Skip to: COVID, injuries 2020-22; then, everyone stepped up in 2023 | The 2023 players | Stone and his staff | Won’t forget, can’t forget
The expectation for Texas Tech soccer in 2023 was to make the NCAA Tournament, a place only five of them had played minutes in before; three as Red Raiders, two on other teams.
In 2019, Madison White, Hannah Anderson and Penelope Mulenga were freshmen starting for Texas Tech soccer in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Pepperdine at the John Walker Soccer Complex.
Anderson hung in on the backline while Mulenga scored one from outside the box to get the game’s first goal 4:17 in as the Red Raiders had a 2-0 lead early.
They lost that lead as White gave up two goals, but that probably had more to do with the onslaught Pepperdine put on her as she faced 20 shots and 13 on goal.
TopDrawerSoccer named her Goalkeeper of the Week as White saved 11 of them to at least keep it to 2-2 and saved the last two penalties from Pepperdine to help Tech escape into the second round.
All three of them played the full 90 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime that day. They even played the full 90 minutes in the 3-2 second-round loss to Michigan in, of all places, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
If you immediately told those three freshmen Tech would be a No. 2-seed during their senior year, they might think it’s reasonable. Thing is, they probably wouldn’t have thought it would come after three straight years of missing the tournament, and they probably wouldn’t have realized that 2023 was their new senior year because of COVID-19.
Although this season ended in the Sweet 16 Nov. 19 in Lubbock to the North Carolina Tar Heels, it should be remembered as a moment that Texas Tech fans, as well as the players and coaches themselves, can look back to as this program grows.
Texas Tech head coach Tom Stone talks to his team after losing to North Carolina in the third round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament on Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023 at the John Walker Soccer Complex. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech’s Alex Kerr dribbles the ball down the field in a third round matchup against North Carolina in the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament on Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023 at the John Walker Soccer Complex. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech’s Sam Courtwright squares up a corner kick during a third round matchup against North Carolina in the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023 at the John Walker Soccer Complex. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech’s Ashleigh Williams and North Carolina’s Emerson Elgin chase after a ball Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, during a matchup in the third round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament at the John Walker Soccer Complex. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech’s Taylor Zdrojewski kicks a pass behind North Carolina’s Savy King during a third round matchup in the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023 at the John Walker Soccer Complex. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech head coach Tom Stone claps during the player introductions ahead of Texas Tech and North Carolina’s Round of 16 game Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, in the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament at the John Walker Soccer Complex. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech head coach Tom Stone talks to his team after losing to North Carolina in the third round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023 at the John Walker Soccer Complex. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
North Carolina’s Maycee Bell takes a header as Texas Tech’s Gisselle Kozarski and North Carolina’s Kate Faasse wait to see where it lands in a third round matchup in the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023 at the John Walker Soccer Complex. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech’s Kylie Bahr kicks a pass to a teammate during a match against North Carolina in the third round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament on Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023 at the John Walker Soccer Complex. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
North Carolina’s Savy King goes down for a slide tackle as Texas Tech’s Elise Anderson braces herself Tech and UNC’s third round in the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023 at the John Walker Soccer Complex. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech’s Sam Courtwright looks downfield after kicking a pass during a third round matchup against North Carolina in the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023 at the John Walker Soccer Complex. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech’s Gisselle Kozarski fields a pass during a matchup against North Carolina in the third round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023 at the John Walker Soccer Complex. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech’s Kylie Bahr sneaks the ball around North Carolina’s Emily Moxley during the third round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023 at the John Walker Soccer Complex. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech’s Madison White kicks a ball back towards midfield during a third round matchup Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, at the John Walker Soccer Complex against North Carolina in the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech’s Alex Kerr and North Carolina’s Maycee Bell look downfield after Bell’s pass during their third round in the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023 at the John Walker Soccer Complex. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech’s Kylie Bahr jumps up to avoid tripping over North Carolina’s Maycee Bell’s leg during a third round match in the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament on Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023 at the John Walker Soccer Complex. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech’s Kylie Bahr and North Carolina’s (from L to R) Maycee Bell, Talia Dellapuerta and Emily Moxley race after a ball during a third round matchup in the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023 at the John Walker Soccer Complex. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech’s Skylar Haase and Gisselle Kozarski hug a teammate after losing to North Carolina in the third round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023 at the John Walker Soccer Complex. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech head coach Tom Stone talks to his team after losing to North Carolina in the third round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023 at the John Walker Soccer Complex. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech’s Madison White hugs Chloe Soto after losing to North Carolina in the third round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023 at the John Walker Soccer Complex. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech head coach Tom Stone hugs Gisselle Kozarski after losing to North Carolina in the third round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament on Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023 at the John Walker Soccer Complex. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Texas Tech’s “Wreck ‘Em” catchphrase displayed on the back of Penelope Mulenga’s jersey, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023 at the John Walker Soccer Complex. (Photo by Andrew Watters)
Thanksgiving might be over, but it’s worth being thankful that we got to watch Tech soccer’s ride in 2023.
