By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – For the third-consecutive season the OVC Tournament's final four will convene in Cookeville. Hosting for a third-straight year as the top seed, the Tennessee Tech soccer team will unwrap the tourney's semifinals with a Thursday battle against No. 5 Morehead State. Kickoff is set for noon CT.
No. 3 Lindenwood will lock up with No. 2 Little Rock in the other semifinal bout, slated to start at 3 p.m. CT. The championship match is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m.
Admission to Tech Soccer Field is free of charge.
A look at No. 1 Tennessee Tech
As the conference's top seed, the Golden Eagles (6-8-5, 6-2-1 OVC) enjoyed a double-bye straight to the semifinals where they will be making the program's seventh trip to the OVC Tournament semis over the last 10 seasons.
Tech earned the league's third-ever regular-season three-peat and second-ever outright three-peat after topping Lindenwood 2-0 in a "winner-take-all" scenario on the season's final day on Oct. 27. Murray State captured a share of the 2016 title with Eastern Kentucky as part of a Racer run of three in a row from 2015-17. Samford secured four consecutive outright championships from 2003-06.
Tech's latest title is the program's fourth overall regular-season crown. The Golden Eagles secured the OVC's first regular-season championship in 1998.
Tech is in search of its second-ever OVC Tournament title after claiming the crown in 2000 thanks to a 1-0, double-overtime win over Eastern Illinois in the final to advance to its only NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. The Golden Eagles have made the championship match in each of the last two years in their first-ever appearances as the host school.
Last year Tech took down Little Rock 2-0 in the semifinals before falling 1-0 to Morehead State in overtime of the championship clash. In 2022 the purple and gold knocked off Lindenwood 5-0 in the semis before they were upended 1-0 by SIUE in the title tilt.
TTU wrapped up a regular season that saw them lead the league in goals for a third-straight year behind 31 scores in 19 matches. From an individual standpoint, Neve Renwick is currently sitting atop the conference with 10 goals and 22 points. The Sheffield, England native was honored as the OVC Forward of the Year to go along with a spot on the All-OVC first team. Renwick's 10 goals are tied with Robin Vince (2001) for the fifth-most in a single season in program history.
Lucia Cuadra and Katie Toney joined Renwick on the first team, while Maggie Conrad and Meredith Nye were both recognized on the All-OVC second team. Skylar Williams secured a spot on the OVC All-Newcomer team to round out Tech's list of postseason accolades.
Cuadra leads the league with nine assists, the most in a single season by any player conference since Murray State's Abby Jones had 11 in 2019. The Barcelona, Spain product is tied with Jill Burns (2003) and Kristin Stegeman (2000) for the second-most assists in a single-season in school history.
Toney took home All-OVC first-team recognition for a second-straight year after putting a lid on regular season that saw the junior forward tie for fourth in the conference with seven goals and knot for fourth in the league with 18 points.
Junior goalkeeper Maggie Conrad is second in the OVC with 94 stops. The All-OVC second teamer has notched four shutouts, all during league action. Meredith Nye became the first-ever five-time All-OVC recipient after her reservation on the second time. The senior midfielder leads the Golden Eagles with 1,675 minutes this season, starting all 19 matches. Nye has appeared in all 90 minutes in 17 of 19 affairs this year.
Skylar Williams has five assists in her first season as a Golden Eagle to tie for fifth in the league.
A look at No. 5 Morehead State
The defending OVC Tournament champion Eagles (9-6-5, 4-3-2 OVC) come to Cookeville on the heels of two straight tourney victories to advance to the semifinals. Morehead first knocked off eighth-seeded UT Martin with a 1-0 nod in the first round before picking up a thrilling 2-1 win over fourth-seeded Southern Indiana on USI's home pitch in the quarterfinals.
Down 1-0 heading into the second half of the quarters, MSU scored twice to punch its ticket to Tech Soccer Field. Hedda Ornberg squared the score in the 55th minute before Anna Lohrer collected a dramatic game-winning goal in the 88th minute to push past the Screaming Eagles. Erin Fite assisted on both scores.
Ornberg, who was Morehead's lone All-OVC first teamer, is second in the conference with nine goals, trailing only Renwick's 10. Fite's team-leading five assists are good enough for a tie for third in the OVC.
From a goalkeeping perspective, Lilly Bailey started all nine conference clashes as well as both OVC Tournament tilts in between the pipes for the Eagles. The freshman out of Perth, Australia has allowed 13 goals in 15 matches to go along with 60 saves. Bailey has a 0.95 goals against average and a .822 save percentage.
Morehead State won the OVC Tournament in 2023 for the program's fourth-ever tourney title. The Eagles were upended in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by No. 1 Florida State.
Inside the series
Thursday's postseason meeting will mark the 31st showdown in the all-time series. The Golden Eagles lead the set 14-12-4, which includes a dramatic 1-0 victory in the regular-season matchup in Cookeville on Oct. 3. A Hedda Ornberg penalty kick that would have knotted the match inside the final two minutes of regulation was denied by Maggie Conrad to give the Golden Eagles the victory.
Katie Toney provided the tilt's lone score with a goal in the seventh minute. Lucia Cuadra assisted on score.
Photo by Jim Dillon
