COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - A hat trick from Chattanooga's Becca Smith was the only scoring for the day as the Tennessee Tech soccer team fell to UTC 3-0 Friday.
Smith and UTC's Donna-Kay Henry each posted eight shots, and Henry added an assist for the Mocs in a chippy match that saw five yellow cards and a red card. All but one of the cautions came against UTC.
The Golden Eagles fell behind early after Smith scored her first goal less than a minute and a half into the game. She put the Mocs up 2-0 on a free kick in the second half, and added her third goal after beating Tech goalkeeper Kaitlyn Thacker just over a minute later.
Tech finished the game with seven shots from seven different players, including two on goal coming from freshmen Leigh Heffner and Jacquie Watkins. Thacker finished the game with nine saves.
The young Golden Eagle squad put nine freshmen on the field, including seven in the starting lineup.
Tech falls to 0-2 on the season, and will wrap up the weekend with its first road trip of 2009 as they face Radford on Sunday. The Golden Eagles will be on the road for nearly a month before returning to Cookeville to open Ohio Valley Conference play against UT Martin on Sept. 25.
