By Dylan Vazzano, Sports Information Coordinator
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – As the 2016 regular season nears its conclusion, the Tennessee Tech soccer team will say its final goodbyes in Cookeville as the Golden Eagles will have their last two home matches over the weekend. On Friday at 3 p.m. CT, Tech will host SIUE, before concluding its regular season home slate with a 1 p.m. Sunday start time against Eastern Illinois.
Sunday's match with the Panthers is Senior Day as the Golden Eagles will honor their five seniors, Abi Gearing, Kalyn Pruett, Julia Rebollo, Marissa Rouse and Emily Williams, along with team manager, Paige Overstreet, with a special pre-match ceremony moments before first kick. Both weekend matches will also be broadcast live on the Golden Eagle Sports Network via the Ohio Valley Conference Digital Network. Click here to watch.
Tech (8-5-3, 4-1-2) is on the precipice of officially clinching a spot in the OVC Tournament following last weekend's stellar showcase that saw the Golden Eagles capture a pair of wins. TTU downed Southeast Missouri, 1-0, on Oct. 14 for the club's league-leading seventh shutout of the season, before securing a thrilling 2-1 win at UT Martin on Oct. 16 to tie a ribbon on the perfect weekend. Tech currently sits in fourth place with 14 points, but is a mere point away from second, two from third and three from first in the conference.
Both matches featured game-winning goals from freshman Nora Vicsek as the Budapest, Hungary native split the pipes in the 12th minute against SEMO for the tilt's only goal, prior to breaking a 1-1 deadlock with an 81st minute-score in Martin. With the pair of goals, Vicsek moves into a tie with junior Karigan Owens for second on the Tech squad with three scores.
Junior Michaella Keyes accounted for TTU's other goal over the weekend, a Sunday strike that found the back of the net in the 39th minute to break a scoreless tie with the Skyhawks. Keyes' blistering bullet marked the Cincinnati, Ohio native's first career score. Freshman Dani Shartouny picked up her first career assist on the play, the first of two assists for the 5-foot-4 forward after registering a second one on Vicsek's game winner.
Defensively, the Golden Eagles continued their encouraging trend of shutting out opponents in the first half, blanking both the Redhawks and Skyhawks to make it 15 out of 16 matches in which Tech has shut out an opponent in the first period. Overall, the TTU defense ranks first in goals allowed (12), goals against average (0.71) and shutouts (7).
SIU Edwardsville treks to Cookeville in second place in the OVC, one point back of Murray State for the top spot. The top six teams make the OVC Tournament, while the top two earn byes straight to the semifinals.
The Cougars (7-5-3, 5-1-1) are one of just two teams in the conference to have not lost a home match this season (Murray State), but are just 2-5-1 in away contests this year. Sophomore Avery Anderson and junior Caroline Hoefert have set the scoring bar for SIUE with five goals each, while Anderson's 13 points sit atop the Cougar leader board, putting her in a tie with Tech's Karigan Owens and UT Martin's Saphya Coombs-James for fifth in the OVC.
The all-time series between the clubs is knotted at 3-3 with TTU having seized three of the last four meetings, including a 1-0 nod in Edwardsville last season.
As far as Eastern Illinois is concerned, the Panthers (5-10-0, 2-5-0) are currently on the outside of the playoff picture with six points to put them in a tie with Jacksonville State for ninth place. EIU is coming off a 1-0 win over Austin Peay in its 2016 home finale, a match that saw red-shirt junior Emma Scaro find the back of the net in the 32nd minute to propel the Panthers to victory.
Scaro's score puts the East Carolina transfer in first place on the squad with two goals. EIU has scored nine goals in 15 matches this year, while the club has yielded 19.
The Panthers have controlled the all-time series with Tech with a 17-3-5 edge in the set. Eastern Illinois bested the Golden Eagles last year in Charleston with a 1-0 victory.
Before coming to Cookeville, EIU will hook up with Eastern Kentucky in Richmond Friday afternoon.
Admission to all Tech home regular season matches is free of charge.
Photo by Jim Dillon
