After opening conference play with a loss on the road, the TCU women's soccer team will continue Big 12 play with a game at No. 14 Texas Tech.
TCU (4-5-2) fell 2-0 to Texas a week ago. After a 45-minute weather delay, the Longhorns blanketed the Horned Frogs offense, holding TCU to just seven shots in the game.
Prior to the Texas loss, TCU played its best soccer of the season over a three-game stretch that resulted in victories over Central Arkansas and then-ranked Arkansas, as well as a tie with then-No. 14 Denver.
Texas Tech (10-1-1) played Denver earlier this season in a preseason exhibition match in Colorado that resulted in a 1-0 victory for the Red Raiders.
Tech’s most recent match ended in a scoreless tie with Oklahoma State in Stillwater last Sunday. This was the first time the Red Raiders’ offense had failed to record a goal this season.
TCU head coach Eric Bell said that the team’s practices would be more competitive in the week leading up to its showdown with Tech in order to help restore the high level that the team was performing at prior to Texas.
“Hopefully we can rebound this weekend, get some better results and just play better,” Bell said. “I think when you play better the results will be indicative of that. We didn’t play particularly well on Friday and we have to play better in order to win.”
TCU sophomore midfielder Makenzie Koch and first-year forward Michelle Prokof will lead the charge for the Horned Frog offense against Tech’s talented goalkeeper, senior Victoria Esson.
Esson, a New Zealand native, has allowed only five goals all season, and has been scored on in just three matches. She tied the Texas Tech school record for shutouts in a season with seven in 2012, and has already broken that record with nine clean sheets this season, not including the preseason shutout of Denver.
Koch and Prokof have carried the Horned Frog offense so far this season, as the two are tied for the team-lead with 13 points apiece. Koch leads the team in assists with five to go along with her four goals and Prokof leads the team in scoring with six goals.
Bell said the younger players on TCU’s roster might have struggled some with their first difficult road environment last weekend, as they played in front of a crowd of 2,800 Longhorn faithful. However, he expects his team to learn from the experience and to be more prepared moving forward.
The game will kick off at 7 p.m., Friday at the John Walker Soccer Complex in Lubbock.
