Texas Tech Set for a Thursday Night Road Match With Battle Tested New Mexico State
Texas Tech soccer returns to action Thursday night riding the momentum of a 4–1 start and recent 2-0 shutout over SMU. Records can be deceiving sometimes, particularly in the case of 1-4 New Mexico State who have played one of the most demanding non-conference schedules in the country. Thursday marks their fifth straight contest against a Power Four opponent.
“The record’s totally misleading,” Stone said. “They’ve already played multiple Power Four teams. They played extremely well against Arizona State and had chances to equalize that game. You’re dealing with a really good coaching staff and an NCAA Tournament-level team.”
The Aggies, who have won their conference multiple times in recent years, remain a program built to contend for postseason bids. For Texas Tech, that means preparing for a team whose early struggles don’t reflect their quality.
They easily could have had a 1-1 tie going into half in that aforementioned Arizona State game on Sunday night but mishit a couple prime chances in front of goal. They created those chances on aggressive, direct play that beat the Sun Devils back line a few times. A style of play Coach Stone said presents some unique challenges for his defense.
“It’s not haphazard direct play,” Stone explained. “They train it. If they’re not getting in behind you, they’re winning the first ball or the second ball and hurting you that way. They really challenge you to double back on long service. If you fall asleep for a second, even a clearance can turn into a dangerous chance.”
A particular point of focus for Texas Tech after their one loss of the season came off just that – a long clearance.
“San Francisco’s goal that they scored was from a clearance. That was not a awesome pass. It was a beautiful clearance, and it hurt us, but we were just caught off guard. We can’t let that happen.”
Injury Updates
Texas Tech senior forward Kaitlyn Giametta announced this week that she tore her ACL. The team has been without her since game one but her post confirmed what was feared that it was indeed a season ending injury. It came only 20 minutes into the season, after she had a goal and assist to her name, so she is eligible to return next season and per her post it sounds like she plans to do just that.
Senior Chloe Japić left Thursday’s game with an injury and has since confirmed via her social media as well that this is a season ending ACL injury. Tom Stone spoke about losing Japić and who he is looking forward to seeing step up there.
“We’re pretty deep in that position with Millie, Kate and the freshman Gianna,” said Stone. “And of course, Molly’s played there quite a bit in her career so we feel pretty good about it. We don’t feel good about having to lose Japić who I think was going to be a great sixth-year senior leader, and will continue to be one, just from the sideline for now. But we do have some good depth there. We’re going to give everybody a shot to see what they can do.”
He also reiterated that Sam Courtwright is healthy and the team simply held her out for rest against SMU.
How to Watch Texas Tech vs. New Mexico State: 8pm CT on ESPN+
Texas Tech is walking in to Las Cruces to play a team that’s played a gauntlet of a schedule and is hungry for a win. Tom Stone didn’t shy away from that and expects his team to come ready to match that intensity.
“None of those things are good for us,” Stone said of playing a tested, well-coached Aggies team on the road. “We just have to be on our game to make it our night.”
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