BOX SCORE

RICHMOND, Ky. – Senior Carly Muller scored the game-winning goal early in the second half as the Eastern Kentucky University women’s soccer team blanked Tennessee Tech, 1-0, on Sunday afternoon at EKU Soccer Field for the Colonels’ fifth straight win.

With the win, the Colonels (6-4-2, 3-0-0 OVC) remain undefeated in the OVC and atop the OVC standings. The loss drops Tennessee Tech to 2-9-0 (0-2-0 OVC) on the year.

“We’ve never been 3-0 in the OVC so it’s fun and exciting right now,” Muller said. “But we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves because we still have a lot of work to do.”

Offense was hard to come by in the frigid 50 degrees weather on Sunday. However, following a scoreless first half, Muller received a pass from sophomore Katie Collar in the 50th minute and got a shot past TTU goalkeeper Megan Polk to give the Colonels the lead.

It proved to be all the Colonel defense would need as the backline shut down the TTU attack over the last 40 minutes to give the Colonels their fifth shutout of the season and fourth in their last seven games. The Colonel defense has now allowed only three goals in its last seven games.

Collar, junior Stephanie Murray and sophomores Deja Tennon and Hayley Wright played all 90 minutes of the shutout on the backline.

Senior Stephanie Lynch played all 90 minutes in goal for EKU and made three saves en route to earning her fourth shutout of the season and 21st of her career.

Polk played all 90 minutes in goal for the Golden Eagles and made six stops.

EKU outshot TTU on the day, 16-13. Muller and fellow senior Courtney Nestor led the Colonels with two shots on goal apiece. Ellie Iaciofano led the Golden Eagles with three shots on the afternoon.

The Colonels have played five of their last six games at home but will now go on the road for four straight games.

“Because we’re going to be playing on the road, we’re going to have stay more composed and play with more attention to detail,” Collar said.

EKU plays at Southeast Missouri State on Friday at 8:00 p.m. and then plays at Eastern Illinois on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.

“We’re excited to get on the road,” head coach Lindsay Basalyga said. “We’ve been home for two weekends and we’re excited to see what we can do on the road now.”