By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech soccer team is heading to the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament semifinals, securing a first round bye by virtue of Thursday night's 1-0 win over Morehead State in the regular season finale. The victory clinches the No. 2 seed in the field of six, giving the Golden Eagles (8-7-4, 6-3-1) their first second place OVC regular season finish since 2000.
"It's amazing," simply put by head coach Steve Springthorpe, who sends the program to its second conference tourney semifinals in the last 13 years with the team's first overall regular season winning record since 2004. "It was a magical night for our team and I'm excited for our administration and everyone that's put the work in the last year to make this happen. What a great moment for our program."
Adding to a program record for conference wins in a season, Tech notched number six with yet another stellar defensive effort and a timely Abi Gearing goal in the 56th minute. After a Morehead State (8-10-2, 5-4-1) foul inside the box on an attempt by Taylor Sutton, Gearing set up for a penalty kick and a chance to break the scoreless tie.
Cool, calm, and collected, the 5-foot-9 junior buried it into the back of the net for her fourth goal of the season, a new team high.
"It's awesome and we're all super excited," Gearing claimed on the prospects of heading to the conference tournament semifinals. "It just makes all of the time here worth it. We get to go to the OVC Tournament and I'm pumped."
Defensively, Tech limited the Eagles, who came into the match with an OVC-leading 241 shots this season, to just nine total attempts. Freshman Kari Naerdemann collected her seventh shutout of the year, the second most in a single season in Tech history.
"The defense has carried us from the very first day," Springthorpe said on another lights out effort. "When you give up 53 goals in one season, the first place it's got to start is defense. It's the whole team that's been a part of the success though, not just the back four. From the goalkeeper all the way up to the forwards. Defending is the key. It's what we do and we take a lot of pride in it, and we did that tonight with another shutout."
Morehead senior Kaitlyn Murphy made two saves in between the pipes, while fellow senior Kelsey Gomez pushed the Eagles to a team save after the 5-foot-6 defender headed away a Mackenzie Miller strike in the 21st minute that appeared destined to break the scoreless tie. Miller started her second match of the season, playing 70 minutes on the pitch.
Sophomore Zoie Hensely led the Golden Eagles with two shots, two off the pace of Morehead's Dani Wilson's match-high four.
Tech will now enjoy a lengthy layoff, waiting to discover its semifinals' opponent after Sunday's first round matchups conclude. The Golden Eagles will play their first OVC Tournament match on Friday, Nov. 6 at Murray State, site of the top-seeded and host, Racers.
