No. 4 Texas Tech women’s soccer will aim to limit its struggles on set pieces at 9 p.m. CT Thursday against Arizona State University at the Sun Devil Soccer Stadium in Tempe, Arizona.
Tech gave up a corner kick, which is a type of set piece caused after a foul or the ball going out of bounds, against Texas Christian University on Friday. The goal allowed TCU to tie the game with 15 minutes remaining. Tech was unable to respond, and the game ended in a tie.
“We don’t get scored on set pieces very often,” said Tom Stone, Tech head coach. “Last year, or the year before, we went a whole season without giving up a corner or a set piece. So we take great pride in that.”
Stone said assistant coach Blair Quinn watches set pieces from other teams in order to help Tech prepare for its opponents.
“Blair will watch probably 50 different set pieces that they’ve run during the year,” Stone said. “So we’ve covered all our bases.”
The last goal Arizona State scored in a game was a corner kick against the University of Cincinnati on Oct. 2, according to Arizona State Athletics.
Stone also wants the team to improve on its conversion ratio. Tech has a 0.406 in shots on goal percentage while Arizona State has a ratio of 0.458.
Following its game against Arizona State, Tech will stay in Arizona in preparation for its game against the University of Arizona at 2 p.m. Sunday.