By Dylan Vazzano, Sports Information Coordinator
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – An early score and a lights out defensive effort paved the way for the Tennessee Tech soccer team as the Golden Eagles seized a 1-0 home win over Southeast Missouri amidst an overcast day at Tech Soccer Field. The shutout win marked the seventh blanking this season for the purple and gold, moving TTU into a three-way tie for the most shutouts in the OVC.
The Golden Eagles (7-5-3, 3-1-2) limited a sturdy SEMO offense to only seven shots, the third lowest output this season for a Redhawks' club that entered the tilt tops in the conference with an average of nearly 14 shots per match. SEMO (7-5-4, 1-3-3) put only two shots on-goal, both of which were gobbled up by sophomore Kari Naerdemann, who collected her 14th career shutout to move within decimals points of Carly King's (2001-04) all-time career program record of 14.7.
Offensively, Tech set the tone early with a Nora Viscek 12th-minute goal, the Budapest, Hungary native's second of the season. Viscek controlled a cross from fellow freshman Rachel Blow, who gathered in a pass from senior Abi Gearing that helped put the Golden Eagles on the board. Both Blow and Gearing notched their first assists of the season.
"We kind of live and die by defending and today it was big for us to get an early goal, which is something we've been trying to accomplish lately," TTU head coach Steve Springthorpe said. "We were able to get some breathing room with the early goal and then defended pretty well for the rest of the first half. Going into the second, I was a little concerned that we'd come out and be too defensive minded, but frankly we created more goal scoring opportunities in the second half."
After being outshot 6-5 in the first 45 minutes of action, Tech flipped the script with a 9-1 shot discrepancy in the match's final stanza. Six Golden Eagles tallied at least two shots in the affair, led by junior Karigan Owens' three.
TTU nearly doubled up its margin in the 70th minute after freshman Dani Shartouny's blistering shot banged right off the post, one of two Shartouny attempts in 28 minutes on the pitch.
SEMO junior goalkeeper Kindra Lierz registered five saves in the match, while senior Natasha Minor led the Redhawks' offensive charge with four shots, all of which occurred in the first half.
The win moves the Golden Eagles to an impressive 5-1-1 at home this season, highlighted by a perfect 3-0-0 conference record in Cookeville.
"We've played well at home and obviously the record indicates it," Springthorpe said on his group's stellar play at Tech Soccer Field. "I think between being comfortable playing in front of your own fans and on grass has been great for us. At the same time, we have to find ways to get wins on the road. You just have to be able to do that in this conference. That will be the challenge for us Sunday when we go to Martin."
Tech's Sunday battle with the Skyhawks is slated to get underway at 1 p.m. CT.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
