By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Ohio Valley Conference play has officially arrived for the Tennessee Tech soccer team. The Golden Eagles will unwrap their nine-match league ledger with a Sunday afternoon battle at Little Rock. Kickoff with the Trojans is slated for noon CT.
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 two-time defending OVC regular-season champion Golden Eagles will put their first foot forward at defending their league crown on Sunday with the first of nine conference clashes. Dating back to the beginning of October 2021, Tech has dropped just one league match, combining to go 15-1-7 over the club's last 23 OVC contests.
This year's version of the purple and gold will officially put its rigorous non-conference slate in the rearview mirror, one that saw the Golden Eagles post an 0-6-4 record heading into Sunday's OVC opener. Tech has picked up a point in three of its last five matches behind draws to Columbia, Chattanooga and Furman.
TTU's knot with Furman was the club's last match, with the two squads playing to a 1-1 stalemate on Sept. 15 in Greenville, S.C. Chasing a 1-0 deficit early in the second half, Neve Renwick secured her conference-leading sixth goal of the season in the 57th minute to pull the purple and gold even. The Sheffield, England native's deadlocking score came courtesy of a penalty kick that continued a Tech trend that has seen the team score of a PK in four of the last five affairs.
Renwick's six goals are three more than any other player in the conference. The sophomore forward also leads the league in points with 13, shots with 39 and shots on-goal with 18. Skyler Williams sits atop the OVC leaderboard in assists with three.
Maggie Conrad paces the conference in saves thanks to 64 denials this fall.
A look at Little Rock
The OVC's preseason No. 4 Trojans host Tech in the conference opener having won three of the last four matches, with all three victories coming courtesy of a clean sheet. Little Rock (3-5-1) collected a 2-0 win over Mississippi Valley State on Thursday after capturing a 7-0 nod over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Sept. 12 and a 2-0 triumph against Central Arkansas on Sept. 5. The club's lone loss over the stretch was a 5-0 home defeat to Oral Roberts on Sept. 15.
In Thursday's win over the Delta Devils, Maria Schuller and Jaeda Centeno each split the pipes to account for the Trojan scoring. Schuller's goal came in the 42nd minute, while Centeno's net-finder took place in the 80th minute. Junior goalkeeper Peyton Urban notched six saves en route to the shutout.
Urban has posted three clean sheets this season. The Austin, Texas product has allowed 14 goals to go along with 41 saves for a 1.68 goals against average and a .745 save percentage.
Offensively, Schuller's three goals lead Little Rock and tie the freshman for the second-most scores in the conference.
Inside the series
Sunday's OVC opener will mark the seventh get-together in the all-time series. Little Rock leads the set 3-2-1, but Tech has captured consecutive wins over the Trojans and are unbeaten in the last three meetings. The two teams met twice last year in a pair of pivotal matchups that were both claimed by the purple and gold.
A 2-1 win in the regular-season finale in Cookeville on Oct. 22 netted Tech with its second-consecutive OVC regular-season championship before the Golden Eagles bested Little Rock again behind a 2-0 triumph in the semifinals of the OVC Tournament on Nov. 2.
The two teams played to a 2-2 draw in the 2022 regular-season finale in the last Little Rock meeting on Oct. 23.
Photo by Jim Dillon
