By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – One match over the weekend is in the cards for the Tennessee Tech soccer team as the Golden Eagles will greet SEMO for a Friday night home affair. First kick with the Redhawks is set for 7 p.m. CT.
The match will be live streamed on the OVC Digital Network. Click here to watch.
Admission to Tech Soccer Field is free of charge.
A look at Tech
The Golden Eagles (6-6-0, 2-3-0 OVC) are coming off 2-0 home win over Belmont on Tuesday, Oct. 2 in a makeup from a postponed contest that was originally slated for Sept. 23. The victory, in what was TTU's first home match in 18 days, extended Tech's conference unbeaten streak at home to 14 in a row, a stretch that has featured 13 wins and one draw dating back to the 2015 campaign.
The Golden Eagles also snapped a three-match slide and moved into sole possession of seventh place in the conference at the midway point of OVC play. Tech sits a mere two points behind fourth place EIU and one point behind both Austin Peay and Belmont who are deadlocked for fifth in the conference.
Two freshmen registered their first career goals in the nod over the Bruins as Chloe Smith and Haylee Koger each found the back of the net to account for the Tech scoring. Smith split the pipes in the 13th minute, while Koger's net-finder, in only her second career match, occurred less than two minutes into the second half.
Cassidy Bereda, Molly Kafader and Rachel Blow all notched assists on the evening.
With the two Golden Eagle rookies finding the back of the net, Tech now has seven different players who have scored in 2018. Sophomore Kendall Powell leads the charge with six scores, while Molly Kafader, Courtney Manning and Marta Moreno each have two goals and Nora Vicsek, Smith and Koger have one apiece.
Defensively, senior Kari Naerdemann tabbed her fourth shutout of the season, and 32nd of her career, behind a campaign-best 10 saves for the Herne, Germany native's third double-digit save output of her Tech tenure. The three-time OVC Defensive Player of the Year made 10 stops in her second career match against Middle Tennessee on Aug. 23, 2015 and collected 12 halts at UNC Greensboro on Aug. 21, 2016.
Juniors Rachel Blow and Kaitie Shipley are still the only two Golden Eagles to not leave the pitch this year, playing in all 1,083 minutes on the season.
A look at SEMO
Tied with Belmont for the No. 4 selection in the OVC's preseason predicted order of finish, the Redhawks (3-7-1, 1-3-1 OVC) are attempting to bounce back after a sluggish start to conference action. SEMO dropped its first three OVC clashes, but have since picked up a draw and a win in the club's last two tilts.
The Redhakws are coming off a 2-0 home win over Morehead State on Sunday, Sept. 30, scoring twice in the first 10 minutes and change. Junior Esmie Gonzales buried one in the eighth minute and freshman Morgan McCourt did the honors in the 11th minute.
Gonzales is the club-leader with five goals this season and McCourt is second on the squad with three scores. Junior Jennifer Brien has the only other Redhawk goal scored this year.
A trio of SEMO goalkeepers has appeared between the pipes this year, with freshman Bailey Redden pacing the unit with over 566 minutes of action. The Belleville, Ill. native has surrendered nine goals and has picked up 37 saves for a .804 save percentage and a 1.43 goals against average.
SEMO leads the all-time series 14-6-2 over Tech, which includes a 1-0 in Cape Girardeau last year for Tech's only OVC loss of the season. The Golden Eagles claimed the last meeting in Cookeville with a 1-0 nod on Oct. 14, 2016.
Photo by Thomas Corhern