By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Following a perfect 2-0 weekend that saw the Tennessee Tech soccer team outscore the opposition 5-0 in its pair of OVC victories, three Golden Eagles were honored for their efforts in helping guide the purple and gold to a successful conference showing.
A clean sweep of the Ohio Valley Conference weekly awards was the story for Tech as Katie Toney took home the OVC's Offensive Player of the Week honor, Meredith Nye secured the league's Defensive Player of the Week accolade and Maggie Conrad captured the conference's Goalkeeper of the Week award Tuesday afternoon.
TTU's trio of weekly honors marks just the third time in program history in which the Golden Eagles secured all three awards in the same week. Chloe Smith (Offensive), Selma Askildsen (Defensive) and Isabelle Austin (Goalkeeper) all earned weekly accolades on Oct. 12, 2021 for the last clean-sweep showing in program history.
The three awards push Tech's season total to five weekly honors after Neve Renwick (Aug. 20) and Lucia Cuadra (Sept. 10) each were named OVC Offensive Player of the Week earlier this season.
Toney's recognition as the league's Offensive Player of the Week comes on the heels of a five-point performance in Tech's wins against SEMO and at UT Martin. The McMinnville, Tenn. native scored a goal in TTU's 3-0 victory over SEMO on Sept. 26 before splitting the pipes and adding an assist in the 2-0 triumph at UT Martin on Sept. 29. Toney is now tied for third in the OVC with four goals, while her 10 total points is also good enough for third in the conference.
Nye earns the league's Defensive Player of the Week distinction after playing a pivotal role in Tech's first two clean sheets of the year. The senior out of Jackson, Tenn. did not leave the pitch at any point, accumulating 180 total minutes of action over the course of the two victories. Nye also recorded her first goal of the year, unwrapping the scoring in the 10th minute of Tech's 3-0 triumph over SEMO.
Conrad's Goalkeeper of the Week achievement is well warranted after picking up her first two shutouts of the fall. The 5-foot-7 junior combined for 13 stops in the pair of clean sheets, which included two penalty-kick saves in the win over SEMO. Conrad denied a Redhawk PK in the 45th minute to go along with a PK halt in the 89th minute to keep SEMO off the board. The Cedar Rapids, Iowa product currently leads the conference with 78 saves.
Toney, Nye, Conrad and the rest of the Golden Eagles will host Morehead State in the club's next clash on Thursday, Oct. 3. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and admission to Tech Soccer Field is free of charge.
Photos by Jim Dillon
