By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The final weekend of the regular season has arrived for the Tennessee Tech soccer team with two crucial matches on tap for the purple and gold. The Golden Eagles conclude their home portion of the 2019 regular season with a Friday, Oct. 25 meeting against UT Martin at 2 p.m. CT, before Tech puts a lid on the final weekend with a Sunday, Oct. 27 affair at Southeast Missouri at 2 p.m. Friday's start was pushed up from an originally scheduled 3 p.m. start to 2 p.m. due to expected inclement weather in the area.
Both matches will be live streamed on ESPN+. Click here to watch TTU vs. UT Martin. Click here to watch TTU vs. SEMO.
Admission to Friday's home match against the Skyhawks is free of charge.
A look at Tech
With much at stake heading into the final two matches of the regular season, a number of different postseason scenarios are in the mix for the Golden Eagles. With Tech (6-5-5, 4-1-3) currently sitting in third place thanks to 15 conference points in its back pocket, the squad still has an opportunity to claim its second-ever OVC regular-season title. The Golden Eagles trail Sunday's opponent SEMO by four points for first place and Murray State by three points for second in the league. A win is worth three points and a draw is good enough for one point.
Tech holds the head-to-head tiebreaker with Murray State thanks to a 3-0 home win on Oct. 11. The top two teams in the OVC regular-season standings earn a double-bye straight to the OVC semifinals on Friday, Nov. 8. The third-place and fourth-place clubs earn a single-bye to the quarterfinals slated for Sunday, Nov. 3. The Golden Eagles lead Friday's opponent UT Martin by one point for third place.
TTU is coming off a 1-1 draw at Eastern Illinois on Oct. 18 in the club's only contest of the weekend, running Tech's unbeaten streak to four straight. Junior Kendall Powell continued her scorching offensive stretch with a goal in the 69th minute against the Panthers, the Cookeville product's fourth score in the last three matches. Powell's team-leading six goals are good enough for a tie for sixth in the OVC, while her club-best 37 shots are fifth most in the league.
Powell is one of three Golden Eagles with at least three goals in 2019. With four goals apiece, sophomore Cassidy Bereda and freshman Bailey Taylor round out the trio. Overall, Tech is tied for fifth in the conference with 20 goals.
Senior Tina Marolt is tied for second in the OVC with a team-leading five assists.
Defensively, TTU has tightened the clamps of late, allowing only one goal in the last three contests combined. The Golden Eagles pace the OVC in league-only matches with just seven scores allowed in eight conference clashes. Red-shirt junior Isabelle Austin leads the league with a 0.81 goals against average during OVC play, while her .837 save percentage in conference action is second best in the OVC.
A look at UT Martin
The league's defending regular-season champion, UT Martin (6-5-5, 4-2-2), currently finds themselves in fourth place in the conference, a point back of the Golden Eagles for third. UTM comes to Cookeville on a three-match unbeaten streak that featured wins at Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky, as well as a 2-2 draw against SEMO in the club's last contest on Oct. 20.
Red-shirt sophomore Jill Hildreth is sitting in a tie for third in the league with a squad-best seven goals. The Germantown, Tenn. native is one of four Skyhaws with at least three scores. Bella Roberts and Alice Adams have found the back of the net three times each this season, while Hendrikje Baurmann has split the pipes four times in 2019. Baurmann and Adams lead team with three assists apiece.
Overall, the Skyhawks are third in the OVC with 25 total goals.
Former All-OVC first team goalkeeper Erica Myers is the OVC leader in saves with 94 stops this year. Like the Golden Eagles, UT Martin has recorded three shutouts this season.
The Skyhawks have a narrow edge in the all-time series with Tech behind a 12-10-1 advantage. UTM claimed a 3-1 victory in last year's meeting in Martin, while the Golden Eagles secured a 1-0 nod the last time the two clubs met in Cookeville back in 2017.
A look at Southeast Missouri
Before greeting the Golden Eagles in Sunday's regular-season finale, SEMO (9-4-1, 6-1-1 OVC) hosts Jacksonville State Friday night at 6:30 p.m. CT. The Redhawks control their own destiny in the fight for the regular-season crown, currently holding a one-point edge over Murray State for the top spot in the OVC. SEMO rides into the weekend on a five-match unbeaten streak that has seen the Redhawks secure four wins and a draw over that span.
Freshman Hailey Block's squad-high six goals are tied with Kendall Powell for sixth best in the OVC. Senior Esmie Gonzales leads the Redhawks and is tied for sixth in the OVC with four assists. The 4-foot-10 midfielder has also split the posts four times this season.
Defensively, sophomore Bailey Redden has the third-most saves in the league with 83 halts. The Redhawks are tied for first for the fewest goals allowed in the OVC with 22 all year.
SEMO has controlled the all-time series with the Golden Eagles, holding a 14-6-3 advantage in the set. The two teams played to a scoreless draw in last year's meeting in Cookeville, while the Redhawks notched a 1-0 overtime nod in the 2017 get-together in Cape Girardeau.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
