By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – It was a Sunday made for history in a match for all the marbles for the Tennessee Tech soccer team.
A goal in the first and one more in the second proved to be enough as the Golden Eagles capped off a rare and historic three-peat in a 2-0 win over Lindenwood at Tech Soccer Field. TTU's triumph pushed the purple and gold to the program's third-straight Ohio Valley Conference regular-season championship and fourth regular-season title overall (1998).
The three-peat is only the third in the history of the OVC, but just the second-ever outright three-peat. Murray State claimed a share of the 2016 title with Eastern Kentucky as part of the Racer run of three in a row from 2015-17. Samford claimed four consecutive outright crowns from 2003-06.
Tech's title also gives the Golden Eagles the No. 1 overall seed in the OVC Tournament and double-bye straight to the semifinals. TTU will host the semifinals (Nov. 7) and championship match (Nov. 10) for the third-straight year.
The Golden Eagles (6-8-5, 6-2-1 OVC) unwrapped the scoring late in the first half on a Neve Renwick goal for the sophomore forward's league-leading 10th of the year. The Sheffield, England native collected possession before navigating her way into the left side of the box and flicking a bid over the leaping try of Caroline Ritter to give the Golden Eagles the edge.
Renwick's 10th score ties Robin Vince (2001) for the fifth-most in a single season in program history.
Leading 1-0 at the break, Tech quickly doubled up the margin over the Lions (8-5-4, 4-1-4 OVC) early in the second half. A Lucia Cuadra corner in the 49th minute connected with Allison Lee, who headed in her third goal of the season to extend the Golden Eagle advantage to 2-0. Cuadra's assist was her OVC-leading ninth of the year to tie Jill Burns (2003) and Kristin Stegeman (2000) for the second-most in a single season in school history. All nine of Cuadra's assists have taken place over the last eight matches.
Tech's two-goal cushion was in good hands after Maggie Conrad notched four saves to pick up her fourth clean sheet of the season, all in conference action. The Cedar Rapids, Iowa native denied Lindenwood in its most serious threat after a Mackenzie Compton top-shelf attempt saw Conrad climb the ladder and pop the try over the crossbar to keep the Lions off the board.
Caroline Ritter picked up three saves across the way.
Renwick led the match with five total shots, while Compton paced Lindenwood with three attempts. Tech outshot the Lions, 13-10.
Prior to the start of the contest, Tech honored the senior class of manager Bethany Lyons, Lucia Cuadra, Bella Garrett, Madison North and Meredith Nye.
Tech Soccer Field will welcome the final four of the OVC Tournament for the semifinals on Thursday, Nov. 7. The championship match is slated for Sunday, Nov. 10.
Photo by Jim Dillon
