The UT Martin Skyhawks women’s soccer team landed two goals to take a conference win at home on senior night against the Southeast Missouri State (SEMO) Redhawks.
Pregame, the Skyhawks honored six seniors: goalkeepers Jordyn Riffle and Mac Titus, midfielder Maren Cain, forward Peyton Cook, defense/midfielder Ella Rucka and forward/midfielder Caroline Moore.
Cain has been with the Skyhawks for four seasons and has played in 23 matches, although she has been limited this season due to injury.
Cook has played in 73 matches for the Skyhawks and has started in 64. She has 11 goals and 10 assists in her career.
Moore has played four seasons with the Skyhawks, playing in 41 matches with five starts. She has totaled two goals and five assists in her career.
Riffle has been with the Skyhawks for four seasons, playing in seven matches with two starts and has a career save percentage of .883.
Rucka has played four seasons with the Skyhawks, playing in 58 matches with 37 starts. Rucka has one goal and one assist in her career.
Titus has played three seasons for the Skyhawks, playing and starting in 53 matches, including all 16 this season. Titus ranks top 10 in minutes played, saves, goals against average, wins and shutouts in UT Martin history. She also has eight total Ohio Valley Conference goalkeeper of the week honors with four of them coming from this season, the most in a season by a Skyhawk. Her eight total awards is a career program record.
In the first half of the match, the Redhawks dominated time-of-possession, keeping the ball for nearly 15 minutes before the Skyhawks had a chance. It took until the 36th minute for the first score of the match, when Redhawks freshman forward Chloe Ouimet found freshman defender Mathea Konig to take the lead. That goal would be the only one of the game for the Redhawks.
Immediately following the goal from Konig, exactly 32 seconds after, graduate midfielder/forward Maggie Stephens caught the Redhawks defense on a whim and stole the ball, scoring just feet in front of Redhawks senior goalkeeper Natalie Allison.
Going into the half, with a score of 1-1, the energy was turning in favor of the Skyhawks.
To begin the second half, the Skyhawks’ offense broke through in the 60′ minute after sophomore forward Alex Weihs found senior forward Millie Perry for the lead. The goal from Perry would be enough for the Skyhawks to emerge victorious.
UT Martin outperformed SEMO in every category but one. The Skyhawks had 15 shots, seven shots on goal, five saves and two corner kicks. The redhawks had 10 shots, six shots on goal, five saves and one corner kick.
Head coach Mike Varga was pleased with performance, as the Skyhawks got three conference points from the win.
“I thought we played well against a very good team, SEMO has shown that they’re a quality opponent,” said Varga “…there’s five teams that are pretty tight with points. So to get three points at home on senior night was an important win for us.”
The UT Martin Aviators Marching Band was also in attendance for senior night, keeping the Skyhawks energy up.
The win helped the Skyhawks gain pace, as they now sit in second in the OVC standings with 11 points in conference play, just behind the Lindenwood Lions and the Eastern Illinois Panthers.
The Skyhawks will face the Panthers in their last matchup before the OVC tournament on Sunday, Nov. 1, at Lakeside Soccer Field in Charleston, Illinois.
