The UTM soccer team picked up its fourth straight win in dominating fashion on Tuesday night with a 4-2 victory over Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) foe Southeast Missouri to send its seniors out on top in their final match on Skyhawk Field.
The Skyhawks finished the regular season 6-3-1 and in third place in the OVC standings with 19 points. With tonight’s victory, UTM holds the tie-breaker over Southeast Missouri – who also possesses 19 points – and will enter next week’s OVC Soccer Championship as the No. 3 seed in the four-team field.
UTM continued to show its increased offensive firepower after an impressive five-goal outburst in its last match. The Skyhawks tallied four goals on 20 shots while placing 12 of those on goal. Over the last three matches alone, the Skyhawks have scored 11 of their season’s 16 goals.
Prior to the match, the Skyhawks honored eight of the team’s graduating players which would play their final contest at home. The group of Baylee Arnott, Blare Gerido, Morgan Glaenzer, Jaden Hildreth, Jill Hildreth, Bella Roberts, Jacalyn Schubring and Isabelle Thibault were each recognized for their contributions to the program in a pregame ceremony while their families stood and cheered from the sidelines.
When the match got underway, one of the honorees wasted very little time getting the rest of the crowd on their feet as Jill Hildreth scored her first of two goals on the night in the 16th minute to put the Skyhawks on the board.
That lone goal would be the game’s only scoring output in a somewhat quiet first half in which UTM held Southeast Missouri without a single shot attempt.
The second half would be a different story as the intensity was turned up on both sides of the pitch with scoring by each team. Fresh off being named OVC Offensive Player of the Week, Emely van der Vliet took a nice lead pass from Catey Hunt in the 61st minute to find separation and score her seventh goal of the season.
The Skyhawks added to their margin just over 10 minutes later as Jaden Hildreth narrowly missed a goal of her own as it grazed off the crossbar and deflected back into play, setting up Alice Adams for her second goal of the season in the 72nd minute to take a 3-0 lead.
Southeast Missouri did not go quietly however despite the sizable margin, answering with a goal of its own to get on the board just 51 seconds later off a score by Nadiia Ivanchenko and an assist by Lauren Welker.
The twin sister combo of Jill and Jaden Hildreth would combine for a nice pairing later in the match to cap their memorable Senior Night as Jaden found Jill with an assist for her fifth goal of the season and second of the night in the 82nd minute to take a 4-1 advantage.
In the final minutes of the contest, the Redhawks made one last push as Welker tallied her second assist of the evening – this time finding Abby Tremain for a goal – to bring the margin to its final score of 4-2.
UTM will now shift its focus to the OVC Soccer Championship which will be hosted by regular-season champion Murray State. The Skyhawks will enter the field as the third seed where they will take on the No. 2 seed SIUE on Thursday, Apr. 15.
