By Dylan Vazzano, Sports Information Coordinator
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – After taking care of business with back-to-back wins to christen Ohio Valley Conference play, the Tennessee Tech soccer team hits the road for the first time in its conference campaign as the Golden Eagles travel to Morehead State Sunday for a battle with the Eagles. Tech's only match of the week is slated to begin at noon CT.
The Golden Eagles (6-4-1, 2-0-0) started 2-0 in the OVC with home nods over Jacksonville State and Belmont in the conference's initial weekend of the season, marking the second consecutive season that TTU has won its first two OVC matches. In fact, the back-to-back 2-0 starts is the first occurrence for the program since 2001-02.
The Golden Eagles also joined Eastern Kentucky and SIU Edwardsville as the only three schools to make it out of the conference's opening weekend at 2-0.
The defense helped set the tone with Tech surrendering only one goal in the pair of tilts, highlighted by a Sunday shutout of Belmont in a match that saw just one Bruin shot on-goal. The blanking was the fifth of the season for the Golden Eagles, a mark that puts them in third in the conference while TTU also finds itself in the top three in the OVC in goals allowed (9) and goals against average (0.79).
Offensively, Tech collected four goals in the two matches, using two rapid second-half scores in Friday's affair with Jacksonville State to showcase the club's resiliency after falling behind moments earlier. The Gamecocks broke a scoreless deadlock with a goal in the 57th minute, but the Golden Eagles responded immediately with goals in the 61st and 64th minutes.
Junior Karigan Owens brought Tech even with her third goal of the season, a bending shot off of a corner that squared the contest at 1-1. Moments later Owens was at it again, this time assisting on a goal headed home by senior Kalyn Pruett to give the Golden Eagles the lead for good.
Owens wrapped up Friday's match with three points, the third time this season that the La Grange, Ky. native has had at least three points in a contest after posting a pair of four-point efforts in wins over Mercer (Aug. 28) and Middle Tennessee (Sep. 9). The 5-foot-9 junior's seven assists is by far and away the leader in the OVC with a four-assist cushion on the next closest player, and her 13 points puts Owens in third in the conference.
Sunday's victory over Belmont featured the first career goal by freshman Kaitie Shipley, who became the eighth different Golden Eagle this season to split the pipes. Shipley's score came in her first match since Aug. 28 after the Barrie, Ont., Canada native had been sidelined a few weeks due to an injury.
Tech leads the all-time series, 10-8-2, with Morehead State, which includes last season's 1-0 victory in the regular season finale in Cookeville that clinched a second-place OVC finish for the Golden Eagles.
