By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech soccer team is set to make its 2024 home opener as the Golden Eagles will unlock their Cookeville slate with a Sunday matinee against Miami (Ohio). Kickoff at Tech Soccer Field is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT and admission is free of charge.
The match will be streamed live on ESPN+. Click here to watch. Live stats will also be available. Click here to view.
A look at Tennessee Tech
The Golden Eagles (0-1-0) will enter the home opener on the heels of a season-opening 3-1 defeat Thursday evening at Samford that saw the two clubs combined for three goals after intermission. Trailing 2-0 to the Southern Conference's preseason No. 2 squad, Tech found the back of the net in the 59th minute, courtesy of a Neve Renwick goal that cut the deficit in half.
The reigning OVC Freshman of the Year's sixth-career goal came off of an Abigail Davis pass for the sophomore's first-career assist.
Tech attempted eight shots in the contest, including six on-goal. Renwick paced the purple and gold with four tires, three of which were on-point. 17 Golden Eagles appeared in the match with Davis, Maggie Conrad and Cheyenne McCloud playing all 90 minutes.
Tech was recently selected as the preseason favorite in last week's Ohio Valley Conference Predicted Order of Finish after collecting 12 of a possible 20 first-place votes. The Golden Eagles entered the year having captured each of the last two OVC regular-season titles for the program's first-ever back-to-back conference championships. Each of the last two titles were officially sewn up at Tech Soccer Field after knocking off Little Rock to claim the conference in 2023 and Morehead State to take the title in 2022.
A look at Miami (Ohio)
The RedHawks come to Cookeville following a season-opening 4-0 triumph over Eastern Kentucky in Thursday night's tangle in Oxford, Ohio. After a 33rd-minute score from Caroline Palmer for the first stanza's only goal, Miami went off in the second half to the tune of three more goals, including two from Taylor Hamlett. The 5-foot-7 forward out of Mars, Pa. also picked up two assists for a six-point showing.
Junior goalkeeper Mallory Thomas secured her second career clean sheet thanks to five stops in between the pipes.
The RedHawks are coming off an 8-10-1 campaign in 2023, but did manage to catch fire toward the tail end of the season behind a four-match winning streak that saw the club outscore their opponents 9-1 over the surge. The 2022 season saw the squad go 9-5-6 overall for the program's first winning record in seven years.
Inside the series
Sunday's gathering will mark the first-ever meeting in the all-time series.
Photo by Jim Dillon
