Tech soccer takes home OVC-leading 10 postseason accolades to tie program record
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Purple and gold once again reigned supreme on the OVC’s postseason honors list as the Tennessee Tech soccer team boasted a huge haul with a league-leading 10 accolades to tie the program record.
By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Athletics Media Relations
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Purple and gold once again reigned supreme on the OVC's postseason honors list as the Tennessee Tech soccer team boasted a huge haul with a league-leading 10 accolades to tie the program record.
Lucia Cuadra was named the Ohio Valley Conference Midfielder of the Year, while Claire Palya was recognized as the OVC Defender of the Year and Corey Boyd as the conference's Coach of the Year to become the only team in the league with three "of the year" awards. The trio of the "of the year" accolades knot the 2023 Tech team for the most such honors in a single season.
Cuadra and Palya joined Katie Toney and Allison Lee on the All-OVC first team, while Maggie Conrad and Natalie Howard secured spots on the second team. Eva Baker rounded out Tech's spoils with a place on the OVC All-Newcomer team.
TTU's 10 postseason honors tie the 2022 and 2023 purple and gold squads for the most accolades in a single season in program history. The four first-teamers also tie the 2023 and 2000 Tech clubs for the most first-teamers in a single season and make it a fourth-straight year with at least three on the All-OVC first team. The Golden Eagles extended their school record of now 11 consecutive seasons with at least one member on the first team.
Lucia Cuadra's Midfielder of the Year distinction makes it three times in the last four seasons in which a Golden Eagle took home the honor after Yao Giada Zhou was named the OVC Midfielder of the Year in 2022 and 2023. Cuadra also makes it a second-straight season on the All-OVC first team after leading all players in the conference with 15 points during OVC play.
The graduate student out of Barcelona, Spain tallied five goals and a league-leading five assists to run her total to 14 helpers in just two seasons in purple and gold, tied for the seventh-most on the Tech career chart. With three goals in a win over Western Illinois on Sept. 28, Cuadra became the sixth different Golden Eagle to record a hat trick, representing the ninth total occurrence in program history.
Claire Palya is the first Golden Eagle to take home the OVC Defensive Player of the Year honor since Kari Naerdemann in 2017, but is the first for Tech since the conference separated Goalkeeper and Defender of the Year in 2020. Palya played in 1,687 out of a possible 1,710 minutes, appearing in all 90 minutes in 17 of 19 matches during the regular season.
The Knoxville, Tenn. native helped anchor a Golden Eagle defense that collected four shutouts during OVC play, including three straight to close out the regular season. Palya was named the OVC Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 21 after helping push Tech to a pair of clean sheets in wins over Southern Indiana and Southeast Missouri. In the victory over SEMO, the Golden Eagles yielded a season-low two shots, highlighted by none on-goal. Palya also picked up a pair of goals with scores in wins over Western Illinois and Lindenwood to go along with an assist in Tech's first goal of the season in a 1-1 draw against ETSU on Aug. 28.
In his second season guiding the Golden Eagles, Corey Boyd becomes the third different head coach to take home OVC Coach of the Year distinction. Qasim Sheikh hoisted the award in 1998 before Steve Springthorpe was named conference Coach of the Year in 2022 and 2023. Boyd led Tech to the club's fourth-straight OVC regular-season championship, becoming only the second school in league history to win four straight regular-season crowns. Samford secured a four-peat from 2003-06.
Under Boyd's direction, the Golden Eagles joined Little Rock as the first OVC clubs to cap off an undefeated conference campaign since Tech accomplished the feat in 2022. TTU's current nine-match unbeaten streak also ties the program's all-time mark. The 2023 and 2017 Golden Eagles put together a nine-match unblemished run as well.
Katie Toney makes it a third-straight season on the All-OVC first team to go along with a fourth-consecutive year on an all-conference squad after being named to the All-OVC second team as a freshman in 2022. The McMinnville, Tenn. product is the only the second Golden Eagle to be named to the first team in three straight seasons, joining Kari Naerdemann's run of three in a row from 2015-17.
Toney found the back of the net five times this year, all in OVC play to finish in a tie for fourth in the conference in goals scored in league action. The senior forward came up in the clutch down the stretch for the purple and gold, splitting the pipes four times over the last five matches to help push Tech to its fourth-straight OVC regular-season title. Toney also recorded a pair of assists, which included a helper in the regular-season finale against Eastern Illinois as part of a three-point showing for the 5-foot-5 forward after Toney scored a goal as well to help TTU officially clinch the title.
Toney's five-goal regular season moved her to 21 career goals, good enough for sole possession of third place on the program's career list.
Allison Lee's spot on the All-OVC first team marks her second career postseason honor after reserving a position on the newcomer team as a freshman in 2022. A crucial component of Tech's midfield, Lee finished fourth among field players on the team with 1,550 minutes of action, playing in all 90 minutes on 12 occasions.
The red-shirt junior out of Powell, Tenn. produced three goals and six points throughout the regular season, which included finding the back of the net in two straight matches in victories over Western Illinois and Lindenwood. Lee's trio of scores in 2025 gives her nine career goals.
Maggie Conrad makes it a second-straight season on the All-OVC second team after finishing second in the conference with a 0.56 goals against average in league play, just percentage points behind EIU's Ella Kratochvil for the best mark in the OVC. Conrad's four shutouts during conference action tied her for third in the league, while her .857 save percentage during OVC play was good enough for fourth among conference keepers.
Conrad saved her best for last in the regular season, posting three straight clean sheets to wrap up the regular year. The Cedar Rapids, Iowa native has the second-most career shutouts in program history with 22, and after securing a win over Eastern Illinois in the regular-season finale, Conrad moved into sole possession for second in career wins in program history behind 29 victories.
Natalie Howard's place on the All-OVC second team is well warranted after ending the regular season with a team-leading seven goals to tie for the third-most scores in the conference. Thanks to two assists as well, the Collierville, Tenn. product posted a Tech-best 16 points to wrap up the regular year in third in the OVC.
Howard also led the Golden Eagles will three game-winning goals, all in OVC play. The sophomore forward scored the winner in the last two matches of the regular season to help propel the purple and gold to the league championship.
Eva Baker earns OVC All-Newcomer team accolades after appearing in 18 of 19 matches in the regular season, tallying 658 minutes of action. The freshman out of Johnson City, Tenn. is fresh off a season-best 76 minutes of action in the win over Eastern Illinois that clinched the OVC regular-season championship. Baker notched one of her eight shots on the year in the win over the Panthers to go along with creating several other offensive opportunities for Tech in the crucial victory.
As the No. 1 seed in the OVC Tournament for the fourth-straight year, the Golden Eagles will host the semifinals and championship match at Tech Soccer Field for the fourth time in school history. The semis are slated for Thursday, Nov. 6, while the championship clash is set to take place on Sunday, Nov. 9.
Photo | Jim Dillon
