By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – It was an evening that instantly takes its place among the history books, leaping off the pages as one of the most impactful nights of Tennessee Tech soccer. In what was the second ever home meeting against an SEC school, the Golden Eagles (1-3-0) rose to the challenge with the program's first ever victory against the vaunted Southeastern Conference, defeating the University of Alabama, 2-1, in front of a record-setting crowd of 961.
"It's a great moment for our program, and to do it in front of our fans is fantastic," claimed Tennessee Tech head coach Steve Springthorpe, shortly after the match. "What a great group of players we have, and the fans came out and supported us, creating a wonderful atmosphere. I can't be more pleased with our team tonight."
"Today coming into the locker room, the energy was just different," senior captain Taylor Blazei said on her take on the historical result. "We lost three really tough games that we could've won but you could tell that we were getting better. To have it all come together tonight against an SEC school was just an amazing feeling."
The match, and more importantly outcome, of historical proportions had its fair share of twists and turns in the second half after Tech carried a 1-0 lead into intermission behind a Mary Francis Hoots 17th minute score.
In the early stages of the second stanza, the Crimson Tide (1-2-1) proved to all in attendance that in order for the Golden Eagles to pull off its piece of program history, they were going to have to fight tooth and nail to accomplish the riveting feat. On a corner in the 53rd minute, Alabama provided the equalizer.
Freshman Emma Welch drove one well inside the box that fell into the waiting shoe tops of junior Celia Jimenez Delgado, who took care of the rest with her first goal of the season to square the intense affair at 1-1. Welch notched her first assist of the season on the deadlocking score.
Tested with the prospects of a brand new contest, Tech soared to the occasion a mere 10 minutes later in the topsy-turvy tilt. Tide sophomore goalkeeper Kat Stratton appeared to have control of a loose ball that deflected her way in the 63rd minute, but Golden Eagle sophomore Zoie Hensley had other ideas.
Relentless in her efforts, the 5-foot-4 forward found a way to wrangle the ball away from Stratton, flicking it back outside the box to senior Taylor Sutton, who calmly buried it into a wide open net after Stratton was out of position in what was one of just two second-half shots for Tech. The assist was the second of the match for Hensley, who also played a role in the first score of the affair as well.
Leading 2-1, the Tech defense took it from there in halting a feisty Alabama attack that featured 14 second-half shots by the Crimson Tide. Freshman goalkeeper Kari Naerdemann collected five saves in the match, four in the second stanza. Across the way, Alabama's Kat Stratton stopped just one of the three shots that came her way.
"It's obviously a great result for us, but the reality becomes that we've been working very hard to improve," Springthorpe noted. "It's great to have a victory against Alabama but we are just happy to have a victory. We've had three games in a row where we have played well, but just haven't had the result. The big thing for us is that we found a way to keep a lead, we found a way to get another goal when the game was tied, and we found a way to close out the game. It's all progress for us."
In the first half, Tech yielded only four Alabama shots en route to blanking the Tide at the break. The scoreless stanza continues a promising trend by the Golden Eagles, who have now made it four-straight matches in which they have held their opponent scoreless in the first half, matching the 2004 TTU group as the longest streak to begin a season in school history.
"It's something that I will always remember and it was really a team effort," the finishing sentiments of Taylor Blazei, who recorded an assist on the Mary Francis Hoots goal for her club-leading third point of the young season. "It was an incredible effort from everyone, even the players on the bench, the coaches, and the fans. It was all just incredible."
The Golden Eagles will now hit the road, traveling to Georgia for a pair of matches. On Friday, Sep. 4, Tech will hook up with Mercer at 6 p.m. CT, before heading to Georgia State for a Sunday showdown with the Panthers at 1 p.m.
