UT Martin soccer falls to 1-4-3 through week five of the season. The Skyhawks lost to the Northern Illinois (UNI) Panthers and tied with the Evansville (UE) Aces, dropping them to sixth in the OVC rankings as we are just one game away from OVC play against SIUE on Sept. 22.
University of Northern Illinois: Home
The Skyhawks played UNI at home on Sunday, Sept. 8, where they fell to the Panthers 3-2. The Skyhawks fell early in the game with goals from UNI’s Lauren Heinsch and Maddie Eastus in the 12th and 17th minute respectively. Going down two goals early required a response from the Skyhawks. The answer would come from senior midfielder, Izzy Patterson, who made the Skyhawks first goal in the 24th minute following a yellow card on the Panthers. Following this response from the Skyhawks was an 11-minute scoreless period before UNI’s Ella Anliker scored her first goal of the season on an assist from Caroline Hazen in the 38th minute, which was the last goal of the period. The Skyhawks finished the first period with six shots on goal and with three saves from Mac Titus and five fouls.
It took the Skyhawks seven minutes in the second period before they managed to tie up the score with a goal from Makayla Robinson in the 52nd minute. This would be the last goal of the game. The following 48 minutes would be a very messy back and forth effort from both teams with 15 shots and eight fouls. The final result was a hard fought 3-2 loss for the Skyhawks.
University of Evansville: Away
The Skyhawks played UE in Evansville on Thursday, Sept. 12, where they tied with the Aces 1-1. It was a strong defensive performance from both teams with seven saves in the first half keeping the scoreboard empty in the first period. It was a tie game that didn’t see its first goal until the 63rd minute from UE’s Emmy Brenner. A goal that seemed like it could have been the only score of the game from the defensive performance we saw from both sides, but freshman Unni Wolf had other plans. The young midfielder scored the Skyhawks’ only goal and the games last goal all by herself in the 80th minute. A great defensive performance would continue after that. In the last 10 minutes the Skyhawks would get two shots and the Aces would get one. In the end, neither would be able finish the other off.
The Skyhawks’ next week will take them to Edwardsville Illinois where they will face the Panthers (1-4-2) at 3 p.m. on Sept. 22.
