An Illinois native returns to this state to play while coming from Martin, Tenn. Although an Orland Park native, freshman goalkeeper Cara Sullivan is a Tennessee-Martin has been the main reason the reason why the team has made the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament this season. Martin takes on Eastern today in a 1:30 p.m. game at Lakeside Field in an OVC Tournament first-round game.

“It’s really good because we were pretty much written off at the beginning of the season,” Sullivan said.

The Skyhawks (5-8-5, 2-3-4 OVC) finished in eighth place last season and last place in 2004.

Sullivan was named to the Oct. 17 Elite Team of the Week according to Soccerbuzz.com.

“I am happy about it because I’m a freshman,” Sullivan said.

Eastern head coach Tim Nowak is concerned about the opponent, but is doesn’t matter who’s on the other side of the field.

“You have to play the opponent,” Nowak said. “She’s had a wonderful year.”

Sullivan has recorded seven shutouts this season. Sullivan was named OVC Goalkeeper of the Week on Sept. 19 when she posted 22 saves and only allowed two goals in two games.

“The shots she was primarily were saving were 30 yards out,” said UT-Martin head coach Roberts. “It added to her stat ratio, which really helped.”

Sullivan is the OVC leader at 8.28 saves per game and has 149 saves on the season. Teams post only a 1.03 goals against average against Sullivan.

She has been goalkeeper since the sixth grade, and has been a soccer player since the fifth grade.

Sullivan played for the Orland Park Soccer Club and then switched to American Soccer Club in Naperville. Sullivan is ranked 23rd in the country in save percentages and sixth in the country at saves per game.

“She’s got a lot of room for improvement still,” Roberts said. “She’s going to get even better than she currently is right now. She’s very much a leader back there. She organizes the defense very well.”

But it’s more than her work on the field that has led the Skyhawks to the OVC Tournament.

“We’re looking to change the reputation of the program that we had good quality individuals on the field and off the field,” Roberts said. “She’s a good example of that. Obviously, the girls follow that. She’s making them confident in themselves and gives pep talks and so forth.”

She is already fourth on the career list for saves at UT Martin. The Orland Park native and Carl Sandburg graduate allowed five goals and posted five saves in the Eastern’s 1-0 win on Sept. 22 at Lakeside Field.

Sullivan’s highest save total in one game was a 0-0 tie against Samford in Martin, Tenn. She posted 17 saves and the team posted three saves.

“It was similar to Northern Arizona and Long Beach State were there were shots that weren’t really troubling us 20-30 yards away,” Roberts said. “You’re not going to beat her from that distance.”