Texas Tech Defeats San Diego State 2-1 to Extend Home Unbeaten Streak

Texas Tech defeated San Diego State 2-1 on September 6, 2026, at the John Walker Soccer Complex in Lubbock, Texas. Powered by an early goal from Kylie Bahr and a decisive strike from Taylor Zdrojewski in front of over 2,800 fans, the Red Raiders extended their unbeaten home streak.

On a night featuring the debut of the Black Gladiator Patrick Mahomes Uniforms, Texas Tech secured a hard-fought home victory that marked the 125th all-time win at the John Walker Soccer Complex. The victory improved the team’s record to 49-0-1 over its last 50 matches when scoring twice. The Red Raiders also improved to 48-9-15 (.771) overall since the start of the 2023 season, moving Tech into a tie with TCU for the most wins in the Big 12 over the span.

Early Goals Set the Pace for Texas Tech

Looking to establish early momentum, a trio of senior players set the tone for the Red Raiders (3-0-3). Eleanor Hays delivered a textbook set-piece service from a perfect service that found backline teammate Kylie Bahr wide open on the doorstep. Bahr redirected a header into the left-hand corner of the net for her first career goal at the 17:17 mark, marking one of the two fastest goals of the season alongside the opening score.

RV/No. 17 Tech downs San Diego State 2-1

Playing in her 65th career match (all starts), Bahr went the full 90 minutes just a mere 72 hours after playing 82 minutes in Tech’s 1-1 draw at SMU Thursday. The goal came on her 11th career shot-on-goal, as the defender eclipsed five thousand minutes for her career. Bahr also played a pivotal role in the Red Raiders ever-important second strike when she blew past the San Diego State (3-2-1) defense, turned the corner and delivered a strong ball to sixth-year Kaitlyn Giametta whose shot was blocked by the Aztecs backline.

Milestone Strike From Taylor Zdrojewski

The rebound from the deflection fell to the ever-dangerous Taylor Zdrojewski whose first shot attempt was saved by SDSU’s Kailey Carlen before the striker buried her second attempt for career goal 30. Zdrojewski became just the sixth all-time Red Raider to reach 30 goals and moved into a tie with Kristi Patterson for fifth on the all-time goal list. Zdrojewski needs just one more shot to tie Patterson for sixth on the all-time shot list and needs 10 points to reach Patterson’s 78 career points.

Video Review and Second-Half Drama

San Diego State vs. Texas Tech Live Stream

Up 2-0 at the break, the Red Raiders nearly made it 3-0 in the 66th minute when a rising Raleigh Greason rocket eluded Carlen before clanging off the crossbar. In control and less than 20 minutes away from a clean sheet, the match turned upside down just four seconds into the 71st minute when SDSU’s Emma Fuller was yanked down by Bahr. Originally called no foul, match referee Jake Joyce went to the VAR monitor and awarded a PK to SDSU. The attempt was buried down the middle by SDSU’s Katie Senn.

Texas Tech Defeats San Diego State 2-1 to Extend Home Unbeaten Streak — Photo: fubo.tv

With the momentum, SDSU continued to surge forward forcing Tech goalkeeper Addie Todd to make a pair of comfortable saves. In the 85th minute Tech reserve Sophie Neves tallied the 18th and final shot of the game when she nearly clipped the upper corner of the net on a header. Still holding onto the one-goal lead, Tech nearly conceded its second penalty kick of the game when Joyce went back to the monitor for another VAR review this time for a potential Lauren Alvarez challenge on SDSU’s Alannah Gonzales before the replay showed Alvarez clipping a piece of the ball before contacting Gonzales, with the match ending at 2-1.

San Diego State vs. Texas Tech Highlights (9.6.26) | 2026 Big 12 Women's Soccer

Conference Standing and Historical Context

Entering the weekend matchup, San Diego State held a 3-1-1 record and was coming off a 1-1 draw at Oklahoma State on Thursday, with Naima Castro scoring for the Aztecs and Kailey Carlen making several important saves. SDSU had surrendered just two goals through five matches prior to Sunday, with both coming on penalty kicks, alongside contributions from Victoria Miller, Kendall Moore, Katie Senn, and Castro who led the scoring efforts early in the year.

With the win, Tech improved to 12-0-5 in the State of Texas since the 2024 loss to BYU and to 13-0-1 when following a loss or tie, while building on a home record that includes 29-2-6 at Walker since the natural grass surface installation and 26-1-5 in the regular season at Ft. Walker.

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