Their final record was 16-2-5, good for both their first 16-win season and Sweet 16 appearance since 2014. It was also just the second time they only lost twice (2013).
This year was a record-breaking one for home wins and home record as they played on real grass at the Walker for the first time (11-1-1, 10-0-0 in the regular season), and it also included their first ever Big 12 regular season title.
The 1-0 loss Nov. 19 was in spite of five saves from White. UNC’s lone goal was from Bella Sember off the assist from ACC Midfielder of the Year Ally Sentnor on a play that was perfectly executed from the pass to the hard shot in the upper right corner, out of White’s reach. BYU gave up three goals to the same team Friday in the quarterfinals, although they did improbably come back to make the Women’s College Cup.
Tech didn’t have a single shot on goal for the first time all year, and it was the third game in the last four that they didn’t score once. They had scored at least once in the previous 19 games of the season.
Senior Alex Kerr seemed to have the best opportunity when sophomore Kylie Bahr gave her a great through ball, but with 13 minutes left, Kerr put it a bit high. It was one of the few times Tech got around Savy King, UNC’s freshman center back that always seemed there when they needed her.
Maybe with sophomore right back Macy Blackburn healthy, a goal could’ve been found with more opportunities. She was second in the nation in assists when she tore her ACL and missed the final eight games Tech played, but even then, it’s hard to say as the rest of the team pretty much stayed healthy, and it’s not like they lost their best goal-scorers, either.
Besides, it didn’t stop Tech from getting the Big 12 regular season title and pushing to a No. 2-seed. Even with Blackburn as good as she is, Tech’s player availability was a much bigger obstacle the past three years.
COVID, injuries 2020-22; then, everyone stepped up in 2023
Post-2019, Tech soccer had everything they didn’t expect come at them.
Mulenga got hurt in 2020 and didn’t play all year as COVID-19 rocked the team because they just couldn’t ever put a consistent 11 together. White missed the only three games she’s ever missed as a Red Raider since her very first appearance in 2019, and the team couldn’t overcome everything that happened as they went 5-6-2 for their first losing record since 2008, Stone’s second season.
2021 was an off-year as well, even with Racing Louisville FC’s first-round pick Kirsten Davis becoming an All-American and Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year for the second time. Mulenga was back in a lower role while others, for various reasons, just didn’t come back the same as they missed the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year, something that hadn’t happened at Tech since their first appearance in 2012.
2022 saw an injury to a young Macy Blackburn that instantly put the team back, and it was hard replacing Davis and other former Big 12 first teamers like Cassie Hiatt and Jordie Harr. They missed the NCAA Tournament for a third straight year, but there were silver linings.
They seemed to turn the season around after a 2-0 loss to Texas where defensive gaffes gave one of the best players in the country, Trinity Byars, two of her easiest collegiate goals.
Tech didn’t lose another game until the first round of the Big 12 Championship, racking up five wins and two draws in Big 12 play to rally and finish tied for second place. In hindsight, that was one of the biggest moments for what happened this year, especially as they lost just two seniors in co-captain midfielder Charlotte Teeter and defender Sierra Jones.
The 2023 players
2023 was a much healthier year for Texas Tech, but still, what happened to bring Tech from out of the tournament to a No. 2-seed and a Sweet 16 run?
Sam Courtwright became one of the best freshmen in the country as a midfielder on her way to five goals, eight assists, the All-Big 12 First Team and Big 12 Freshman of the Year.
Time will tell how good she can be, but people like her make the future look as bright as ever. What she did with the ball time after time was tremendous and helped put Texas Tech in great situations, and knowing she has three years left can only be more exciting. Maturity will only help her grow into an even better player and consistent presence as one of the best in the country.
