By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Freshman Kari Naerdemann made eight key saves, and junior Kalyn Pruett scored her club-leading third goal of the season to pace the Tennessee Tech soccer team to a critical 1-0 conference victory over SIU Edwardsville (4-8-3, 1-4-1).
The win ties Tech (6-5-3, 4-1-0) with the 2000 Golden Eagles for the program's best conference start through five matches. TTU is also unbeaten in nine of its last 11 contests.
"What a great win today for our program," Tech head coach Steve Springthorpe claimed. "It was a major battle out there with SIUE, and I thought both teams played well. We showed a lot of resolve to come back from a disappointing result on Friday in bouncing back today with a fantastic team effort. A lot of players had to step up. Some came off the bench and were forced into starting roles, and many of them played big time minutes to help us seal this win."
Hyped as a defensive battle featuring the top two defensive teams in the OVC in terms of goals allowed, goals against average, and save percentage, the Golden Eagles found a way to score the match's only goal, finding the back of the net in the 29th minute.
A corner off the foot of sophomore Karigan Owens made its way back post, before junior Abi Gearing's attempt ricocheted to Kalyn Pruett, who drilled it between the pipes to give Tech the 1-0 edge.
"It was definitely a great goal for us when you consider everyone was exactly where they needed to be on the corner," Springthorpe said. "It's a testament to our team knowing the importance of set pieces for us, and ultimately we found a way to scratch across a goal."
The one-score lead proved to be more than enough with the way Kari Naerdemann was playing, as the 5-foot-9 freshman matched her second most saves this season with eight stops to preserve her fifth collegiate shutout. Of the eight halts, six came in the first half, including one in the first minute that more than sparked the attention of coach Springthorpe.
"Wow what a save Kari made in the first minute. She had to make a great reaction play and did she ever," Springthorpe noted. "The shot was going inside the lower left post and Kari got down and deflected it wide. Overall I thought she was fantastic. She handled numbers in the box and her distribution and management of the game was spot on."
Across the way, senior Jennifer Pelley was forced to make two saves as Tech took advantage of its opportunities with three of its seven shots on-goal. SIUE collected 13 shots in the tilt.
TTU's victory included a pair of Golden Eagles that registered season-high minute performances. Junior Tarah Piccirilli tallied 34 minutes on the pitch, and senior Mackenzie Miller was out there for 82 minutes as part of her first start of the year.
"It was a team effort from top to bottom," Springthorpe said. "Like I said earlier, we had a lot of players step up, including Mackenzie, who gave us quality minutes in a starting role."
Tech will return home as the Golden Eagles prepare to play four of the next five in Cookeville to close out the regular season. The first in the quartet of contests will occur on Thursday, Oct. 15 with Austin Peay coming to town for a 7 p.m. CT start.
