By Davis Gregory, UT Martin Sports Information
MARTIN, Tenn.- In front of 581 fans (eighth-best crowd in Skyhawk Field history), the University of Tennessee at Martin soccer team grinded out a 0-0 draw against SIUE.
The UT Martin defense earned their third shutout of the season by holding SIUE to zero shots on goal. Goalkeeper Poppy Bastock played the full 90 minutes along with Izzy Patterson, Joelle Stinson, Makayla Robinson, Catey Hunt, Gwen Walters, Allie Buchmann, Shayla Addington and Brooke Kala.
Freshman Peyton Cook paced the Skyhawks in shots with two while Patterson (one), Stinson (one), Robinson (one), McHenry (one), Kala (one), Jordan Bailey (one) and Rachel Okoro (one) each accounted for an attempt.
The momentum shifted back-and-forth throughout a first half that featured exciting breakaways and physical defense. That trend would carry over to the second half with defense beginning to dominate the final 45 minutes.
As both teams denied each other of any offensive runs, UT Martin broke through in the final moments but couldn’t pull through for the winner as each side earned a point in the conference standings.
“I really liked our effort tonight,” said Skyhawk head coach Mike Varga. “We played with energy and I’ll give some credit to the turnout that we got for the match. It was great to see the stands packed with orange. It’s fitting for senior night to end with a shutout with Catey anchoring our back line. We created some quality chances and their goalkeeper had to come up big.”
UT Martin will travel to Southeast Missouri on Sunday, Oct. 22 at 1 p.m. for the regular season finale. The match will be live streamed on ESPN+ with live stats available.
