By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – 90 minutes of regulation and two overtime periods of golden goal were not enough to decide a winner in the Tennessee Tech soccer team's appearance in the 2024 OVC Tournament, hosted by the purple and gold Thursday afternoon at Tech Soccer Field.
Scoreless through 110 minutes of action, the top-seeded Golden Eagles were unable to pull through during penalty kicks as No. 5 Morehead State denied TTU's chance at a third-consecutive spot in the tournament's championship match with a victory in the semis. The Eagles (9-6-6) advanced 3-0 on PKs to make reservations for Sunday's title tilt where they will be in search of a second-straight crown in Cookeville after claiming the 2023 OVC Tournament championship at Tech Soccer Field.
After Morehead keeper Lilly Bailey blanked the Golden Eagles (6-8-6) through 110 minutes behind seven saves, MSU turned to Claire Cress during penalty kicks to try and keep the purple and gold off the board. The 5-foot-9 freshman delivered with consecutive stops on Katie Toney and Claire Palya in Tech's first two tries, while Gracen Houck and Hedda Ornberg each split the pipes to put the Eagles ahead 2-0.
Tori Soutuyo nearly found the back of the net on Tech's third PK chance, but the sophomore's bid bounced off the right post to give Morehead an opportunity to win the match with a make. Kennedy Baquero buried the attempt to move MSU to a Sunday showdown with the winner of No. 3 Lindenwood vs. No. 2 Little Rock in the day's other semifinal.
Tech's season concludes with a third-straight OVC regular-season title, the program's first and conference's second-ever outright three-peat.
The Golden Eagles took a season-best 27 shots on the way to outpacing Morehead State 27-12 in the attempt's department. TTU also led 7-1 in shots on-goal and attempted a season-high 13 corners.
Neve Renwick tied a season-high with eight total tries, which included a pair of bids in the two overtimes that nearly won the match for the purple and gold. The Sheffield, England native navigated past MSU keeper Lilly Bailey in the final minute of the first OT, but her try caromed off the left post to keep the match stalemated at nil-nil.
Early in the second extra session, a Renwick missile knocked off the crossbar before subsequent tries by Allison Lee and Katie Toney were all deflected to keep the contest stalled at 0-0. The Golden Eagles attempted seven shots in the second-overtime behind a pair of bids by both Lee and Palya to go along with shots by Renwick, Toney and Ebba Melin.
Erin Fite led paced the Eagles with six of the club's 12 total shots.
Maggie Conrad picked up one save in the contest.
Eight Golden Eagles played in all 110 minutes, including seniors Bella Garrett and Meredith Nye. Nye ends her historical Tech tenure as the only player in league history to be named All-OVC in five separate seasons.
Photo by Jim Dillon
