Tech tripped up by Tennessee to close out third week of season

Tech tripped up by Tennessee to close out third week of season

By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech soccer team hit a road block Sunday evening, as the Golden Eagles were upended 7-0 by the University of Tennessee in the middle of a season-long, three-match road swing for the purple and gold.

The Lady Vols (2-2-1) set the tone with a pair of rapid scores within the first four minutes to jump ahead 2-0 and never looked back for the club's second-consecutive win, outscoring its opponents 11-0 in the process. UT, the defending SEC champion and league's preseason No. 1, added two more goals in the first stanza, before closing out the tilt's scoring with three second-half goals to snap Tech's season-best three-match unbeaten streak. The loss marked TTU's first defeat since a loss at Lipscomb on Aug. 21.

Jordan Fusco accounted for two of Tennessee's seven scores behind goals in the 4th and 53rd minute. Taylor Huff popped the lid with a net-finder just before Fusco's goal in the 4th minute, while Abby Burdette and Jaida Thomas tacked on with first-half goals in the 27th and 30th minutes to extend the UT edge to 4-0 at intermission.

Thomas would go on to assist on Fusco's second goal in the 53rd minute, which was promptly followed by a 56th-minute goal by Mackenzie George to pad the Lady Vol lead to 6-0. Macaira Midgley capped off the attack by splitting the pipes in the 75th minute.

The Golden Eagles (1-3-2) managed a .500 shot on-goal percentage with four of the club's eight attempts on-frame. Sarah Block, Yao Giada Zhou, Katie Toney and Jaiden Weston were responsible for the quartet of tries on-point. Gabby Garcia led Tech in overall shots with two taken.

Tennessee proved to be efficient with 13 of its 18 shots on-goal. George led the contest with four shots, all of which were on-frame.

Maggie Conrad's six saves were her second-most in a match this season, while three Lady Vols split the goalkeeping duties en route to the clean sheet. Lindsey Romig was credited with the win thanks to a pair of stops in the first half. Mackenzie Haba registered two halts in just about 17 minutes in-net and Ally Zazzara did not see an attempt come her way in just over 25 minutes between the pipes.

The Golden Eagles will conclude their season-long three-match away swing with a Thursday, Sept. 8 meeting at Middle Tennessee. Kickoff in Murfreesboro is slated for 7 p.m. CT.  


Photo by Jim Dillon