The UT Martin Skyhawks women’s soccer team beat the Eastern Illinois Panthers 1-0 on Sunday, Nov. 1, to claim the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) regular season championship.
The first goal of the matchup was enough for the Skyhawks to emerge victorious. The goal was scored by junior defender Allie Carroll off a free kick from freshman defender/midfielder Reece Windsor, in just the 13′ minute. Carroll now has three goals on the season.
The Skyhawks’ defense is where they shined in the game, allowing the Panthers seven shots, with only one on goal, and having one save from graduate goalkeeper Mac Titus. Eastern Illinois also gathered six corner kicks which all lead to nothing.
The Skyhawks gathered just five shots with two on goal. Negatively, the Skyhawks committed 11 fouls to the Panthers’ six.
This shutout also marked Titus’ eighth clean sheet of the season, totaling 18 in her career as a Skyhawk.
On the season, the Skyhawks’ defensive identity supplemented themselves as one of the best in the OVC, only allowing two goals in conference play. The defense is something that Head Coach Mike Varga has given praise to all season long.
“We played disciplined. We played a better second half then first half especially defensively,” said Varga following a 1-0 win against Jacksonville State on Sept. 20, 2026.
“Our attacking players did really well defending and put them under duress, and our our backline and midfield did well,” said Varga after a 1-0 win against the Lindenwood Lions on Oct. 4, 2026.
“We did a good job answering that (SEMO goal), but overall I thought we played a really solid 90 minutes,” said Varga following a 2-1 win against the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks. “Our two center backs played really well, and really I can shout out the entire backline.”
With this win, the Skyhawks’ record improves to 6-5-7 with a OVC record of 4-1-2. The last time the Skyhawks won six or more games was in 2021, when the team advanced all the way to finals before losing 1-0 in overtime.
This is the first time since 2021 that the Skyhawks are regular-season OVC champions. The Skyhawks now have six regular-season championships under their belt (2026, 2021, 2018, 2014, 2013 and 2009), tying SEMO for the most in OVC.
Being crowned the regular season champions, the Skyhawks will now host the semifinals and championship match at Skyhawk Soccer Field on Nov. 12 and Nov. 15, where the Skyhawks will take on either the No. 4 Lindenwood Lions, the No. 5 SIUE Cougars or the No. 8 Morehead State Eagles.
“I am so proud of this team,” said Varga.