She was joined in the midfield by Jillian Martinez, who got healthy after 2022 and never let go of her holding midfielder spot. The versatile Molly Skurcenski found her position and started every single game, and Gisselle Kozarski was a dangerous attacking midfielder all year long in her final ride as a Red Raider with some of her best performances in the last few games Tech won.
Kylie Bahr got more involved on offense, Cassie Taylor made huge defensive stops all year as she prepares for it to be her backline, and they welcomed Blackburn back to her spot on the last line. Her 11 assists were just two short of breaking the Texas Tech assist record before she missed what turned out to be the last eight games with a torn ACL. It’s hard to imagine she wouldn’t have broken the record set by Alli Murphy in 2014.
The Big 12 voters still rightfully awarded her an All-Big 12 First Team spot, even as Elise Anderson had to start the final eight games and fill in the spot as well as you could ever ask. Blackburn’s 11 assists put her up to 23 in her career, good for sole possession of fourth place all-time among Red Raiders.
Of course, it wouldn’t have been the elite defense is was without Hannah Anderson. There were 96 Texas Tech soccer games played in her five years, and she played and started all 96 of them, even during her freshman year and the COVID 2020.
Not only did she start every Tech soccer game in five years; she hardly came off the field as she averaged slightly over 90 minutes a game. That’s a Red Raider even if you don’t mention her three game-winning headers in 2023, one of which Tech should never forget.
She grew into the All-Big 12 First Team her last two years and Big 12 Defender of the Year in 2023, and more is coming for her after Texas Tech.
Macy Schultz transferred to Arkansas to leave a spot open at forward, so what did Tech do? They got Alex Kerr, an underutilized fifth-year senior with 12 career goals in four years at Vanderbilt, and let her run wild. She put up 11 goals this season, including a hat trick, four Big 12 goals and Tech’s lone NCAA Tournament goal.
The other forward, Ashleigh Williams, decided leading the team with nine goals like she did in 2022 wasn’t enough, so she matched that in five games, including her second career hat trick, and finished the year with 14.
Her 14 goals put her among the greats for both a season and a career (31 total). Only Kristy Frantz, Janine Beckie and Kirsten Davis are ahead of her in either of those lists, and not even they ever had seven game-winning goals in a season like Williams did this year. Only one other great, Jessica Fuston, has ever had at least two career hat tricks at Texas Tech.
Maybe the most notable individual achievements came from goalkeeper Madison White. Gibbs Keeton worked with her for four years and helped make her into one of the best in the country, but with him gone to UTEP and new goalkeepers coach Blair Quinn in town, she expanded her game even more.
Her defense helped her job become easier, of course, but she deserves credit for the second-best goals-against average (GAA) in a year in Tech history at .474, far and away ahead of anyone in the Big 12 and tied for sixth in the nation at this moment. She didn’t have to make many saves in 2023, but when it came her way, she led the Big 12 and was No. 15 in the nation in save percentage (.867).
She broke the Tech career record for shutouts held by Tori Esson, who made history in the FIFA Women’s World Cup by having a clean sheet as New Zealand got their first ever win in the tourney. Her 39 shutouts might not be broken because of the circumstances and how well she performed. Her 13 shutouts this season is tied for the best in the country as I write this, and it helped her earn Big 12 Goalkeeper of the Year.
Her .759 GAA for her career ended up being about three thousandths (.003) behind Esson’s .756, and Tech considers them both tied for second place at .76.
None of this even gets into what the subs did off the bench, like Chloe Soto (Big 12 All-Freshman), Peyton Parsons, Kaitlyn Giametta, Taylor Zdrojewski, Lauren Woodruff and others not named, and they stepped up in ways that this team had to have to accomplish what they did.
The team was so deep and so good that Mulenga went from likely seeing a big role to only seeing seven minutes of action after Sept. 3, a development I’m not sure anyone expected.
Tech never had seven Big 12 nominees, including the five All-Big 12 First Team selections, until this year. Considering the names I’ve had to mention because of the record books, that’s an amazing feat for this year’s group of Red Raiders.
Stone and his staff
Tom Stone ended up doing things he had never done before in his 17th season as Tech’s head coach.
Before this year, he loved the environment at the John Walker Soccer Complex, but he hadn’t gotten to coach Tech home games on real grass, and he hadn’t seen 2,558 people there before. He also never had 11 home wins before, and he never had an undefeated regular season home record.
