FRIDAY'S SCORES
Murray State 1, @Eastern Illinois 0
Belmont 2, @Tennessee Tech 0
SIUE 2, @Morehead State 1
@Southeast Missouri 1, Eastern Kentucky 0
Jacksonville State 5, @Austin Peay 0
MURRAY STATE 1, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Murray State scored a late goal on Friday afternoon as the visiting Racers beat Eastern Illinois, 1-0, as the match was played on the EIU practice field after heavy rain in the area earlier in the week made Lakeside Field unplayable.
EIU dropped to 2-12-2 on the year, 1-5-1 in the OVC. The Panthers will host UT Martin on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. for their senior day match. Murray State improved to 9-7, 5-2 in the OVC.
The lone goal of the game was scored by Pavlina Nepokojova on a direct kick from 20-yards out with 6:44 left to play in the match. The direct kick was set up as a hand ball was called on EIU just outside the Panthers goal box.
The Racers held a 13-4 shot advantage in the first half and finished with a 20-9 total advantage. Emily Hinton made nine saves for EIU. Shelby Haworth finished with three saves for the Racers.
EIU had two break away chances in the second half but on both shot attempts the ball sailed wide of the goal.
Madison Carter, Hannah Miller and Samantha Roymayah had the shots on goal for EIU.
Nepokojova finished with seven shots for Murray State including three on goal.
SIUE 2, MOREHEAD STATE 1
MOREHEAD, Ky. - A 30-yard, bending shot over a retreating goalkeeper proved to be the difference as the SIU Edwardsville soccer team held on to defeat Morehead State 2-1 Friday at Jayne Stadium.
The Cougars improved to 8-5-1 overall and 5-1-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference, handing MSU its first home loss in seven matches this year. The Eagles slipped to 8-4-5 overall and 3-2-2 in the league.
Mariah Vollmer got the visitors on the board at the 26:22 mark. Following a flurry in front of the net, she collected a rebound and drove a successful shot to the bottom right corner. Emily Grahl was credited with the assist.
The Cougars scored the match-deciding goal at 59:47. Cassidy Sherman smashed a high-arching shot from the right side over MSU junior goalkeeper Elizabeth Floyd as she backpeddled and dove into the left side of the net.
MSU senior forward Jade Flory netted her team's goal just 1:03 later following a handball call in the box. Flory slapped a penalty kick attempt off the left post, and it slid into the back of the net for her team-best 11th goal of the season. Flory now has 25 goals in 39 matches as an Eagle.
Morehead State registered advantages in shots (12-7) and corner kicks (6-1). Jennifer Pelley turned back five MSU attempts. Floyd notched two saves. Flory took a team-best five shots.
BELMONT 2, TENNESSEE TECH 0
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The Belmont women's soccer team (5-5-4, 2-2-2 OVC) snapped a mid-season skid with a resounding 2-0 victory on the road at Tennessee Tech (2-12-1, 0-5-1) on Friday afternoon. The win improves the Bruins to 2-2-2 in OVC play and 5-5-4 overall.
Junior Sydney Scheben (Union, Ky.) found the back of the net with just 25 seconds left in the first half off a ball played in by classmate Cassie Blase (Waukesha, Wisc.) for her first goal of the season.
BU's insurance goal was netted midway through the second stanza by sophomore Meg Howard (Brentwood, Tenn.), who capitalized on a loose ball in the box.
TTU held the advantage in shots, 17-13, and corner kicks, 5-3.
Senior Allie Hicks (Carmel, Ind.) led the Bruins with four shots. Scheben followed with a pair of shots that were both on goal.
Junior Lindsey Espe (LaCañada, Calif.) notched her fourth win of the season with five saves after going the distance between the posts.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 1, EASTERN KENTUCKY 0
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Senior F Breana Beine broke a scoreless tie with 4:02 remaining to lift Southeast Missouri (7-5-0, 4-2-0) over Eastern Kentucky (3-12-1, 1-5-1) on Friday evening at Houck Stadium. It marked the second straight match that the Redhawks have scored an eventual game-winning goal with less than five minutes remaining. Freshman GK Kindra Lierz posted her sixth shutout in just her 12th NCAA contest.
Beine scored her team-leading sixth goal of the season after receiving a pass from sophomore F Natasha Minor. She beat Eastern Kentucky GK Anna Hall at the near post. For Minor, she recorded her team-leading sixth assist of the season and leads the squad with 14 points.
Southeast outshot EKU 12-7 on the evening, while the Colonels held a 3-2 advantage in shots on goal. Beine and Minor tied for a game-high with three shots each. Freshman F Sunni Kesenich added two shots for the Redhawks. Kesenich made her first career start in the contest.
Sophomore F Cassie Smith and sophomore D Mikayla Brillon led EKU with two shots each.
Lierz finished the evening with three saves for Southeast while Hall made one save for EKU.
The Redhawks held a 9-3 advantage in corner kicks and outshot the Colonels in both halves.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 5, AUSTIN PEAY 0
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - After holding tough against the Ohio Valley Conference's most prolific offense in the first half, Austin Peay State University could not stem the tide against Jacksonville State over the final 45 minutes, falling 5-0 to the Gamecocks, Friday, at Morgan Brothers Field.
Austin Peay (4-10-0, 3-3-0 OVC) saw some of the momentum from last weekend's sweep at Southeast Missouri and SIU Edwardsville disappear, suffering its first shutout in nearly a month. Jacksonville State (9-6-0, 4-2-0 OVC) gave itself a little separation in the OVC race.
The first half was balanced, with both sides putting up eight shots. Jacksonville State got on the board thanks to Courtney Hurt penalty kick in the 11th minute following a handball call in the box, but the Gamecocks offense, leading the OVC at 2.78 goals per game, was otherwise stymied in the opening period.
Despite nine total saves from junior Nikki Filippone, with more than a few being of the acrobatic variety, the second half belonged to the Gamecocks. Jackie Rush scored in the 73rd minute, and that was followed less than two minutes later by a Lindsey Jackson tally.
Shelby Olszewski did what she could for the offense. In her season's third appearance after missing two months due to injury, Olszewski got forward time and again for Austin Peay, attempting five shots and putting three on net to lead the squad. Caroline Robinson was solid for the Gamecocks in net, securing six saves for the clean sheet.
Kayla Thompson got the last two helpers for Jacksonville State, assisting on goals by Nicola Dominikovich and Brianna Boutzvious in the 83rd and 87th minute, respectively.