APSU Sports: Austin Peay Soccer
Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University women’s soccer team begins the push for its first Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship, Friday, when the Lady Govs take on SIU Edwardsville, 7:00pm, at UT Martin’s Skyhawk Field.
The second-seeded Lady Govs return to the OVC Tournament for the first time since 2010, when they advanced to the championship game before falling to Morehead State, 2-1. This is the highest an Austin Peay squad has ever been seeded in the OVC soccer tournament.
Wednesday, four Lady Govs were awarded All-OVC honors, led by OVC Offensive Player of the Year Tatiana Ariza. Her sister Natalia joined her on the first team, while Emily Perkins (the reigning conference Co-Offensive Player of the Week) and Haylee Shoaff made the second team.
Austin Peay won seven of its final eight matches to enter the conference tournament on a hot streak. Six of those eight matches were Lady Gov shutouts thanks the incomparable goalkeeping of Shoaff and a resilient backline led by senior Renny Robinson and sophomore Taylor Van Wagner.
SIU Edwardsville (8-7-3) is the only OVC team to defeat regular-season champion UT Martin, dropping the Skyhawks 1-0, October 7th. The Cougars phenomenal defense (0.79 GAA) has been offset by an anemic offense (0.80 GPG). SIU Edwardsville also had trouble away from Korte Stadium, posting a 1-5-2 mark in road and neutral matches, with the first victory coming against Eastern Kentucky in the OVC Tournament’s opening round; after playing 110 scoreless minutes, the Cougars defeated the Colonels 5-4 on penalty kicks.
Last Time in the OVC Tournament
The third-seeded Lady Govs defeated sixth-seeded Murray State (1-0) and second-seeded Southeast Missouri (3-1) to advance to the championship before falling to top seed Morehead State, 2-1. Tatiana and Natalia Ariza, then freshmen, each scored a pair of goals and were named All-Tournament, as was goalkeeper Carley Newman.
Last Time Against Friday’s Opponent
Austin Peay played SIU Edwardsville to a scoreless tie, October 14th, with Haylee Shoaff making eight saves. It remains the only tie on Austin Peay’s schedule this season.
Keep An Eye On
Junior Andy Quiceno (six goals, three assists) has 15 points this season, tied with Jessica Hosse (2004), Natalia Ariza (2010) and Emily Perkins (2011) for seventh-most in Austin Peay history in a single season.
Junior Tatiana Ariza needs one goal to pass Ashley Beck’s 2007 season output, which would give her sole possession of the No. 2 single-season mark in school history with 13. One assist would give Ariza the top single-season mark in school history; her seven assists currently share the record with Andy Quiceno’s 2010 mark, which Ariza also equaled last year.
Junior Natalia Ariza needs one point to tie Jessica Hosse (2004-07) for fourth all-time in Austin Peay history with 33 career points.
Shoaff needs 12 saves to pass Sarah Broadbent’s 2005 mark of 105 for third-most in a single season in Austin Peay history.
