By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – With the regular season down to its final three weeks, and half of the OVC slate in the rearview mirror, the Tennessee Tech soccer team is set for a pair of crucial conference clashes over the weekend.
The Golden Eagles host Murray State in the club's second to last home affair of the regular season on Friday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. CT, before scooting over to Jacksonville State for a Sunday, Oct. 13 afternoon battle with the Gamecocks at 1 p.m.
Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN+. Click here to watch Tech vs. Murray State. Click here to watch Tech at Jacksonville State.
Admission to Friday's match at Tech Soccer Field is free of charge.
A look at Tech
The Golden Eagles (4-5-4, 2-1-2 OVC) enter the key weekend stretch with some momentum after claiming a thrilling 2-1 win over Austin Peay in the club's last contest on Sunday, Oct. 6. Trailing 1-0 late in regulation, Tech received crucial contributions from a pair of seniors on their Senior Day.
Moving up from her traditional spot on the back line, Kaitie Shipley provided the Golden Eagles with the equalizer behind her second career goal in the 83rd minute. Moments later with Tech finding themselves in a precarious position after a red card forced the purple and gold to play with 10 players, Nora Vicsek gave the Golden Eagles the lead, and essentially the match, with a penalty-kick score in the 88th minute. Vicsek's missile marked the Budapest, Hungary native's second goal of the season and ninth of her Tech tenure. The score was also her sixth career game-winning goal to move her into sole possession of fourth place on the program's all-time list.
Vicsek is now one of four different Golden Eagles with at least two goals, joining Kendall Powell with two scores of her own, as well as Cassidy Bereda and Bailey Taylor, who have each split the pipes four times this year.
Shipley's Sunday score made her the seventh different player with a goal. Sophomore Natalie Rolen and freshman Carme Peirau have also found the back of the net once this season.
Overall, Tech's 15 goals are good enough for fifth in the OVC and the squad's 163 shots also place the purple and gold in fifth in the conference. From an individual perspective, Bereda and Taylor's four goals rank the duo in fifth in the OVC.
Defensively, TTU found a way to limit the opposition's opportunities in the club's most recent weekend, holding Belmont to just nine total shots in a narrow 1-0 loss in Nashville on Oct. 4 and Austin Peay to only eight attempts in Sunday's victory. The Govs took just two shots in the second half.
Tech is currently sitting in a tie for fourth place with eight points, only one point shy of Belmont for third in the league's standings.
A look at Murray State
Selected to win the league in the OVC's predicted order of finish, the Racers (8-5-0, 5-0-0) are off and running in the club's conference campaign with an unblemished 5-0-0 resume, outscoring their opponents 19-3 in the process.
The first-place Racers are coming off a thrilling 2-1, double-overtime win at Eastern Kentucky in the squad's last affair on Sunday, Oct. 6. Trailing 1-0 late in regulation, Miyah Watford split the posts in the 75th minute, before Symone Cooper put the Racers in the win column with a goal in the 101st minute. Cooper's net-finder was her second of the 2019 season, while Watford's strike was her OVC-leading 12th goal, five more than her teammate Rebecca Kubin and SIUE's Mackenzie Litzsinger for the most in the league.
Sophomore Abby Jones, the reigning OVC Freshman of the Year, leads the conference with nine assists this year.
Overall, Murray State's 35 goals in 13 matches are the most in the OVC, 10 more than the next closest club. The Racers also pace the conference with 209 total shots, 16.08 per match.
Murray State leads the all-time series over Tech with a 12-7-2 advantage. TTU's last win in the set came Oct. 21, 2012 with a 2-1 nod in Murray.
A look at Jacksonville State
The only OVC squad without a conference win, the Gamecocks (3-10-0, 0-5-0 OVC) have been outscored 15-3 during OVC play. Before greeting Tech Sunday afternoon, JSU hosts Austin Peay Friday evening in the first of a three-match homestand for the Gamecocks.
The club is coming off a 4-1 loss at Belmont in JSU's last match on Sunday, Oct. 6. Freshman Cynthia Bagozzi leads the Gamecocks with four goals to tie for fifth in the OVC and is one of nine different players who has split the pipes this year. Senior Emma Meadows has three goals and fellow senior Cheyenne Carden has collected two scores. Junior Alicia Pallister leads the team with three assists.
The all-time series between the Golden Eagles and Gamecocks is dead even at 7-7-4, though Tech has controlled the set of late with four consecutive wins.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
