By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The postseason is here for the Tennessee Tech soccer team. The Golden Eagles are back in the OVC Tournament.
Following a one-year hiatus in 2018, TTU is back in action with the program's fourth appearance in the conference tournament in last five seasons under Golden Eagle head coach Steve Springthorpe. As the No. 5 seed, Tech will tangle with No. 8 Eastern Illinois in a first-round battle on Friday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. CT. The match will be played at Ralph Korte Stadium in Edwardsville, Ill., sight of the No. 4 seed SIUE after the Cougars earned a first-round bye and the right to host Friday's first round and Sunday's quarterfinal.
The Tech-EIU victor will square off with SIUE on Sunday, Nov. 3 in the quarterfinals of the OVC Tournament. First kick on Sunday is slated for 2 p.m.
Click here to watch Friday's first-round contest against Eastern Illinois.
A look at Tech
The Golden Eagles (6-7-5, 4-3-3 OVC) are making their 11th all-time trip to the OVC Tournament, having advance to the semifinals in each of their last three appearances, consecutively from 2015-17. Tech's last trip to the championship match came in 2009, while the program's last and only title in the tourney came back in 2000.
This year's version purple and gold narrowly missed out on a first-round bye and hosting responsibilities in the OVC Tournament following a tough weekend to conclude the regular season that saw the club drop its last two matches. Tech was upended in its final home match of the year with a 2-1 loss to UT Martin, before wrapping up the regular season with a 3-2 defeat at first-place Southeast Missouri on Sunday, Oct. 27.
Kendall Powell tied a ribbon on a productive regular season with a goal in Sunday's setback at SEMO, the Cookeville native's fifth score in the last five matches. Overall, Powell is tied for fourth in the league with seven goals, while the 5-foot-7 junior six scores during OVC play puts her in a deadlock for second in the conference.
Senior Tina Marolt scored her first goal of the season on a penalty kick Sunday at SEMO, but the veteran midfielder has made her presence felt this year with a team-high six assists, a mark that puts the Smatevz, Slovenia product in third place in the OVC.
The Golden Eagles enter the OVC Tournament with 23 goals, fifth most in the league and most by a Tech team in the last three seasons.
Defensively, TTU wrapped up conference play with the fourth fewest scores surrendered with 12 in 10 OVC contests. Red-shirt junior Isabelle Austin ranked in the top five in the conference with a 1.12 goals against average and a .806 save percentage during OVC clashes.
A look at EIU
The Panthers (3-9-4, 2-5-3 OVC) are making their 16th all-time OVC Tournament appearance and second straight trip in the field for the program's first back-to-back appearances since 2010-11. As the No. 3 seed last season, EIU advanced to the OVC Tournament semifinals.
Eastern Illinois found its way into the tourney thanks in large part to picking up a much-needed point in last Friday's 1-1 draw at Austin Peay, a tie that gave the Panthers their ninth OVC point to narrowly move ahead of EKU and Morehead's eight conference points for the final spot in the tournament.
Sarah DeWolf, Haylee Renick and Lexi Ketterhagen pace the Panther charge with a team-leading three goals each. DeWolf possess a club-best eight points with a pair of assists in her back pocket as well.
Defensively, senior keeper Sara Teteak led the OVC with 109 saves and finished in a tie for second in the league with three shutouts.
Inside the Series
Eastern Illinois leads the all-time series 18-4-7 over the Golden Eagles, which includes a recent 1-1 draw Oct. 18 in Charleston. Tech took the lead in the contest with a 69th-minute goal by Kendall Powell, but the Panthers responded with a 74th-minute score from Sarah DeWolf. Isabelle Austin collected five stops in the match, while Sara Teteak secured four halts.
The Golden Eagles lead the all-time set with Sunday's potential opponent, SIUE, 5-3-1. The two teams played to a 2-2 tie in the regular-season meeting in Edwardsville on Sept. 26.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