He made the Sweet 16 once, but no second and third round games were hosted at Tech before 2023. He had a Big 12 tournament title from 2015, but he didn’t win the Big 12 regular season title until this year.
Until 2023, he never had a 2-seed in the NCAA Tournament, and he never had seven All-Big 12 nominees and four individual award winners, including his Big 12 Coach of the Year award.
With all the success, maybe the most important thing is he had fun coaching this team, even as they had so many unforgettable moments on the field.
Stone said leaders like Hannah Anderson and White were instrumental in this team being such an enjoyable one to coach.
“It was just a joy every day to fly out of bed and coach these guys,” Stone said, “and they self-regulated things that didn’t have to become coaches’ issues. Leadership was fantastic. It doesn’t hurt when you’re winning, but you’ve seen teams winning that don’t get along or aren’t fun to travel with where you’re like, ‘Oh gosh, another road trip.’ These guys weren’t like that.
“They were really fun. Easily, and we’ve been to the Sweet 16 twice, but easily the most fun that I’ve ever had here, not because the other teams weren’t fun, but this team was just unique in that way. Loose, I mean loose and fun and not tight and not uptight.”
He also credited assistants Nick Hallam and Blair Quinn. Hallam is in his fifth year at Tech while Quinn is the new goalkeepers coach after Gibbs Keeton left to be the head coach at UTEP.
Stone even talked about the relationships he hopes lasts forever, and he said it’s fun to invest in them as they move on in their careers.
Oh, and he said White and Hannah Anderson better leave him some tickets for whatever pro team they end up playing for.
Won’t forget, can’t forget
Moments like the ones Tech soccer had can’t be taken for granted.
By the seeds, Tech should have been in Friday’s quarterfinal in a rematch with BYU in Provo, Utah.
Of course, you could argue North Carolina should have held on to their 3-0 lead when they played BYU in it. UCLA should have been in the Women’s College Cup this weekend to defend their national title, but losing in the first round to UC Irvine for the second time in three years stopped those dreams.
Then again, the Nov. 17 win in penalties over Princeton came down to such small margins, including White’s magnificent save and Parsons putting in the final penalty in front of what was a record crowd at the Walker until Nov. 19.
To bring it to Texas Tech’s other programs, volleyball isn’t what it once was. They’re rebuilding after losing so much, but it can be hard to watch a team only have four Big 12 wins after they made the NCAA Tournament two years ago, even if it is a Big 12 with seven NCAA Tournament teams this year.
Men’s basketball was in the national title game in 2019 and is on their second new head coach since then. The first new head coach since then got them to the Sweet 16, but scandal rocked the program and Mark Adams resigned for a buyout. Even if Grant McCasland is the right hire and makes sure this team doesn’t quit (see Thursday’s comeback), it won’t be an overnight turn.
Women’s basketball won the national title in 1993 and stayed relevant under Marsha Sharp for over a decade afterward, but since Sharp’s resignation in 2006, they haven’t been the same. Krista Gerlich is trying to rebuild them even as two of their projected starters went down before the season. Her team is showing big flashes this year, but it’s still a process.
And as we talk about fútbol, football is a sore spot for Tech fans sometimes. Joey McGuire became the second head coach in Tech football history to make a postseason game in each of his first two years. Of course, some Tech fans might be hung up on what happened Friday as they probably won’t get to answer the 50-point loss to Texas for at least a decade.
Baseball has been great to the point the expectations rose and fans are clamoring for Tech’s first Men’s College World Series since 2019. Even with a program like Tech baseball, they still have low points; Stone told the media he used to not complain about soccer’s 2020 season because baseball’s 2020 was more painful than theirs (Tech baseball was No. 3 in the country before their season was cut short after 19 games).
What does that mean? These moments must be cherished. Most seasons end with a loss. It usually doesn’t take until the best 16 teams are decided.
Every program at Tech, whether short-term or long-term, is trying to get back to their peak and exceed it, hopefully with a national title one day.
This team gave us hope of one, even if they couldn’t find a way in the end.
Although they lost eight days ago, I’m still trying to process how the season felt getting to watch them from the start of the year, and I didn’t play for them. After the match, Hannah Anderson said it might take her a bit to reflect on a season like this.
She and White said they think they have set a new standard and put Texas Tech on the map in women’s college soccer.
As they start their professional careers soon (NWSL draft Jan. 12), they’ll have to watch others lead the way in scarlet and black to see if they’re right.
Loading ...