By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – A goal early in the second half proved to be the difference Friday afternoon, as the Tennessee Tech soccer team stamped its place in the win column for the first time this season with a 1-0 victory over Georgia State (0-4-1) in front of a near capacity crowd at Tech Soccer Field.
After the two clubs played scoreless over the first 45 minutes, the Golden Eagles (1-3-0) came out swinging in the second half, wasting no time in jumping out to a 1-0 lead. Six minutes and 15 seconds into the period, sophomore Abi Gearing buried one past Panther junior keeper Christa Fox for her second goal of the season, capitalizing on an initial feed from senior Kelsey McGohan to freshman Zoie Hensley, before Hensley connected with Gearing for the score. Both McGohan and Hensely were credited with assists on the play.
"I'm happy for our team," Tech head coach Steve Springthorpe claimed moments after earning his first win in TTU purple and gold. "We've had some struggles early in the season so to be able to find a way to gut out a win and get our first victory of the year is fantastic."
Four matches into the season, Gearing has equaled her goal output of last season with the pair of scores.
Locked up in a defensive battle in the first half, senior goalkeeper Rebecca Toler set the tempo early, stopping Georgia State junior Callie O'Connor after O'Connor found herself alone with just Toler to beat a mere two minutes into the match.
The brilliant sliding save was one of three made in the first half by the Collierville, Tenn. native, including a Panther second chance effort midway through the period after the initial rip slammed right off the post, before senior Whitney Ravan corralled in the rebound, firing a shot that was smacked away by Toler.
The 5-foot-9 goalkeeper would end up saving all six shots that came her way for her fifth career shutout to put her in a tie with Kaitlyn Thacker (09) for the fourth most blankings in Tech history.
"I'm happy for Becca, she came up big for us today," Springthorpe said on Toler's shutout showing. "It was a bit of a sweet thing for her because she played at Georgia State before coming back here, so to be able to get a shutout was huge. She made some key saves, especially early for us, and I'm definitely pleased with her performance."
The Golden Eagles will look to make it back-to-back victories before the weekend concludes, welcoming Western Carolina into Tech Soccer Field on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT.
