By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech soccer team will put its undefeated conference record on the line Thursday evening, as the Golden Eagles hit the road to tangle with SIUE in a rematch of last year's OVC Tournament championship contest. Kickoff from Ralph Korte Stadium is slated for 5 p.m. CT.
The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Click here to watch. Live stats will also be available. Click here to view.
A look at Tennessee Tech
Tech enters Thursday's tilt with the Cougars as the OVC's last undefeated and untied club thanks to a perfect 3-0 league ledge. The Golden Eagles (4-4-3, 3-0-0 OVC) have outscored their three conference competitors 13-1 and TTU also sports a five-match unbeaten streak that dates back toward the tail end of non-conference play that has featured 18 Golden Eagle goals in the five affairs.
Yao Giada Zhou, the OVC's reigning Midfielder of the Year, has claimed back-to-back OVC Player of the Week honors following another strong showing in Tech's most recent match in a 3-1 win over Eastern Illinois on Sunday. The San Michele al Tagliamento, Italy product posted a three-point performance that featured a ninth-minute goal to unwrap the tilt's scoring and a 58th-minute assist on a Meredith Nye goal that put TTU ahead 2-0.
Giada Zhou is one of three Golden Eagles with four goals this season, joining Bailey Taylor and Neve Renwick, along with Little Rock's Karina De Paoli and Morehead State's Colleen Swift for the league lead in that department. Giada Zhou and Taylor are knotted for tops in the conference in points with 12 apiece behind four assists as well. Taylor's 12 points have all come within the last seven matches, which includes a goal on Sept. 24 that tied her with current assistant coach Chloe Smith for seventh place in the program's all-time career goals list with 16 scores.
Katie Toney leads the OVC with five assists, helping make up a Golden Eagle offense that has frequented the back of the net most often in the conference thanks to 22 goals in 11 matches, seven more scores than the next closest school in the league.
Defensively, TTU has surrendered only one goal in three league affairs. Junior goalkeeper Maggie Conrad is one of three conference keepers with a save percentage above .800 thanks to a .814 mark. Selma Askildsen and Macy Carter continue to be the only two Golden Eagles who have not left the pitch at any point this season, helping anchor Tech's back line.
The Golden Eagles head into Thursday's contest unbeaten in 17-straight OVC regular-season matches, dating back to the beginning of October 2021.
A look at SIUE
After a perfect 2-0 start to OVC action that featured a 2-1 win at Eastern Illinois and a 1-0 home nod over Lindenwood, the Cougars dropped their first league affair with a 1-0 home defeat to SEMO on Sunday. Scoreless in the waning moments of regulation, the Redhawks soared one through the pipes in the 89th minute for the game-winning goal.
SIUE (4-5-1, 2-1-0 OVC) has had 11 different Cougars find the back of the net this season, with only Kasey Neidhardt scoring more than one goal behind a pair this year. Macie Begley and Matea Diekema, who have each found the back of the cage this season, are tied for the team lead in assists with two each.
Taylor Spiller has spent all but 28 minutes in net this season for the Cougars. The 5-foot-6 red-shirt junior has allowed 16 goals and made 39 saves for a .709 save percentage and a 1.65 goals against average.
Inside the series
Thursday's matchup between the top two teams in the OVC's predicted order of finish will be the 15th meeting in the all-time series. The set has been a complete deadlock with the two squads going 6-6-2 against one another. The Golden Eagles won a crucial contest in last year's regular-season meeting behind a 2-0 victory on Oct. 6 at Tech Soccer Field, but the Cougars would go on to best the purple and gold 1-0 in the OVC Tournament championship match in Cookeville on Nov. 6.
Photo by Jim Dillon
