By Brandon Burke, UT Martin Sports Information
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Marking the fourth occasion out of six weeks thus far into the 2021 campaign, a University of Tennessee at Martin Skyhawk soccer standout has been admonished by the Ohio Valley Conference for their outstanding play on the field. This time around, third-year stopper Maria Castaldo was unanimously selected by league officials as the conference’s Defensive Player of the Week after pulling a third shutout on the year, announced on Tuesday afternoon.
Already making the cut for All-OVC First Team recognition through her first two seasons in Martin, Castaldo looks primed to potentially complete a three-peat based on her individual play nine matches into the semester, a key component of an excellent Skyhawk defense that has held the other side to one goal or less in all but one outing. That hard-nosed efficiency has given UTM a 5-3-1 overall record following a 1-0 victory last Sunday over Austin Peay in the 2021 OVC opener.
A resident of Orland Park, Illinois, Castaldo has earned her stripes on the back line while logging 813 total minutes to this point on the season, ramping her career total up to 3,466 across 39 appearances. Second on the roster in minutes played this fall while starting every contest, the junior tallied her first assist of the year against the Governors on Sunday, gaining even more importance as the match wore on seeing as the 5th minute dish to Emely van der Vliet was the only successful strike of the conference curtain-jerker.
The helper to van der Vliet stands as the second assist of Castaldo’s tenure with the navy and orange, having done the same three weeks earlier versus Wright State that capped off a three-game winning streak for head coach Phil McNamara’s unit. While the offense has struggled at times to maintain its consistency, the Skyhawks’ defensive prowess remains the squad’s greatest strength, having surrendered only nine goals in as many matches. That statistic continues to be the lowest number in the Ohio Valley Conference, with the next-closest school sitting three behind that figure.
Graduating from the league’s all-newcomer team as a freshman into one of the most reliable defensive options in her third campaign, Castaldo and co. continue their quest for an OVC Championship in the early stages of conference competition on Thursday evening, returning home after an 18-day absence to meet Eastern Illinois at 7:00 p.m.
Last seeing the Panthers in the abbreviated spring season’s first bout – a 1-0 UTM victory – the Skyhawks will alternate between home and away matchups over the course of the next five dates on the schedule.
Graphic Courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information