COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech senior Brittany Rogers played
in her final regular season home game, and the Tennessee Tech
soccer team sent her out with a bang, shutting out Austin Peay in a
2-0 victory over the Govs in Ohio Valley Conference action Sunday
afternoon.
"It was a really good feeling to have Senior Day and get a win,"
Rogers said. "All of my teammates made this really special for
me."
Tech got on the board in the first half when freshman Kerri Reid
beat APSU goalkeeper Carley Newman in front of the net. Kris
Cambron and Jen Hoffman assisted the goal with a couple of passes
that set up the scoring opportunity.
In the second half it was another freshman doing the scoring for
Tech. This time it was Andrea Meloff who put a loose ball behind
Newman off of a deep free kick. It was Meloff's team-leading fifth
goal of the season.
Tech goalkeeper Kaitlyn Thacker made five saves, and posted her
second shutout of the season, and fourth of her career.
"We're definitely happy with a 2-0 victory anytime we can get it,"
Tech head coach Becky Fletcher said. "Our goal is to get better
every game, and there is some stuff that we definitely need to work
on for next weekend. Austin Peay is a quality team, and they fight.
We have a lot of respect for their program, so we'll gladly take
this victory."
Austin Peay out-shot Tech 8-7, and both teams finished with five
shots-on-goal.
"With today being Senior Day, I think it was really special for
Brit, so I'm glad that we could send her off this field with a
victory." Fletcher said.
The Golden Eagles improve to 4-9-2 on the season, and 3-1-1 in OVC
play with three conference matches left. The Golden Eagles will
play all three of those matches on the road, traveling to Eastern
Illinois (Oct. 16), Southeast Missouri (Oct. 18) and Jacksonville
State (Oct. 27).
"We like being at home, but we were on the road for the majority of
our non-conference schedule, and even though we didn't win too many
of those, I still feel like we're a road-weathered team, we know
how to go and play on the road," Fletcher said. "The travel is
going to be harder, but the girls aren't going to be scared."
Tech entered the match alone in second place in the OVC standings.
The leagues top six teams advance to the OVC tournament Nov. 5-8.
The regular season champion will host the tournament, and the top
two seeds will earn a first-round bye.
"The girls know that we're fighting for our lives in this
conference," Fletcher said. We want to finish on a better note than
we did last year."