By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – A unique opportunity is staring at the Tennessee Tech soccer team over the weekend, one that will see the program head to a place it has never been before.
The Golden Eagles are packing their bags and heading out West, in fact, as far west as the purple and gold have ever been with a pair of matches in the Grand Canyon State for the Sun Devil Desert Classic. Tech (0-0-2) will say hello to Arizona State Friday at 9 p.m. CT, before clashing with another Pac-12 foe in the University of Arizona on Sunday at noon. Both contests will be played at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium in Tempe, Ariz.
Each match will be live streamed. Click here to watch Tech at Arizona State. Click here to watch Tech vs. Arizona.
A look at Tech
The Golden Eagles collected a pair of draws as part of the Trojan Classic in Troy, Ala. in the club's first two matches of the season, marking the first time since 2004 that TTU went unbeaten in its first two contests of the year. The purple and gold played South Alabama to a 2-2 draw on Friday, Aug. 23 and played Troy to a scoreless deadlock on Sunday, Aug. 25.
Tech's goals over the weekend came courtesy of freshman Bailey Taylor, who split the pipes just over three minutes into the season, and Kendall Powell with a drive into the back of the net in Friday's 21st minute.
Defensively, after allowing two scores in the first stanza against South Alabama, the Golden Eagles stood tall for the remainder of the weekend behind nearly 180 consecutive minutes of scoreless play to conclude the Trojan classic. Red-shirt junior Isabelle Austin secured her first career shutout in only her second career start at Troy on Sunday, and overall, the Sylvania, Ohio product made nine saves in the two matches.
16 different Golden Eagles appeared in the pair of tilts, and outside of Austin's 220 minutes in between the pipes, freshman Kendall Webb led the club with 214 total minutes on the pitch. Kaitie Shipley appeared in 210 minutes, while Kendall Powell and Rachel Blow each toppled the 200-minute plateau with 205 minutes of action each.
Powell paced the purple and gold with seven shots over the weekend, one of four Golden Eagles with at least three attempts. Cassidy Bereda, who also recorded the squad's only assist in the two matches, took four shots, while Bailey Taylor and Nora Vicsek each tailed three tries.
A look at Arizona State
The Sun Devils (2-0-0) raced out to rapid beginning in their first two matches of 2019, outscoring their opponents by a combined 11-2 in wins at Cal State Fullerton and against Central Arkansas. Nine different ASU players found the back of the net in the pair of affairs, led by Nicole Douglas' first career hat trick in Sunday's 7-1 nod over UCA.
Giulia Cascapera spent all 180 minutes in goal for the Sun Devils, yielding two scores and securing four stops over the weekend.
Friday's meeting will mark the first in the all-time series between Tech and ASU.
A look at Arizona
Weather wreaked havoc in the Wildcats' opening weekend after the forced postponement of the club's only scheduled match against Long Beach State due to lightning. Before hooking up with Tech on Sunday, Arizona will open its 2019 campaign with a contest against Weber State on Friday from Tempe.
The Wildcats are coming off a 13-6-2 season and went 5-4-2 in the Pac-12. The club secured a berth in the NCAA Tournament and topped Denver 3-0 in the first round, before falling 3-2 at Tennessee to conclude the 2018 season.
Arizona brings back three of its top five leading goal scorers, including junior Jada Talley who paved the way with seven scores a season ago. There will be a new face in net for the Wildcats after the departure of senior Lainey Burdett, who played every minute last season.
Sunday's get together will mark the first in the all-time series between Tech and Arizona.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
