Sept. 17, 2010
Box Score
MURRAY, Ky. - With all the scoring coming in the second half, the Louisiana Tech soccer team picked up another road win, 3-1 at Murray State on Friday.
The win was Tech's sixth in-a-row, the second most in school history. The Lady Techsters improved to 8-2 on the season while Murray State fell to 1-6-2.
In the first half, both teams combined for just seven shots. However, in the second half, Tech got things going offensively and finished the game with 19 shots, 13 on goal.
"In the first half we weren't finding each other," head coach Kevin Sherry said. "We were making the wrong decisions. We were passing when we should have been shooting and shooting when we should have been passing."
Senior Kiva Gresham scored the game's first goal in the 52nd minute. Freshman Taylor Dennis took a corner kick, one of eight in the game for Tech, and Gresham headed it in the corner of the goal for her fourth of the season.
The Racers came back and scored in the 58th minute on a goal from Shauna Wicker to tie the game at 1-1.
Junior Cat Buchanan started as the Tech goalkeeper, but following the MSU goal, Sherry inserted Caitlin Updyke in goal as he felt the style of play the Racers showed matched up well with the freshman.
In the 67th minute, Olivia Lukasewich fired a shot from 25 yards out that slipped under MSU goalkeeper Tara Isbell to give Tech a 2-1 lead.
Senior Rachel King scored in the 87th minute on an assist from Gresham to put the game away and improve the Lady Techsters to 4-1 on the road.
"It was a very physical game," Sherry said. "After the game, the officials told me how he enjoyed the way we played saying, `You guys play with great sportsmanship and in the right way.' We don't only play hard but with sportsmanship and that's important to me."
MSU, who went to the NCAA Tournament last season as champions of the Ohio Valley Conference, committed 11 fouls in the match. Tech had just two.
Updyke was credited with the win for the Lady Techsters as she improved her record to 7-1, despite not recording a save.
Louisiana Tech returns after a successful 2-0 road trip to face Jacksonville State on Sunday at 2 p.m.
"This trip took a lot out of us, but psychologically we should be on a high," Sherry said. "There's a lot of ice on the legs right now, so we might have to use some of our bench, but I'm confident that we'll do a good job."
