By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – A brief weekend of action is on the books for the Tennessee Tech soccer team with just one match on the docket.
The Golden Eagles are set to play their first OVC road match of 2019 with a trip to SIUE for a Thursday, Sept. 26 showdown with the Cougars. First kick in Edwardsville is slated for 7 p.m. CT.
The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Click here to watch.
A look at Tech
One of five teams to make it unscathed through the first weekend of OVC play, the Golden Eagles (3-4-3, 1-0-1 OVC) head to SIUE with a draw and a win under their belt in the first two conference clashes. Tech played Morehead State to a 1-1 knot on Friday, Sept. 20, before closing out a program-long, five-match homestand with a 3-1 triumph over Eastern Kentucky on Sunday, Sept. 22.
TTU's get together with the Colonels featured Tech's largest scoring output of the season behind three Golden Eagle goals. Sophomore Cassidy Bereda helped ignite the way thanks to the Bellbrook, Ohio native's first career multi-goal effort with two scores in the second half. Freshman Carme Peirau was responsible for the other Tech goal, a 43rd-minute strike for her first career net-finder that unwrapped Sunday's scoring.
Peirau is one of six Golden Eagles to have split the pipe this season, joining Natalie Rolen, Kendall Powell and Nora Vicsek with one score, while Cassidy Bereda has collected three goals and Bailey Taylor leads the Tech attack with four scores. Taylor's four goals are good enough for a tie for fourth in the OVC and Bereda's trio places the sophomore in a tie for seventh in the league.
TTU ranks third in the OVC with 131 shots in 10 matches. Eastern Kentucky leads the way with 133 and UT Martin is in second in the conference with 131. Four Golden Eagles are in the top eight in shots in the OVC, paced by Bereda and Taylor with 24 attempts each, tied for fourth most in the conference. Powell's 22 shots are good enough for seventh, while Nora Vicsek's 19 tries are knotted for eighth best.
Defensively, Isabelle Austin secured her first career OVC win in Sunday's 3-1 nod over Eastern Kentucky in which the red-shirt junior tallied three saves. Austin's 41 stops are the fifth highest in the OVC.
A look at SIUE
Selected to finish fourth in the OVC's predicted order of finish, the Cougars (2-4-2, 0-1-1 OVC) wrapped up their first weekend of conference action with a 2-2 tie at Austin Peay on Thursday, Sept. 19 and a 5-0 loss at Murray State on Sunday, Sept. 26.
Friday's deadlock with the Govs featured a fair share of dramatics from SIUE after Myah Diekema squared the match late in regulation with an unassisted-score in the 88th minute. Diekema accompanied Kayla Klipsch as Cougars to find the back of the net Friday, adding to an SIUE attack that has now seen eight different players split the posts so far this season.
Mackenzie Litzsinger leads the charge with five scores, a mark that puts the red-shirt sophomore in a tie for second in the OVC.
The Golden Eagles lead the all-time series 5-3-1 over the Cougars, including a 3-0-1 record in the last four meetings with SIUE. Tech captured a 2-0 nod last year in Cookeville in the second to last match of the regular season.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
