By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The road to an NCAA Tournament appearance will come through Cookeville, as the Tennessee Tech soccer team will host the OVC Tournament semifinals and championship match for the second-consecutive season. The weekend's final four will get underway Thursday afternoon, with the top-seeded Golden Eagles squaring off against No. 8 Little Rock at 4 p.m. CT in the first of two semifinal bouts at Tech Soccer Field.
No. 7 SEMO will tangle with Morehead State in the other semifinal affair, set to get underway at 7 p.m. CT. The championship match is slated for Sunday at 1 p.m.
TTU's semifinal matchup with the Trojans will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Click here to watch. Live stats will also be available. Click here to view.
A look at No. 1 Tennessee Tech
The top-seeded Golden Eagles (8-5-4, 7-1-1 OVC) entertain Little Rock on the heels of knocking off the Trojans in the regular-season finale on Oct. 22 to capture the program's third-ever regular-season conference crown. Needing a win to secure the championship and No. 1 seed, Tech came through in dramatic fashion behind a Gabby Garcia game-winning goal in the 82nd minute that broke a 1-1 deadlock.
Garcia's first goal of the season, sixth in her career and fourth game-winning score of her Tech tenure saw the senior forward blast a missile from 25 yards out into the top right corner of the net to push the purple and gold to a 2-1 lead in the waning moments of regulation. Garcia's heroics made her the 10th different Golden Eagle to split the pipes this year, with Tech holding down the OVC's top four spots in goals scored.
Yao Giada Zhou, who accounted for TTU's first goal in the 39th minute in the win over Little Rock, ended the regular season with a conference-best seven goals and league-leading 20 points. The senior out of San Michele al Tagliamento, Italy is tied with fellow Golden Eagle Katie Toney for the most assists in the OVC thanks to six helpers.
Toney wrapped up the regular year knotted with Neve Renwick and Bailey Taylor for the second-most goals in the conference behind five scores apiece. Renwick leads the league with 67 shots, while Taylor heads into the semifinals with 17 career goals to rank tied for fifth-most in program history.
Defensively, the Golden Eagles tallied five shutouts in nine OVC contests. Junior goalkeeper Maggie Conrad has posted the third-best save percentage in the conference behind a .820 mark to go along with the second-most stops in the league with 82 denials.
Tech is in search of its second-ever OVC Tournament title after claiming the championship in 2000 behind a 1-0, double-overtime win over Eastern Illinois to advance to its only NCAA Tournament appearance. The Golden Eagles made the championship match for the first time since 2009 last year in their first-ever hosting assignment in the semifinals with a 5-0 victory over Lindenwood for the most goals by an OVC Team in the tourney in the semifinal round or later.
This year's trip to the semis marks the program's sixth trip to the OVC Tournament semifinals in the last nine seasons.
A look at No. 8 Little Rock
The Trojans (7-4-8, 2-3-4 OVC) head to Cookeville with momentum in their back pocket behind a current surge of having gone unbeaten in six of the last seven contests, with the only loss during the stretch coming against the Golden Eagles in the regular-season finale on Oct. 22.
In its second year in the league, Little Rock makes its first trip to the OVC Tournament semifinals after securing back-to-back playoff victories thanks to a first-round 1-0 triumph over No. 5 UT Martin on Oct. 27 and a 3-1 win at No. 4 Southern Indiana in Sunday's quarterfinals. The nod over the Screaming Eagles saw three different Trojans find the back of the net on goals by Sanaa Williams in the 47th minute, Madison Eisner in the 63rd minute and Jaeda Centeno in the 68th minute.
Amaya Arias, Karina De Paoli and Bronte Peel lead the team and are tied for fifth in the OVC with four goals apiece. Peel put one home in the meeting against Tech in Cookeville, providing the equalizer in the 68th minute before Garcia's game-winner in the 82nd minute. Serenity Thake, who assisted on the tying goal, leads Little Rock with four helpers.
The Trojans have shared goalkeeping duties for most of the year, with both Peyton Urban and Marie Cimatti appearing in at least 15 matches. Urban has been the starter of late, going all 90 minutes in the last three matches, which includes both OVC Tournament tilts. The sophomore from Austin, Texas has posted three stops in the two playoff affairs.
Inside the series
Thursday's postseason contest will mark the sixth meeting in the all-time series. Tech's victory in the regular-season finale was the purple and gold's first win in the set, with Little Rock still leading the series 3-1-1.
Photo by Jim Dillon
