No. 24 TCU soccer (4-1-0) dominated Little Rock Thursday night for their fourth-straight win, extending their home win streak to seven.
“I think we had a worthy opponent tonight that came in and did a really good job with making it hard for us to create goal-scoring opportunities,” head coach Eric Bell said. “I’m happy the way we responded after the half. We were able to create some more scoring opportunities and put some goals in the back of the net.”
The first half of play remained uneventful until a beautiful lob from Payton Crews created the opportunity for a 27-foot goal by junior Yazmeen Ryan. The goal was Ryan’s second of the season and the 11th of her career.
The Trojans had little answer all night for the Frogs, getting outshot 21-4 overall. Little Rock also only had 31 percent possession and no corners, compared to TCU’s 69 percent possession and six corners.
The second and third goals banged back-to-back, with a burst of speed from forward Messiah Bright. The goal was Bright’s third of the season, the second-highest on the team.
“Honestly, I try to be clear-headed, relaxed. I know just from my position, it’s my job to score the goals for my team,” Bright said. “So, I just feel like when it’s my opportunity I just have to take it and own it and go out there and succeed for everybody.”
Grace Collins recorded her first career goal just over a minute later to extend the lead to 3-0, the only first-year player this season to get her first career goal and assist in the same match.
“Well she’s figuring it out as a freshman, everyone has the transition from high school and club,” Bell said. “She started off a little bit slower than we would have anticipated, but we think she’s finding her stride right now and is in pretty good form right now.”
TCU added one more late goal in the 90th minute. Lexie Wallace scored off of an assist by Tayla Christensen to seal the 4-0 win, the first of her career.
The win brings TCU to a 4-1-0 record, outscoring opponents 13-0 since the Florida State loss to open the season. TCU outshot Little Rock 15-1 in the second half and has not been scored on in almost 400-straight minutes of play.
“We have to keep playing as a team,” Bright said. “Continue to take one game at a time. We’re already a family. Just take it a game at a time.”
The Frogs have another chance to extend the win streak Sunday against the Ohio State Buckeyes at the Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium at 7 p.m.
