By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – A yearly occurrence that helps signal the start of another season on the pitch, the Ohio Valley Conference announced its soccer predicted order of finish, as voted on by the league's 11 head coaches and sports information directors. The Tennessee Tech soccer team was picked fourth, collecting 157 total points in a poll that included a pair of first-place votes for TTU.
The Golden Eagles enter the 2017 campaign on a two-year run arguably as good as any in school history. Tech's 19 victories over the last two years are the most in back-to-back seasons since 2002-03, and the club's 12 conference victories in the past two seasons are the most in a two-year window in program history. TTU has appeared in the OVC Tournament semifinals in each of the last two years, a first since the tournament expanded to six teams back in 2003.
"Our team is thankful that the league coaches and media personnel have voted us as one of the top four teams in the league. It is always our desire to be a program that can compete for an OVC championship," TTU head coach Steve Springthorpe claimed. "Though the ranking is a nice honor, it is only a snapshot of what the coaches and media personnel think and a lot of times it is based on the previous year's finish. All the teams in the OVC are very competitive, and I'm sure at the end of the season, the rankings may look different than what they do now. Our team will work hard to stay near the top of the conference when the season has concluded, giving us a chance to win the OVC championship."
Murray State, last year's co-regular season champion along with Eastern Kentucky, and owner of back-to-back undefeated conference campaigns, took down the poll's top spot with 184 points and 10 first-place votes. SIUE, champions of last year's OVC Tournament, before upsetting Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, earned the No. 2 spot with 168 points and six first place-votes. Eastern Kentucky, co-regular season champion with Murray State and OVC Tournament finalist, just edged out Tech for the No. 3 slot in the preseason poll, garnering 164 points and four first-place votes.
After a third-place prediction just prior to the start of the 2016 season, TTU enjoyed a historical year that saw the Golden Eagles soar to 11 wins, the first time the program has eclipsed double digits since 2002. The squad's six defeats also tied a school mark for fewest losses in a season. Just before the 2015 campaign, a season that saw Tech finish in second place in the OVC for the program's highest regular season finish in 15 years, the Golden Eagles were picked 10th in the preseason predicted order of finish.
This year's version of purple and gold has its sights set on continuing this successful spurt of TTU soccer, as the season unofficially begins Tuesday evening with the first of two exhibition tilts at home. The Golden Eagles welcome Kennesaw State to Tech Soccer Field at 6 p.m. CT, before connecting with Chattanooga in Cookeville Friday night at 7 p.m.
"With the start of preseason, the team has been working hard and has been going through the process of working toward our first two games of the exhibition season," Springthorpe said. "Both games will be a great test to see where our team stands at this time of the preseason. It should also show us where we are weak, as well as what our strengths as a team are, going into the regular season opener against Vandy."
The regular season opener at Vanderbilt is slated for Friday, Aug. 18 at 7 p.m. in Nashville. The Golden Eagles will then head to East Tennessee State on Aug. 20 to close out a two-match road swing, before coming back to Cookeville for the home opener on Aug. 27 against Western Carolina. Eagerly anticipating the start of the season, a roster chock full of returners has Tech eyeing the potential for another strong campaign.
"With the majority of the team returning, including seven seniors, we feel good about where we are and there is a real hunger from this team to compete against anyone we will face this year," Springthorpe said. "With great leadership and upperclassmen experience, we should be in a position to compete for a spot in the OVC Tournament at the end of the year. We are looking forward to the upcoming start of the season."
