By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – A battle from the moment the ball was kicked off, the Tennessee Tech soccer team picked up a clutch draw against in-state rival ETSU Thursday evening, picking up a 1-1 decision at Tech Soccer Field.
The visiting Buccaneers opened the match with a strong attack, controlling the offensive zone early on. Tech bounced back, finding a rhythm that resulted in outshooting ETSU 7-3 over the first half. That first-half salvo was highlighted by a particularly gritty marker.
After losing control of the ball in the ETSU penalty box, senior forward Taylor Clark refused to give up on the play, sneaking behind the Buc defender and using a perfectly-timed slide tackle to poke the ball lose just as the visiting goalkeeper came out to try and secure the play. The Cumming, Ga. native then flicked the ball while still on the ground over to a wide-open Tori Soutuyo.
The rookie from Chattanooga didn't waste the opportunity, burying a shot into the upper right corner of the net for her first collegiate goal. Clark also picked up her first career assist on the play, giving the Golden Eagles a 1-0 lead in the 41st minute of action.
"We started a little slow over the first 20 minutes and then found ourselves with a goal," Tech head coach Steve Springthorpe expressed. "Credit to TC [Clark]. She had gone in as our target forward and just scrapped. She kind of slide-tackled the ball, it popped out, Tori was there to pick it up, and she stuck it home. It was great for Tori to get a goal and awesome for TC to come and create that for our team. It's about getting scrappy goals when you have to."
Clearly frustrated with its first-half play, ETSU went to the bench for a change in net. The switch, coupled with a relentless attack to open the second stanza paid dividends for the visitors.
The Buccaneers lived in Golden Eagle territory early in the second half, pressing all the way up to midfield. That pressure resulted in an equalizer from the Bucs in the 53rd minute, as Grace Eatz hauled in a long, towering pass from Madi Hook and peppered a bullet from outside the box that just beat an outstretched Maggie Conrad.
"I didn't think we did a good job in the second half handling their early pressure," Springthorpe explained. "They were really direct and put a lot of pressure on our back line. We had a hard time getting possession of the ball. Their girl hit one from 35 yards out and what can you do about that? I do think we should have challenged to get a few more opportunities in the second half, but you can't fault the back line. That was just a big shot by a player who took her chance."
Despite the goal, the Tech defense held steady the remainder of the evening, staving off attack after attack from the visitors from Johnson City, Tenn. ETSU racked up nine total shots over the second half alone to just one for the purple and gold.
"The encouraging thing is we got a tie out of the night, but we can still play better," Springthorpe said. "You have to give a lot of credit to them. I think they played the style they wanted to play and negated some of the things we wanted to do for the majority of the match. We would have liked to come out with a win today, but it's a process with our team. We still have a lot of work to do and we're still young. It's early and we're trying to figure some things out."
Conrad picked up her second draw of the season, making a pair of huge saves in the second half to help keep the Bucs out of the win column. Freshman Neve Renwick and senior Yao Giada Zhou each led the Golden Eagles with two shots on the night.
"I was encouraged with how we played," Springthorpe added. "I think we played probably our best 90 minutes of soccer so far, but it still needs to get better. I think our backline has done a really good job over the course of the entire season and they handled the directness today. We'll keep working on it."
The Golden Eagles return to action Sunday, Sept. 3, kicking off a two-game road stretch with a trip to Indianapolis and 12:00 p.m. CT affair at IUPUI. Tech then makes a visit south to Birmingham for a 6:00 p.m. tilt at UAB on Thursday, Sept. 7.
Photo by Jim Dillon
