After a 1-0 victory over Eastern Illinois, the Skyhawk soccer squad traveled to Nashville, Tennessee to take on the Belmont Bruins (1-1) on March 5, ultimately leaving the music city with a 1-0 win. The Skyhawks have improved to 2-0 on the season for the third time in school history, with the first season being 2014.
This Skyhawks-Bruins matchup is the first since the two squads met in the quarterfinals of the 2019 OVC Championship Tournament, in which the then No. 6 seed Bruins won in a 3-2 shootout. This time, however, the offense favored UTM, as the Skyhawks outshot Belmont 15-3, with eight of those shots being on target.
The lone goal of the match came from junior midfielder Skylar Boes, who also netted the first goal of her tenure at UTM. Boes’ strike at 74:09 was assisted by forward/midfielders freshman Emily van der Vliet and junior Hendrikje Baurmann. Defensively, the Skyhawks shut down any scoring threat from Belmont, as the Bruins mustered only three shots, none of which were on target. Senior goalkeeper Erica Meyers earned her 26th career victory and her second-consecutive shutout of the season.
Van der Vliet and senior forward Alice Adams applied consistent pressure on Belmont’s defense, with van der Vliet recording a team-best five shots on goal and tying the team lead in on-target shots with Adams at two apiece. The Skyhawk offense produced four shots on goal in the first half while Belmont was held without a shot for the first 45 minutes of action.
After Boes’ got the Skyhawks on the board, UTM’s defense shut the door on the game. The Bruins managed only one more shot after the goal, which went wide in the 86th minute.
The Skyhawks will return to Martin to protect their undefeated status on March 9th when they play the undefeated Murray State Racers (2-0).
Photo Credit / Sports Information
