No. 8 TCU Opens Big 12 Play Victorious

Thursday, September 23

Fort Worth, Texas

7 PM

TCU

8-1-0, 1-0-0

Kansas

5-5-1, 0-1-0

Kansas

TCU

Messiah Bright, Grace Collins, Camryn Lancaster, Oli Pena

No. 8 TCU Opens Big 12 Play Victorious

9/23/2021 10:27:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score Box Score

Bright tallies second game-winning goal of the season

FORT WORTH – Messiah Bright's tally in the 48^th minute stood up as the game-winner as No. 8 TCU defeated Kansas 1-0 in the Big 12 opener for both teams. Lauren Kellett registered her fourth shutout of the season, making seven saves in the win.

The Rundown
TCU and Kansas played a very evenly matched first half with the Jayhawks holding a slim 7-6 shot advantage. Kansas fired off five shots on goal, all of which Lauren Kellett was there to make.

The freshman's best save of the night came in the 27^th minute. Rylan Childrens tried to clean up a bouncing ball inside the 18, firing a low shot to the far post through traffic, forcing Kellett to make a diving stop.

Messiah Bright had a couple of dangerous looks in the first half and she final cashed in just under three minutes into the second half. Grace Collins started the rush downfield, feeding a streaking Camryn Lancaster. The freshman worked through a defender, sending a perfect pass to the middle of the six yard box for an easy tap in goal for Bright and a 1-0 lead.

Lancaster and Collins both had multiple looks at making it a 2-0 game, but timely saves from the Jayhawk keeper and a crossbar kept the game within reach for Kansas.

Kansas pushed hard to get the equalizer, firing off eight shots in the final 10 minutes of play. The TCU defenders stood tall, blocking five attempts to preserve the win.

Stat of the Game
9 – TCU has won nine straight Big 12 games dating back to the 2020 campaign. TCU is unbeaten in its last 10 Big 12 contests (9-0-1) since the start of 2020.

Quotes of the Game
Head Coach Eric Bell
On the bouncing back after the loss:
"It's hard winning college soccer games. I'm pleased that we figured out a way to win a game against a worthy opponent in Kansas. We still have work to do."

On the focus for tonight's game:
"We wanted to focus on our work rate, attention to detail and movement with and without the ball. We still need to focus on those things. I don't think it was quite good enough tonight."

On the week between games:
"It was good. It gave us time to rest up and really dial in on Kansas. I thought we were really prepared from a scouting report perspective, but we need to perform a little bit better."

Notes
• TCU is now 4-3-3 in Big 12 openers since joining the league in 2012.
• TCU registered double-digit shots for the ninth time this season.
• TCU was outshot for the fourth time this season.
• TCU registered its fifth shutout of the season.
• Lauren Kellett tallied the fourth shutout of her career.
• Camryn Lancaster made her first career start.
• Messiah Bright scored her sixth goal of the season and the 28^th of her career.
• Bright collected her 10^th career game-winning goal.
• Lancaster registered her team-leading sixth assist of the season.
• Grace Collins picked up her fifth assist of the year and the 15^th of her career.
• Collins is now tied for fifth all-time in career assists (Gracie Brian, 2019-present; Ryan Williams, 2014-17; Makenzie Koch, 2012-15).
• The assist was Collins' 47^th career point moving her into 11^th all-time in program history.
• Chaylyn Hubbard, Brandi Peterson and Jenna Winebrenner played the entirety of the match.

Up Next
TCU (8-1-0, 1-0-0) wraps up a three game homestand Sunday afternoon when it hosts Baylor (5-2-3, 1-0-0) at 1 p.m. The game will be nationally televised on ESPNU.