By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Following a perfect week on the pitch, two Tennessee Tech soccer players were recognized with a pair of the league's weekly honors. Freshman Selma Askildsen was named the OVC's Defensive Player of the Week, while senior Isabelle Austin took home the OVC's Goalkeeper of the Week accolade.
The pair of honors makes it back-to-back seasons in which Tech secured multiple awards in the same week after TTU took home the conference's Offensive, Defensive and Goalkeeper of the Week accolades on Oct. 15, 2019.
Askilden's first career weekly recognition comes on the heels of back-to-back stout defensive efforts for the Hosle, Norway native in 1-0 wins over Morehead State and Eastern Illinois. Askildsen did not leave the pitch at any point in the two blankings, serving as one of TTU's back-line anchors for a Golden Eagle defense that held Morehead to six shots on-goal and EIU with only three attempts on-point.
Overall, Askildsen registered 184 minutes in the two contests and is one three field players (Emily Carlevato and Macy Carter) that has not left the field at any point this year.
Isabelle Austin's second career Goalkeeper of the Week award comes well deserving after combining for nine saves in the two nods over Morehead and Eastern Illinois. The Sylvania, Ohio native's six stops Tuesday at Morehead included two in the final 10 minutes, while Friday's clean sheet vs. the Panthers featured a big-time halt on a Halyee Renick breakaway that kept the match scoreless 11 minutes into the second half.
Austin and the rest of the Golden Eagle defense has yet to yield a goal in three matches this season, the only team in the Ohio Valley Conference that can stake that claim. The 5-foot-8 senior now has six career shutouts in her two seasons as the Tech starting keeper.
Tech is off to 3-0-0 start for the first time since 2004 and has begun an OVC campaign with three straight wins for the first time since 2015. The Golden Eagles have won all three matches by 1-0 margins to mark the first time in program history that Tech has started a year with three consecutive shutouts.
Askildsen, Austin and the rest of the purple and gold will square off with Belmont on Tuesday at Tech Soccer Field before heading to SEMO on Friday. Tuesday's match in Cookeville is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. CT, while Friday's affair is slated to start at 6 p.m.
