By Alex Boggis, UT Martin Assistant Sports Information Director
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Adding yet another asterisk to an already-stellar five-year career as a Skyhawk, the University of Tennessee at Martin soccer team has snagged the first of what could be many Ohio Valley Conference Goalkeeper of the Week awards for graduate goalie Erica Myers, the league announced on Tuesday afternoon.
A native of Holland, Ohio, Myers has brought an impervious defensive performance to the table over the team’s first two meetings of the 2021 campaign, grabbing two shutouts in as many attempts while logging all 200 minutes versus Southern Illinois and Little Rock in a 72-hour window last week. Calculating five saves in total across a 2-0 victory over the Salukis and a double-overtime draw when visiting the Trojans, Myers continues to be a renowned figure throughout the OVC for her role in one of the conference’s most intrusive defenses, evident by her sixth Goalkeeper of the Week nod on Tuesday.
Earning the distinction once during her freshman year back in 2017 before repeating the feat twice each as a junior and senior, Myers has been perfect in the net through the equivalent of three hours and 20 minutes of game-time at the position this fall. In total, the Skyhawks have only surrendered 13 shot attempts in the two meetings, holding SIU to just two for the entire evening before limiting LR to 20 shots less than what they gathered in their season-opening shutout over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Naturally, the pair of zero-goal allowances have given Myers a flawless 1.000 save percentage with two matches in the rearview mirror as the team prepares to visit Indiana and Indiana State this coming Thursday and Sunday. Appearing in action against the Hoosiers would jolt the graduate firmly into 2nd place in the UT Martin record books for most matches played, where she would then only need two more starts from there to become the all-time school leader in that category.
Eclipsing 6,000 career minutes on Sunday against Little Rock, Myers lacks only three more shutouts to lead all other goalkeepers to ever play for the Skyhawks since the program’s creation in 1998, currently sitting at 19 with 14 more meetings on deck for the rest of the regular season. The fifth-year player has scooped up 31 total victories since her debut year (good for 2nd place all-time in school history) while simultaneously saving 267 would-be goals, just two away from the 2nd-place marker in that category.
UT Martin will battle Indiana for the second time in history on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. in Bloomington, before heading to Terre Haute three days later to close a three-game road stretch against the Sycamores.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information