{"id":61473,"date":"2025-11-23T07:17:42","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T07:17:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/61473\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T07:17:42","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T07:17:42","slug":"texas-tech-soccers-season-ended-the-same-way-it-started-all-in-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/61473\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Tech Soccer\u2019s Season Ended the Same Way It Started: ALL IN, Together"},"content":{"rendered":"

Texas Tech Soccer finished the season the same way they started it: ALL IN.<\/p>\n

No player embodied that more fully than senior captain Macy Blackburn. Already the program\u2019s 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\u2019t done leading. She wasn\u2019t done captaining. She wasn\u2019t done pouring herself into a group she believed had more to give.<\/p>\n

\u201cMacy probably could have left and gone and signed a contract somewhere,\u201d head coach Tom Stone said earlier this season. \u201cAnd she\u2019s like, \u2018Nope, I got work to do, I\u2019m the captain. This is my team.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

That standard was tied together by the motto stamped on every player\u2019s thigh.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a saying every year that\u2019s on our thigh, and this year it was All In,\u201d Blackburn said. \u201cThat\u2019s something we really tried to showcase through our season, especially in tonight\u2019s game.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\"Macy Blackburn | Shelby Hilliard, Red Raider Sports<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve played together since we were like 14 years old,\u201d Parsons shared as she held back tears. \u201cWe knew tonight, if we wanted to give our team what we wanted, we would have to fight with everything we had\u2026 She\u2019s worked so hard and been through so much. She\u2019s one of my favorite people to play with.\u201d <\/p>\n

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\u2019t just something they stamped on their thigh. It was the way they trained, competed and showed up for one another when it mattered most.<\/p>\n

This locker room was special, they all say it and on Friday night anyone that watched saw it. <\/p>\n

\"\"Peyton Parsons (9) and Kylie Bahr (3) versus North Carolina in NCAA Soccer Tournament <\/p>\n

When North Carolina finally broke through in the 58th minute, Texas Tech didn\u2019t flinch. They gathered in remained composed and fully aware what they had left to give.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, just keep it up. Like, we\u2019re fine,\u201d Blackburn said of that moment. \u201cGoals happen. They\u2019re a great team\u2026 but we knew that we needed to respond and get a goal. We were knocking at the door \u2014 it was coming. We were calm, composed. I was really proud of us and how we handled that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Texas Tech\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe turned off for three to five seconds on a corner kick,\u201d said North Carolina head coach Damon Nahas. \u201cAnd, you know, we talk about three to five seconds wins games.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead of driving the ball directly into the box as UNC expected, the Red Raiders played a quick short ball to Peyton Parsons \u2014 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. <\/p>\n

\u201cI thought Peyton was about to cross it,\u201d Blackburn said. \u201cI was looking in the box\u2026 and then I look down and the ball is at my feet. Sometimes when you\u2019re not thinking, that\u2019s when it\u2019s the best \u2014 your body takes over.\u201d <\/p>\n

Her body took over. <\/p>\n

All In, she hammered it home. And just like that Texas Tech was tied. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

\u201cI really did feel like we were going to win in regulation,\u201d Stone said after they got the goal and really took control of the game for a stretch. \u201cI thought we were the more aggressive team, the team that was getting the chances.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have the opportunity, in life and in sports, to give every single thing you have tonight \u2013 it\u2019s tonight,\u201d Stone told the team before the game. \u201cBecause 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\u2026 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe couldn\u2019t have asked for a whole lot more out of our squad tonight in the regulation and the overtime than we gave,\u201d said Stone.<\/p>\n

\"\"Sam Courtwright extends for a ball vs North Carolina in NCAA Soccer Tournament | Shelby Hilliard, Red Raider Sports<\/p>\n

Ultimately, it went to penalty kicks. <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a really strange feeling\u2026 about 10 seconds before she took that penalty, I go, \u2018This is the moment.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

Faith delivered, giving Tech a lifeline. Unfortunately the team\u2019s final attempt failed to find the net to extend the game further but Stone didn\u2019t hesitate to stand behind sophomore Millie Elwood taking the fifth kick.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d have Millie take the fifth one again. She\u2019s a winner\u2026 she\u2019s going to be a great player here next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Red Raider Nation Was ALL IN Too Taking Over Fort Worth<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

UNC head coach Damon Nahas summed up the night plainly. \u201cTexas Tech was a worthy opponent\u2026 that was a really great competition, and they gave us everything we had.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

A huge part of their push came from the crowd that turned a neutral-site second-round match into something that felt like home. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou walked into this place that has always been enemy territory, and tonight it was a neutral site, and it\u2019s three fourths Red Raiders,\u201d said Stone. \u201cThe sound that erupted when Macy scored was one of the loudest sounds I\u2019ve ever heard in a road game. We cannot be more appreciative.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Peyton Parsons closing her career in front of that turnout was unforgettable. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur fans have shown up for every big game all year\u2026 hearing them chant while we\u2019re playing, even when we go down a goal, it just gives you a boost of confidence that people believe in you.\u201d<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that we can be five hours from home and still have that many fans cheering us on\u2026 it\u2019s incredible. It\u2019s such an honor to play for a university that rallies behind their teams so well.\u201d<\/p>\n

All in on the field. All in in the stands. That\u2019s Texas Tech Soccer.<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: Texas Tech vs. North Carolina NCAA Tournament Soccer<\/p>\n

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