By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information Coordinator

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee Tech soccer team's first Ohio Valley Conference battle at home turned south for the Golden Eagles, as Austin Peay lit up the scoreboard in handing TTU (3-9-0, 1-2-0) a 5-0 loss in front of a full house at Tech Soccer Field.  

The Governors (7-1-2, 2-0-1) came into the affair leading the conference with 18 goals in only nine matches, and lived up to the offensive hype behind a quick start. The OVC's leading scorer, APSU senior Tatiana Ariza, wasted no time in getting Austin Peay started on the right foot, scoring on a give and go with junior Frankie Carbajal a mere 5:03 into the match.

Ariza was just getting going, as the Bogota, Colombia native would go on to record a hat trick and earn an assist in the tilt to push her conference lead to 11 goals and 25 points. Her second goal came in the 16^th minute, scoring without an assist after her initial try was blocked by Tech sophomore goalkeeper Jordan Brown. Ariza took the rebound and found a crease to slide it past Brown to push the Governor's advantage to 2-0.

APSU freshman Gina Fabbro capped off the first-half scoring with a goal in the 31^st minute, capitalizing on a cross from Ariza and a blocked attempt by freshman Megan Sanchez that rolled right to Fabbro for her sixth goal of the 2013 campaign.  

The Golden Eagles managed just three total shots in the first half, putting two of them on point that were gobbled up by Austin Peay goalkeeper Nikki Filippone.

Down 3-0 at intermission, the Golden Eagles road to a comeback steepened not even a minute into the second stanza. Governor's senior Andy Quiceno received a pass from the aforementioned Fabbro and split the pipes to push the lead to 4-0.

Ariza completed the hat trick in the 60^th minute with her second unassisted goal of the match, finally finding the back of the net after a pair of initial tries were deflected off of Brown.

Brown would end with eight saves on the day, while Filippone was only forced to halt those two Tech shots-on-goal in the first half.  

Austin Peay outshot the Golden Eagles 28-7.  

TTU will try and dust themselves off with a quick turnaround, as the Golden Eagles square off with Murray State at Tech Soccer Field on Sunday. Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m. with action to be aired on the OVC Digital Network, produced and presented by the Golden Eagles Sports Network.  

photo by Rob Schabert