By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Three unanswered goals were enough for South Alabama to come to Cookeville and leave with a 3-2 victory over the Tennessee Tech soccer team Sunday afternoon.
The Golden Eagles (0-5-3) raced out to a quick beginning behind a pair of early scores by Lucia Cuadra, but the Jaguars battled back with an early goal of their own in the first, and two more in the second, to escape with the narrow nod.
Cuadra collected her first two goals in her Tech tenure by finding the back of the net in the 11th and 12th minutes to push the purple and gold to a 2-0 advantage. The first of the two scores came courtesy of a penalty kick after the Barcelona, Spain native was taken down in the box just over 10 minutes into the match. Cuadra unwrapped the scoring by capitalizing on the chance with a low liner that snuck inside the left post.
Just over a minute later, the graduate student was at it again with another goal that doubled up Tech's margin. Skyler Williams led Katie Toney with a pass near the end line on the right side of the box before Toney's cross was deflected by a Jaguar defender and onto the waiting shoe tops of Cuadra. The 5-foot-2 midfielder gathered possession, made a quick move, and then buried the opportunity inside the right post to give the Golden Eagles a 2-0 lead in the 12th minute.
The two-score lead would prove to be short lived after South Alabama (4-3-0) responded a mere five minutes later on a Laurie-Ann Moise goal in the 17th minute. An initial cross from April Lantaigne was then skied by Syndey Magliocca right in front of the net and onto a waiting crowd situated in close. Moise emerged through traffic and headed it home to cut the Jaguar deficit in half. Lantaigne and Magliocca each earned an assist on the play.
Tech would go into intermission leading 2-1, but South Alabama quickly provided an equalizer with a game-locking score in the first minute of the second stanza. A lengthy top-shelf drive whistled in between the pipes by Irene Campo in the 46th minute to square the score at 2-2.
Campo would be involved in the go-ahead and deciding score late in the second after assisting Monique Gray on the game-winner in the 78th minute. A quick Campo pass found Gray with slight space in the box before the Jaguar forward found the back of the net for the club's third unanswered goal.
Trailing by one, the Golden Eagles would have one last look, but a Neve Renwick free kick a few feet outside the box in the tilt's final two minutes was redirected on a diving try by South Alabama keeper Allison Luckhardt hold the Jaguar edge.
Renwick's attempt was one of three shots for the sophomore forward. Cuadra led the Golden Eagles with four bids, while Moise's five tries were the most in the match. The Jaguars outshot the Golden Eagles 21-12, with TTU picking up six attempts in each half.
Maggie Conrad notched six stops and Luckhardt recorded two saves on shots by Renwick and Toney in the affair's first six minutes.
The Golden Eagles will host Belmont in the club's final non-conference home match of the season on Thursday, Sept. 12. The meeting under the lights is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. CT. Admission to Tech Soccer Field is free of charge.
Photo by Jim Dillon
