SUNDAY’S SCORES
Southeast Missouri 1, @Jacksonville State 0
Morehead State 2, @Murray State 1 (OT)
@Austin Peay 2, Eastern Kentucky 1
@UT Martin 6, Tennessee Tech 1
@Belmont 2, SIUE 1 (OT)
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 1, JACKSONVILLE STATE 0
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The 2012 Jacksonville State soccer season came to a close on Sunday after Southeast Missouri edged the Gamecocks, 1-0, on a cold and blistery Senior Day at the JSU Soccer Field.
The Gamecocks, who came up short for a bid in next week's Ohio Valley Conference Tournament, finishes the season with a winning mark of 10-8-2 overall and 3-5-1 against the OVC. It is the most wins by the program since the 2003 season in which that squad posted 11 wins on the season. The Redhawks of SEMO improved to 6-9-4 on the season and 5-3-2 in the OVC. SEMO continues its season by clinching a berth into the six-team field that will be hosted by UT Martin.
Battling high winds and cold temperatures, both squads was evenly matched in total shots with 14 each. The Redhawks were balanced in their attack with seven scoring chances in each half. Jax State, who only had four shots after the first 45 minutes, exploded in the second half with ten opportunities.
The main reason for JSU's pressing attack in the second half was due in part to SEMO's eventual game-winning goal in the 44th minute of the first half. With time ticking down to intermission, SEMO's Amy Harrington drilled a shot from the left side of the box and curled it the right corner of the goal.
JSU, looking to equalize in the second half, had ample chances but could not finish. Senior Nathalee Lariviere led the Red and White in shots with four; including a late break away scoring play that was thwarted by SEMO. The Jax State bench tried to spark the offensive attack with five of the nine shot on goal chances. Sophomore Jackie Rush was credited with two, while freshman Kelsey Bright claimed three total shots and two in range of the goal.
Jax State honored nine players and a student assistant prior to the match and eight of the nine were in the starting line up for the final time. The large senior class has given relentless effort from the time they stepped foot on the JSU campus and will leave many benchmarks for the future and has laid the foundation for the future. Senior goalkeeper Katelyn Geddings exits the programs with the second-most saves in a career by a Gamecock, while Katie Manns and Austen Stoelting will be among the career leaders in minutes played. Lariviere is included on the all time matches played list at JSU.
MOREHEAD STAET 2, MURRAY STATE 1
MURRAY, Ky. - A pair of freshmen notched goals for the Morehead State soccer team in a 2-1 overtime victory at Murray State on Sunday afternoon.
Kimberly Golden and Teig Palmateer led MSU with a goal each, while sophomore Elizabeth McSparin was credited with the only Eagle assist. Freshman goalkeeper Elizabeth Floyd finished with six saves in the win.
Seniors Sam Toepfer and Alyssa Nacke each registered a shot in their final match at MSU.
The Eagles and the Racers put up five shots each in the first half. Murray State did hold the narrow edge in shots on goal, 4-3.
The second half was a different story for MSU as it jumped out to an early lead off the Golden goal in the 53rd minute. Golden got on the end of a corner kick from McSparin and put away her third goal of 2012.
It appeared the Eagles had the victory wrapped up as they held the Racers scoreless for the next 36 minutes. However, senior Jenelle Cunningham had different plans as she scored the late equalizer for the Racers to take the match to extra time.
The Eagles headed into overtime for the third time in the past four games, but ended this one on a much different note. Palmateer placed a perfect free kick over the head of the Murray State goalkeeper and into the upper corner for her first collegiate goal and the win.
The teams finished dead even in shots (12) and shots on goal (7), while MSU held the 5-3 advantage in corner kicks.
BELMONT 2, SIUE 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Belmont women's soccer team (8-8-2, 4-4-2 OVC) pulled off a victory in overtime over SIUE (7-7-3, 4-4-2 OVC) for its regular season finale on Sunday afternoon at E.S. Rose Park. The Bruins rallied from behind to win the matchup 2-1 behind goals by seniors and gives BU its first OVC Tournament berth.
After a first half filled with a back and forth struggle that ended scoreless, SIUE's Meagan Iffrig scored first in the 59th minute of the second stanza but the Bruins quickly bounced back. The Bruins used a tremendous momentum shift to take the contest. Senior Laura Harris (Macon, Ga.) used an assist from sophomore Alison Alcott (Dallas, Texas) to find the back of the net for her fourth goal of the season in the 80th minute.
BU continued to surge with the equalizer in hand and forced an extra period to potentially decide its postseason fate. The Bruins worked swiftly in the first overtime and soon shifted momentum again in their favor. Just three minutes in, senior Lauren Paynter (Danville, Ky.) netted the gamewinner to send her teammates running onto the field in celebration.
Belmont held the advantage in shots, 13-10, and corner kicks, 6-1.
Harris, Paynter, and sophomore Taylor Smith (Atlanta, Ga.) led the Bruins with two shots apiece.
