MALCOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois put together one of its strongest all-around performances of the young season Sunday afternoon at John MacKenzie Alumni Field, showing improved composure, energy and physicality while scoring its first goal of the year in a 3-1 match against Eastern Washington.

The Leathernecks came out with a different level of intensity, competing with the Eagles from the opening whistle and working to stay organized defensively. Eastern Washington generated six shots in the opening half, but Western Illinois remained within striking distance thanks in part to two saves from goalkeeper Mahee-Lee Caron.

Eastern Washington broke through late in the first half when Reese Kincaid scored in the 44th minute, sending the Eagles into halftime with a 1-0 advantage.

The Eagles added to their lead in the second half when Deanna Montero scored in the 54th minute to make it 2-0.

Eastern Washington extended its lead to 3-0 in the 88th minute when Mia Miconi scored. The assist was credited to Faith Hines.

Western Illinois, however, continued pushing forward and finally broke through late in the match. Rita Moran scored in the 90th minute off an assist from Callie McMurtrey, giving the Leathernecks their first goal of the season.

The goal came as a result of Western Illinois committing numbers forward and looking to create an attacking opportunity.

Eastern Washington finished with an 11-3 advantage in shots and a 5-2 edge in shots on goal, while Caron recorded two saves for Western Illinois.


MOREHEAD STATE 2, CLEVELAND STATE 0
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Goals in each half, paired with a five-save performance from sophomore keeper Allie Lammers, helped the Morehead State Eagles secure their second win of the season, taking down Cleveland State 2-0 Sunday afternoon at MSU Soccer Field.

Morehead State and Cleveland State kicked off shortly after 1:00 p.m. on a warm, sunny afternoon, providing the perfect setting for a match.

The competition was fierce from the opening whistle, with both teams battling evenly, as if a seesaw had lost its ability to tip from side to side.

Cleveland State senior Elise Boyd recorded the first shot of the game 21 minutes into play, but her attempt was saved by Lammers.

MSU made a couple of substitutions at the 22:16 mark of the first half, one of which brought sophomore Jade Walton onto the field. Walton quickly proved she was ready for the challenge, making an immediate impact for the Eagles.

Just 55 seconds after the substitution, Eagles senior Hannah Burke raced up the field and delivered a perfect pass to Walton, who found the back of the net to put the Eagles in front, 1-0. Junior Ashton Lynam was also credited with an assist after setting up Burke on the charge up the field.

Burke's eighth career assist, recorded 22 minutes and 47 seconds into the match, moved her into the top 10 in program history in assists as an Eagle.

Morehead State took that 1-0 lead into halftime, looking to continue the offensive push in the second half. 

Cleveland State came out of halftime strong, attacking every angle of the Eagles' defense looking for a way to even the scale.

Lammers faced four shots on goal in the second half, recording a save on each attempt to finish the match with five saves.

The Eagle offense created another big push late in the match. Junior Keara Chaffee forced a turnover just outside the Vikings' box and capitalized on the opportunity herself, scoring the first goal of her collegiate career to put MSU ahead 2-0 in the 73rd minute.

The Eagles held on over the final 16 minutes and three seconds to secure their second win of the 2026 campaign and improve to 2-2 on the season.

As for Cleveland State, the Vikings fell to 0-4 on the season and remain in search of their first goal.

Morehead State has now shut out three straight opponents at home, dating back to the final regular-season match of the 2025 campaign. The Eagles are also one of just two OVC schools to have secured a second win this season.

MSU was outshot 11-6 in Sunday's match, but two of the Eagles' six shots found the back of the net, providing the edge they needed to come out on top.

Morehead State's offense has scored six goals through the first four games of the season, with each goal coming from a different scorer.


PURDUE 8, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue scored three early goals against Eastern Illinois as the Boilermakers posted an 8-0 win over Eastern Illinois on Sunday afternoon to hand EIU its first loss of the season.
 
EIU fell to 1-1-1 on the season as the Panthers were limited to four shots in the match.
 
Cora Erickson had two of the four EIU shots with Brooklynn Greene and Amara Leppla collecting the other two EIU shots.  Greene registered the lone Panthers shot on goal for the match.
 
Purdue (3-0-1) jumped out early with a goal by Megan Santa Cruz in the sixth minute followed by a Jaiden Anderson tally in the eighth minute.   Angelina Thoreson scored on a penalty kick in the 11th minute to control play for Purdue.
 
The Boilermakers added two more first half goals and three in the second half for the final score.


SOUTHERN INDIANA 0, PURDUE FORT WAYNE 0
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Despite a Strong defensive effort, the Lindenwood women's soccer team (1-3-0) team dropped their contest against DePaul (2-0-1) by a score of 1-0 on Sunday afternoon as the Lions struggled to create scoring chances while on the attack. 

