By Dylan Vazzano, Sports Information Coordinator
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Tennessee Tech soccer team had its hands full Sunday afternoon, running up against a solid Evansville attack in a 7-0 loss to close out the season's non-conference action. The Golden Eagles (2-7-0) couldn't overcome a five-goal second half by the Purple Aces, (7-3-2) who ran away with the contest after scoring three times in the second period's first 11 minutes.
Evansville's stellar freshmen tandem of Olivia Shafer and Nicki Baham combined for five goals in the match, with Shafer recording a hat trick to help push the Purple Aces to their third consecutive win and fifth straight shutout.
After sophomore Bronwyn Boswell christened the scoring with her fourth goal of the season in the 20th minute, Shafer went to work with a 33rd minute score, aided off an Emily Richardson assist, one of two in the match for the sophomore mid-fielder.
Leading 2-0 at the break, the Purple Aces came out swinging in the second half thanks in large part to the play of the aforementioned Shafer, who found the back of the net twice in the span of just three minutes after an Abby Springer goal in the 49th minute gave Evansville a 3-0 lead. Shafer's string of two-straight goals came in the 54th and 57th minutes, essentially putting the game on ice with the Purple Aces now on top 5-0.
Nicki Baham padded the advantage with a pair of late scores, splitting the pipes in both the 71st and 87th minutes to cap off the Evansville scoring at 7-0. Baham received a pass from sophomore Laura Minor, before sending one in the lower right of the net for her first goal, while the second one came off of a breakaway.
The seven-goal attack came on 25 shots, 11 of which were on-goal, while the Golden Eagles managed four shots, three of which were on-point.
Sophomore Whitney Biggs and junior Simone Busby teamed up to keep Tech off the board with three combined saves in the match, while senior Rebecca Toler made two halts and allowed six scores in 75 minutes on the pitch, and sophomore Allison Barlow made two saves and surrendered one goal in 15 minutes of action.
TTU will set its sights on the beginning of conference play, traveling to Murray State on Sep. 26 for the team's next match. Kickoff is slated for 3 p.m. CT.
