The Tennessee Tech women’s soccer team earned its first Ohio Valley Conference tournament bid since 2003.Although the Golden Eagles lost both matches last weekend against the University of Tennessee at Martin and Murray State University, Tech secured a sixth-place finish in the OVC regular season standings to qualify for postseason play.
“Chris ran through all the possible scenarios on the bus,” said head coach Becky Fletcher, referring to assistant coach Chris Walker.
“We were overjoyed when we knew we got in the tournament.”
This last weekend was chaotic for all the teams in the OVC as no position had been secured going into the weekend.
“We moved between three different places in 15 minutes,” said Walker.
According to Fletcher, the wild weekend proved something she and Walker knew throughout the season.
“There is so much parity in the conference,” Fletcher said.
“It’s anyone’s tournament now and hopefully this will light a fire under our team.”
The Golden Eagles open tournament action on November 4 by traveling back to UT-Martin, where they will look to avenge their 1-0 loss to the SkyHawks this past weekend.
“Martin is a very good team,” Fletcher said. “We are going to have to play our best. We know it’s going to take a full 90 minutes to beat them. We have yet to play our best game this season.”
If the Golden Eagles defeat UT-Martin, they will advance into the semi-finals where they would play Eastern Kentucky. Tech claimed a 2-1 overtime win over EKU in their earlier meeting on Oct. 3.
“We are three games away from the national tournament,” said Walker. “It’s exciting to think about it, where we started and where we are now. We will be ready for Martin.”
“This is something special for the team,” said Fletcher. “It’s been five years since Tech has been in the tournament. I am proud of where we are.
