Texas Tech Soccer’s Season Ended the Same Way It Started: ALL IN, Together
Texas Tech Soccer finished the season the same way they started it: ALL IN.
No player embodied that more fully than senior captain Macy Blackburn. Already the program’s all-time assist leader before her senior season even began, a two-time All-American, a future Texas Tech Hall of Famer who could have gone pro last spring but chose to return. Blackburn stayed because she wasn’t done leading. She wasn’t done captaining. She wasn’t done pouring herself into a group she believed had more to give.
“Macy probably could have left and gone and signed a contract somewhere,” head coach Tom Stone said earlier this season. “And she’s like, ‘Nope, I got work to do, I’m the captain. This is my team.’”
That standard was tied together by the motto stamped on every player’s thigh.
“We have a saying every year that’s on our thigh, and this year it was All In,” Blackburn said. “That’s something we really tried to showcase through our season, especially in tonight’s game.”
A concept that flowed through the roster. And definitely shown in the bond between two Colorado natives Peyton Parsons and Kylie Bahr, a connection formed long before Texas Tech. Parsons became emotional describing what it meant to end the year on the field together.
“We’ve played together since we were like 14 years old,” Parsons shared as she held back tears. “We knew tonight, if we wanted to give our team what we wanted, we would have to fight with everything we had… She’s worked so hard and been through so much. She’s one of my favorite people to play with.”
Their relationship, from Colorado club teammates to First-Team All-Big 12 starters at Texas Tech, reflected the same ALL INN message the team carried into the season. It wasn’t just something they stamped on their thigh. It was the way they trained, competed and showed up for one another when it mattered most.
This locker room was special, they all say it and on Friday night anyone that watched saw it.
When North Carolina finally broke through in the 58th minute, Texas Tech didn’t flinch. They gathered in remained composed and fully aware what they had left to give.
“Honestly, just keep it up. Like, we’re fine,” Blackburn said of that moment. “Goals happen. They’re a great team… but we knew that we needed to respond and get a goal. We were knocking at the door — it was coming. We were calm, composed. I was really proud of us and how we handled that.”
Texas Tech’s response came fast and furious. It started with Super Sam Courtwright saucing up a few North Carolina defenders before taking a shot that was forced out to earn a corner. From there Tech perhaps caught the 23-time defending champs a bit off guard.
“We turned off for three to five seconds on a corner kick,” said North Carolina head coach Damon Nahas. “And, you know, we talk about three to five seconds wins games.”
Instead of driving the ball directly into the box as UNC expected, the Red Raiders played a quick short ball to Peyton Parsons — a wrinkle they scored on earlier in the postseason. Parsons then slid the ball to the middle of the field, a few feet outside the box to Blackburn.
“I thought Peyton was about to cross it,” Blackburn said. “I was looking in the box… and then I look down and the ball is at my feet. Sometimes when you’re not thinking, that’s when it’s the best — your body takes over.”
Her body took over.
All In, she hammered it home. And just like that Texas Tech was tied.
The equalizer was a surprise to no one on the Tech sideline either, they fully believed it would come and fully felt they would find a winner too.
“I really did feel like we were going to win in regulation,” Stone said after they got the goal and really took control of the game for a stretch. “I thought we were the more aggressive team, the team that was getting the chances.”
Tech pushed for it, moving the ball side to side, getting Kylie Bahr and Macy Blackburn forward, and stretching a UNC team dealing with cramps and long stoppages. They kept coming because Stone had challenged them to. ALL IN.
“If you have the opportunity, in life and in sports, to give every single thing you have tonight – it’s tonight,” Stone told the team before the game. “Because we really liked our draw, we liked Monday no matter who it was, and we liked the game beyond Monday. We understood the hurdle that we were facing… it could have been the hardest game of the early draw games. So if you have a chance to give everything you have, tonight is the night.”
By the end of regulation, players on both sides were hitting the turf between whistles. Cramped, exhausted and grinding through a match that turned into a test of will. Overtime brought more of the same. UNC threatened early, but Tech held firm, absorbing pressure and finding moments to push back.
“We couldn’t have asked for a whole lot more out of our squad tonight in the regulation and the overtime than we gave,” said Stone.
Ultimately, it went to penalty kicks.
North Carolina had an early edge but Tech fought back again to equalize at 3-3 after a massive Faith Nguyen save and Taylor Zdrojewski conversion. Stone said he sensed something just before Faith Nguyen made her big save.
“I had a really strange feeling… about 10 seconds before she took that penalty, I go, ‘This is the moment.’”
Faith delivered, giving Tech a lifeline. Unfortunately the team’s final attempt failed to find the net to extend the game further but Stone didn’t hesitate to stand behind sophomore Millie Elwood taking the fifth kick.
“I’d have Millie take the fifth one again. She’s a winner… she’s going to be a great player here next year.”
Red Raider Nation Was ALL IN Too Taking Over Fort Worth
UNC head coach Damon Nahas summed up the night plainly. “Texas Tech was a worthy opponent… that was a really great competition, and they gave us everything we had.”
And Texas Tech did give everything. While Coach Stone noted this team has been a work in progress he felt he saw them play to their full potential when it mattered most.
“What people saw from our team this year was what you saw from us today. That is, we were a work in progress and this was one of our best performances of the year. A tough way to win and a brutal way to lose.”
A huge part of their push came from the crowd that turned a neutral-site second-round match into something that felt like home.
“You walked into this place that has always been enemy territory, and tonight it was a neutral site, and it’s three fourths Red Raiders,” said Stone. “The sound that erupted when Macy scored was one of the loudest sounds I’ve ever heard in a road game. We cannot be more appreciative.”
For Peyton Parsons closing her career in front of that turnout was unforgettable.
“Our fans have shown up for every big game all year… hearing them chant while we’re playing, even when we go down a goal, it just gives you a boost of confidence that people believe in you.”
Macy Blackburn, one of the greatest players in program history, saw it as a moment that captured what it meant to wear the Double T. And why it was always her dream to do so.
“The fact that we can be five hours from home and still have that many fans cheering us on… it’s incredible. It’s such an honor to play for a university that rallies behind their teams so well.”
All in on the field. All in in the stands. That’s Texas Tech Soccer.
Photo Gallery: Texas Tech vs. North Carolina NCAA Tournament Soccer
Join the conversation with other Red Raiders on the Inside The Double T forum.
Subscribe today to get the most in-depth Texas Tech sports and recruiting coverage.
Follow us on X: @RedRaiderSports
Like and follow us on Instagram @rrs_rivals & like us on Facebook.
