The Texas Tech soccer team’s season came to an end Monday night in San Antonio in heartbreaking fashion.
The Red Raiders lost a play-in game for the eighth and final seed in the Big 12 Conference tournament against Kansas 5-4 in penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw through 110 minutes of regulation and sudden-death overtime play.
“Winning on penalty kicks is tough,” said Tech coach Tom Stone. “Losing in penalty kicks is brutal. I’ve never seen the team more gutted than they were (Monday). It shows they put everything they had into the game.”
Because the play-in game ended after a draw through two sudden-death overtime periods, it officially goes into the Big 12 record books as a 1-1 draw, making Tech’s final record 8-8-4 and 3-4-4 in Big 12 play, including the play-in game.
With the win, No. 8 Kansas advanced to the quarterfinal round of the tournament where it will meet No. 1 seed Missouri Wednesday.
The Red Raiders failed to qualify for at least the eighth seed in the tournament for the first time in Stone’s three years at Tech.
Kansas took an early 1-0 lead on a goal by Whitney Berry 19 minutes into the match.
However, Tech midfielder Tiffini Smith evened the score just 30 seconds later on a shot from 25 yards out.
From that point, both teams went scoreless through the second half and into overtime despite great opportunities for both sides.
In the third minute of overtime, Kansas’ Monica Dolinsky’s shot hit the crossbar while Tech had several shots blocked.
Tech goalkeeper Colleen Pitts had one save and one goal against through 110 minutes of play, but could not stop any of Kansas’ five shooters through the Jayhawks’ penalty kicks.
Kansas’ keeper Kat Liebetrau made nine saves through the 110 minutes, but her biggest save of the night came against Tech midfielder Maggie Fete — Tech’s fifth shooter — after allowing scores on Tech’s first four shots. Fete’s penalty kick goal would have sent the game into a sixth round of the penalty kick shootout.
The play-in game was the first of its kind in Big 12 soccer history.
A 2-0 Tech loss to Colorado Friday allowed Kansas and Baylor into a three-way tie for seventh place. The Big 12 broke the tie through a complex step-by-step procedure awarding Baylor the seventh seed in the tournament. The conference also awarded Kansas the eighth seed in the tournament Friday night, but reversed its decision Saturday when it determined the language of the tiebreaker rules was ambiguous and gave both Tech and Kansas valid claims for the eighth-seed berth.
Tech players were unavailable for comment after Monday’s game.
Despite the disappointment, the Red Raiders suffered Monday, Stone considers the 2009 season a success. It’s the first time a Tech team finished with a non-losing record since the 1998 season — a feat he attributes to the seniors on the roster.
“We’ve taken a big step forward in the Big 12,” Stone said. “No one was out of our reach. We proved we could play with anybody and the players won’t ever forget how they felt (Monday night). The future is bright or us.”
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