By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – In a battle pinning the top two teams in the Ohio Valley Conference at Tech Soccer Field, Murray State got the better of the Tennessee Tech Soccer team with a 2-1 victory on TTU's Senior Day.
The Racers (11-4-0, 7-0-0) capitalized on their chances behind two scores on only three shots on-goal to remain perfect in OVC play, while the Golden Eagles (7-6-3, 5-2-0) fell for just the second time in conference action, despite registering 16 shots, nine of which were on-goal. Overall, Tech won the shot battle, 16-12.
"Basically the game came down to this, they finished and we didn't," TTU head coach Steve Springthorpe claimed. "It was a hard fought match, credit goes to Murray. They snuck in the two chances that they needed to win this game. I'm happy with how we played though, we created our fair share of opportunities."
Trailing 2-0 in the 69th minute, the Golden Eagles found a way to slice the deficit in half thanks the first career goal by senior Mackenzie Miller. Playing on her Senior Day, the Wildwood, Mo. native found a way to wrangle the ball away from Racers' goalkeeper Alex Steigerwald, before firing one into the back of the net to give Tech hope with still 20 minutes remaining in the tilt.
"Mac's made a huge turnaround from last year to this year," Springthorpe said when asked about Miller's clutch goal. "She's made a total commitment to our program and to being the best player she can. She's spent a lot of extra time working on her own and I'm happy for her that on Senior Day, she was able to get a goal and get us back into the game."
Miller's goal was one of many chances that Tech had in the second stanza, a period that saw the Golden Eagles come up empty on two set pieces from inside the box, and a serious threat from freshman Mayra Tarraga Manzanal in the half's early stages.
The Gerona, Spain native cradled in a pass in the 53rd minute that took her past the back line of the Murray State defense with just the keeper to beat, but freshman Alex Steigerwald came charging out and halted the Tarraga Manzanal attempt to keep the Racers in the lead.
Steigerwald's save was one of seven made in the tilt for the West Chester, Ohio native, five of which came in the first half. Tech freshman Kari Naerdemann was forced into making just one save over the course of 90 minutes.
The Racers leapt on the scoreboard in the 19th minute, finding the back of the net on crisp ball movement that featured a pair of passes from Taylor Stevens and Harriet Withers that led to a Taylor Richerson strike from inside the box to christen the scoring. Richerson collected her fifth goal of the season, while Stevens and Withers both notched assists on the play.
Stevens would be heard from later, scoring in the 57th minute to bump up the Racers' edge to 2-0 on the Fort Wayne, Ind. native's sixth goal of the year. The 5-foot-6 senior split the pipes after hauling in a pass from sophomore Aaron Lankster, who earned an assist, along with Withers on the score, after Withers hooked up Lankster to begin the Murray scoring chance.
"Of course there were some things on the line today and we didn't get it done, but we will learn from it and I hope it's an experience that will help us some time in the near future," Springthorpe said on playing in a match of this scale. "I talked to our team beforehand, and for us, it's just a growing process. Our team really hasn't been in this position for years, so I told them win or lose, we will learn from it."
Tech will now set its sights on UT Martin as the Golden Eagles will welcome the Skyhawks to Tech Soccer Field on Thursday, Oct. 22. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. CT.
