The Kansas State soccer team will host the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Friday at the K-State Soccer Complex.
The Wildcats have faced four Big 12 opponents this season, and have lost all four of those matches. They most recently lost 2-0 to the Kansas Jayhawks last Friday.
The Red Raiders sit at 2-2-1 in conference play and are coming off a 1-0 win against Oklahoma State.
K-State has never defeated a Big 12 opponent at the K-State Soccer Complex— they are 0-7-0 all time at home against conference teams. K-State is also looking for its first home win since defeating Drake 1-0 on August 23rd.
After the poor performance in the loss to Kansas, the Wildcats have been very focused this week to bounce back and finally put up that first “W” in the conference win-loss record.
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Wildcats shutout for third straight game, fall to Kansas 0-2
Sophomore forward Hannah Davis said that the loss to in-state rival Kansas has led to more competitive practices this week.
“We have all been going at each other, we know that we need to come out and play hard this weekend,” Davis said Wednesday morning. “Especially after how we lost to Kansas, that was hard. This week we have had very competitive practices, that’s helping us get ready for Texas Tech.”
Head coach Mike Dibbini believes the team could turn the rest of its season around with a win on Friday.
“Their desire is still there, we are progressing and playing really well. We’re just not getting the result that we want,” Dibbini said on Wednesday. “It’s a sign of a team knocking on the door. The girls are just itching to find a way to get a win. A win on Friday could give us confidence and we could control our destiny the rest of the way in conference play.”
The Big 12 is a competitive league for women’s soccer this year — eight teams, excluding K-State and Iowa State, have at least two conference wins. That makes achieving the first conference win of 2018 easier said than done for K-State.
Dibbini knows that.
“Texas Tech is another challenging team, there isn’t a single easy win for the rest of the year,” he said. “They present a lot of dynamic offense, they are a difficult opponent to defend for 90 minutes.”
K-State’s bid for its first win in nearly a month will begin at 6 p.m. Friday. The match will stream on ESPN3, and can broadcast on 101.5KROCK in Manhattan. Live stats can be followed at kstatesports.com
