By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Armed with one of its best seasons in program history, the Tennessee Tech soccer team is headed to the OVC Tournament for the first time since 2009, the eighth postseason trip in team history. The Golden Eagles (8-7-4, 6-3-1) have captured one conference tourney title, winning it all back in 2000.
Having already secured a first round bye behind a second place OVC regular season finish, the first since 2000, Tech scoots straight to the semifinals where they will lock up with No. 6 Southeast Missouri on Friday, Nov. 6 at 11 a.m. CT. Both semifinal matches, as well as the championship tilt on Sunday, will be played at Cutchin Field, home of the top seed and host Murray State Racers.
The playoff battle with the Redhawks (8-5-7, 3-2-5) will be broadcast live on the OVC Digital Network. CLICK HERE TO WATCH. Live stats will be provided as well. CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW.
The Golden Eagles punched their ticket as the No. 2 seed thanks to a 1-0 win over Morehead State in the regular season finale on Thursday, Oct. 29. Scoreless ten minutes into the second half, junior Abi Gearing connected on a penalty shot in the 56th minute, providing the only goal of the contest that clinched a regular season winning record for the first time since 2004.
Gearing enters the postseason as the Tech leader with four goals and 11 points, accumulating all four scores and all 11 points in conference play. Sophomore Karigan Owens had similar success in conference action, rattling off two goals and four assists throughout TTU's 10 OVC affairs. Overall, Owens collected five assists on the year, a mark that put the La Grange, Ky. native in a tie for fifth in the conference.
The shutout victory over Morehead was the seventh Tech blanking of the season, the most shutouts for a Golden Eagle squad since 2001, a year that saw a record nine. This season's stingy TTU defense yielded less than two goals in 15 of the club's 19 matches, having surrendered more than two scores in just one contest this season.
Tech finished its OVC campaign tied with Murray State for the least amount of goals allowed with seven in 10 conference matches, while the Golden Eagles' 0.68 goals against average in OVC play was the lowest in the 11-team league.
Freshman goalkeeper Kari Naerdemann capped off the entire regular season in second in the conference with a .857 save-percentage, second with a 0.83 goals against average, and tied for first with seven shutouts.
One of Naerdemann's seven shutouts came against Southeast Missouri, a scoreless draw in Cape Girardeau, Mo. on Oct. 25 that clinched Tech a berth in the OVC Tournament. The match saw SEMO outshoot the Golden Eagles 11-4, 5-3 in the shots on-goal department. Overall, the Redhawks lead the all-time series, 12-5-2.
Southeast Missouri makes its way to Murray after a thriller in the tournament's first round on Sunday, one that needed a shootout at Jacksonville State after the Redhawks and Gamecocks finished regulation and both overtimes tied at 1-1. After three straight stops and a miss, sophomore Paige Blankenheim put the Redhawks up 3-2 with a score, the shootout's eventual final.
SEMO's lone goal in the contest came in the 37th minute behind sophomore Maddy Cornell's first career score, a net-finder that squared up the match after JSU found the back of the net a mere three minutes prior.
Sophomore goalkeeper Kindra Lierz made five saves in the tilt, adding to the Springfield, Mo. native's 76 halts in 19 matches this season. Lierz sports a .809 save-percentage and a 0.93 goals against average.
From an offensive perspective, junior Angie Mann leads the SEMO attack with eight goals and 17 points, ranking inside the top five in goals and top 10 in points in the OVC.
The TTU-SEMO winner will lock up with the No. 5 Morehead State-No. 1 Murray State victor, the day's second semifinal. The championship match is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 8 at 1 p.m. CT. The Golden Eagles defeated Morehead State 1-0 in the regular season finale on Oct. 29. Tech fell to Murray State, 2-1, on Oct. 18.