An own goal in the 43rd minute was the difference maker, with a Blue Demon strike from outside the box taking a deflection off the foot of a Lindenwood defender and redirecting on net and out of the reach of Lindenwood goalkeeper Caroline Ritter, who was unable to recover in time to prevent the ball from rolling just inside the far post for a score.

Despite controlling possession for 51% of the match, Lindenwood was unable to record a shot in the contest. Meanwhile, DePaul registered 10 total attempts with three shots on target.


SIUE 2, IU INDY 2
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE and IU Indy settled for a 2-2 tie Sunday in women's college soccer at Korte Stadium.

The Cougars are now 2-0-2 after the match while IU Indy moves to 0-2-1.

SIUE controlled play in the first half with goals from Tori Bockstadter and MaryClaire Imig, both in the first 15 minutes of play. The Cougars held an 8-5 edge in shots in the first half.

The Jaguars pushed in the second half, breaking through with a goal at 61:44 by Keilah Muldrow. Hannah Roberson would tie the game at 71:23 from 10 yards out.

The Cougars recorded a season-high 12 corner kicks in the game, besting the mark of 11 set just Thursday against Austin Peay. IU Indy, however, would edge the Cougars in over shots 13-11.SIUE returns to play next Sunday at Drake in a 1 p.m. contest in Des Moines, Iowa.


DEPAUL 1, LINDENWOOD 0
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - University of Southern Indiana Women's Soccer opened its 2026 road schedule on Sunday with a 0-0 draw at Purdue University Fort Wayne, marking the Screaming Eagles' second clean sheet of the season.
 
A strong defensive performance on Sunday afternoon gave USI (0-2-2) its second result and shutout of the regular season. Additionally, after Purdue Fort Wayne (0-1-1) won the first three meetings of USI's Division I era, the Screaming Eagles have now recorded back-to-back results against the Mastodons, including a home win last season.
 
Quality looks on goal came at a premium on Sunday, with USI getting three shots on goal. However, USI's defense limited Purdue Fort Wayne to only two shots on target. Overall, the Screaming Eagles fired 12 shots, while the Mastodons had eight shots.
 
Offensively, junior forward Josie Pochocki led USI with three shots, including one on goal. Graduate forward Payton Seymour and sophomore forward Anna Depenbrock took two shots apiece.
 
Defensively, sophomore goalkeeper Merrick Schwalbach collected two saves behind a strong backline effort in earning her third career shutout. Junior defender Emma Schut, sophomore defender Tierney Mullady, sophomore defender Paulina Campos, and senior midfielder Kamryn Bea each recorded a full 90 minutes played in front of Schwalbach.
 
Defenses were strong from the opening kickoff. Each side tallied only three shots in the first half. Pochocki had two of USI's three shots in the first half, joining freshman forward Brylee Patterson with a shot on goal. The Screaming Eagles applied pressure late in the first half, with five corner kicks in the final 10 minutes before halftime. However, the match remained tied 0-0 going into the break.
 
In the second half, USI's defense thwarted a few early set pieces by Purdue Fort Wayne, as it did in the early minutes of the first half. Prior to the 65th minute, the Screaming Eagles had a pair of shots blocked, while freshman forward Sienna Respicio had a shot on goal saved by the Mastodons' goalkeeper. After junior defender Ava Hess had to exit the match in the 76th minute due to injury precaution, freshman defender Lilah Katz came on and joined the rest of the backline for the last 14 minutes to help keep the shutout intact. Even though Depenbrock had a couple of looks in the final five minutes for USI, neither team notched a shot on goal in the last 20 minutes of the match to keep the scoreboard tied at zero at the final whistle.


UT MARTIN 1, ILLINOIS STATE 1
NORMAL, Ill. - Sophomore Addy Cleary of the University of Tennessee at Martin soccer team hammered home a goal in the 86th minute of Sunday night's match at Illinois State to secure a 1-1 draw for the Skyhawks at Adelaide Street Field in Normal.

At 1-0-3, UT Martin is currently unbeaten through the first four games of the season for the first time since 2014, when it started 4-0-0.

The Redbirds were first on the board in the game when Eve Gricius sent a corner kick into the box in the 24th minute that was headed into the bottom left of the goal by Grace St. Petrie.

The score remained 1-0 in favor of Illinois State until the 84th minute when Mac Titus launched a goal kick that was headed at midfield by Unni Wolf and picked up by Peyton Cook, who kicked the ball over her head to find Ella Rucka on the run. Rucka then sent the ball into the box where McCleary found it, beat her defender and sailed it into the upper left corner of the net to tie the match.

Titus finished the game with three saves on four shots, while Madi Valenti made four saves for Illinois State. Despite being outshot 14-5 on the night, all five Skyhawk shots were on target with two from Kylee Thompson and one each from McCleary, Alex Weihs and Maggie Stephens.