutes than they did in the first 90, even as it didn’t result in a goal.
Tech actually had three shots in the first 31 minutes, no shots for the next 57 minutes, and then six shots in the final 22 minutes before penalties.
Stone said assistant coach Nick Hallam brings up how when the other team is doing well, the team has to be willing to suffer. He also said the team never felt rattled, even as they might have been frustrated.
Ultimately, even if it counts as a tie on the W-L-T record, it’s basically a win because the dream of a national championship is still alive.
Four teams in Lubbock
Before Friday, the John Walker Soccer Complex had never hosted the second and third rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
Stone said after their first round win Nov. 10 that everyone will have their party dress on, and it seemed like Lubbock was ready to host all four teams.
For the Tech-Princeton game, the Walker broke a facility record with 2,346 people attending the game, and it sounded like a record crowd.
Funny enough, they technically watched Tech’s first tie at home as games that go to penalties are considered ties and Tech is now 11-0-1 at the Walker in 2023, a still-marvelous achievement.
Princeton head coach Sean Driscoll praised Tech’s crowd and atmosphere and thanked everyone for their hospitality despite the tough loss. He also hated that this would be the end for seniors like Marissa Hart and Morgan Wiese, who took questions with him after the game.
It’s worth noting Driscoll’s comments because Driscoll deserves a lot of credit for being a class act even after a tough loss in so many ways. It’s also worth noting because Tech was so, so close to being on that side.
One penalty kick goes differently, one shot actually goes in for Princeton, and suddenly, it’s Texas Tech that’s picking up the pieces after the last game for White, Hannah Anderson, Kerr and the four other seniors.
Stone, who is in his 17th year as Tech’s head coach, said when you’re a coach for a long time and a father, thoughts can creep in about how devastated the players could be, which can be overwhelming.
He said they didn’t get into that frame of mind, and they stayed dialed in all the way until the end.
Tar Heels up next
The North Carolina Tar Heels have won 22 national championships. You read that right.
Out of the 41 NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer championships held, North Carolina has won 21 of them, including the very first three held. They haven’t won the title since 2012, but they made the final last year and lost to UCLA.
Stone said Friday it is an honor to get to play them. He added getting them to Lubbock as well as Alabama and Princeton was a huge deal.
“I don’t know that there could be a more exciting matchup for our fans than us to take on the perennial ACC champion, Final Four contender almost every year, in our backyard,” Stone said. “We’re glad Alabama took them to the wire so they had a tough game today, and we’re looking forward to Sunday.”
The winner will play either BYU or Michigan State in the quarterfinals. BYU and Michigan State play each other Saturday night.
It will be interesting because as much as it is, as Stone put it Thursday, “not physiologically logical” to do the turnaround, it could be harder for Tech than North Carolina because of how much more emotional Tech’s win felt.
Of course, it is the game of soccer. North Carolina is the only 3-seed to advance to the third round after the other three lost in the second round Friday to 6-seeds.
We’ll find out soon enough. The game will also be broadcast on KTXT with pregame coverage starting at 12:20 p.m. Sunday.
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