Junior Nicole Berner (Randolph, N.J.) went the distance the posts, finishing with six saves on the day. SIUE goalkeeper Jennifer Pelley made four stops in the game.
AUSTIN PEAY 2, EASTERN KENTUCKY 1
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - The Eastern Kentucky University soccer team dropped its regular season finale at Austin Peay, 2-1, on Sunday afternoon.
EKU (10-7-2, 6-3-1 OVC) will face No. 6 SIUE (7-7-3, 4-4-2 OVC) in the first round of the conference tournament on Thursday, Nov. 1 at 8:00 p.m. ET in Martin, Tenn. The Colonels defeated the Cougars, 2-1, at home during the regular season.
APSU (11-7-1, 7-2-1 OVC), which earned the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye with Sunday’s win, struck early, as the Lady Govs’ leading scorer Tatiana Ariza took a low cross from Emily Perkins in the 12th minute and buried a goal to make it 1-0. Just over 10 minutes later, Perkins made a long run into Colonel territory and scored off a pass from Morgan Zigelsky, sending APSU into halftime up 2-0.
Freshman Dani Cant scored her second goal of the season off an assist from fellow freshman Mikala Ferguson in with two minutes remaining in regulation, but it was too little too late as the Lady Govs’ held on for the win.
Junior Nikki Donnelly led EKU with four shots on the afternoon, two of which were on goal. Junior Brittany Nomady attempted three shots in the game.
Nomady also played all 90 minutes of the game in the Colonel midfield, as did EKU’s backline of senior Deja Tennon, junior Lauren Fant and sophomores Emily D’Italia and Paige Larkin.
Freshman Erika Wolfer played all 90 minutes in goal for the Colonels and made a career-high nine saves.
UT MARTIN 6, TENNESSEE TECH 0
MARTIN, Tenn. - Junior Abi Sanvee registered the fifth hat trick in school history to help The University of Tennessee at Martin soccer team claim its first-ever outright Ohio Valley Conference championship in a 6-0 victory over Tennessee Tech this afternoon.
UT Martin (11-5-3, 8-1-1 OVC) enters the upcoming OVC Tournament as the No. 1 seed for the first time in program history. The tournament will take place on Nov. 1-4 at Skyhawk Field.
Sanvee’s three goals in today’s match was the first hat trick since Katie Jackson accomplished the feat against Eastern Kentucky on Sept. 30, 2005. Sanvee struck for goals in the ninth, 16th and 67th minutes to cap off her remarkable day.
Saphyra Coombs-James (34th minute), Ashlie Watson (43rd minute) and Dominika Conc (52nd minute) also contributed goals for UT Martin, who scored at least five goals for the fourth time in 2012.
Defensively, the Skyhawks locked up their fourth shutout in their last five matches today. Mariah Klenke made three saves in the first half while Sarah Tompkins snared 10 saves in the second stanza to keep the Golden Eagles off the scoreboard.
Sanvee picked up her first goal of the day off a deflection by Tennessee Tech goalkeeper Jordan Brown at the 8:06 mark. After teammate Melisa Erturk’s shot attempt was blocked by a Golden Eagle defender, Sanvee scooped up the loose ball and sent a hard shot past Brown’s fingertips to give the Skyhawks an early 1-0 advantage.
Less than 20 seconds later, Klenke came up with her second save of the afternoon to keep UT Martin’s lead at one.
Sanvee once again was in the right place at the right time for her second goal. Alyssa Curtis snuck a shot past a diving Brown but the ball was saved by a Tennessee Tech defender. However, the ball landed right in front of a wide open Sanvee, who tapped the ball in from point blank range at the 15:12 mark.
Less than three minutes after checking into the match, Coombs-James made her presence felt with a goal at the 33:32 mark. Klenke sent a high goal kick out past midfield, where Coombs-James maintained possession and lined a long shot past Brown to put UT Martin on top by a 3-0 margin. It was the team-best 10th goal of the season for the freshman out of Brampton, Ontario.
Shortly after that, Watson gave the Skyhawks a four-goal advantage. Morgan Brandon dribbled down the right side and lifted a pass into the box for Watson, who tallied her second goal of the season at the 42:41 mark.
Klenke made one more tough save before halftime to keep the score at 4-0 at the break.
After Hannah McGowen’s long shot attempt hit the crossbar, Conc perfectly played the rebound, finding the back of the net at the 51:36 mark. The goal put the Skyhawks ahead 5-0 and was Conc’s fourth of the 2012 campaign.
Sanvee accumulated her third and final goal of the afternoon at the 66:20 mark. Jessica Horvatich lined a hard pass from the right flank that found Sanvee, who guided the ball past Brown for the 13th goal of her career.
From that point on, Tompkins closed the door on Tennessee Tech, making six saves in the final 23:14 – including three challenging stops in a span of 3:05.