FRIDAY'S SCORES
Morehead State 3, @Eastern Kentucky 1
Jacksonville State 2, @Tennessee Tech 1
Murray State 1, @UT Martin 0
Southeast Missouri 2, @SIUE 1
Belmont 4, @Austin Peay 2
MOREHEAD STATE 3, EASTERN KENTUCKY 1
RICHMOND, Ky. - - Morehead State's soccer team punched its ticket to next week's Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Friday as goals by three different players elevated the Eagles to a 3-1 victory over in-state rival Eastern Kentucky at the EKU Soccer Complex.
Following the opening score by the hosts at the 10:59 mark, MSU got on the board in the 24th minute. Senior midfielder Caity Fox notched her first tally of the season, as she took a long pass from junior defender Kelsey Gomez and beat the EKU (4-14-1, 2-7-1) keeper with a chip shot to the lower left corner.
Senior forward Macy Cobb notched Morehead State's second goal in the 76th minute with a header from close range off a free kick by junior defender Kelsey Patera. It was Cobb's fifth goal of the season and Patera's fourth assist.
In the 82nd minute, senior midfielder Elizabeth McSparin tallied her first goal of the season, finding the back of the net following a corner kick.
MSU finished with a decisive 22-5 shot advantage, while allowing just one shot on goal. The Eagles forced seven saves from Colonel goalkeeper Erika Wolfer, including six in the second half.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 2, TENNESSEE TECH 1
COOKEVILLE, Tenn.- - Jacksonville State capped off the regular season with a 2-1 road win at Tennessee Tech on Friday afternoon. The Gamecocks now turn their attention towards the 2014 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.
Jax State, who notched its 10th win of the season and sixth conference win with the winning result on Friday. JSU will find out its opposition in the first round of the tournament once Friday's results around the league. The inclusion in the six-team field for the Gamecocks marks the first time for the program since the 2005 season.
The Gamecocks took control of the match with both of its goals in the opening 45 minutes. Sophomore Nicola Dominikovich recorded her fourth goal of the season and the second against an OVC foe this season. The Calgary, Alberta, Canada-native netted the goal after the opportunity that was created by seniors Lindsey Jackson and Jackie Rush just before the 10th minute.
JSU would add the eventual game-winning goal in the 27th minute as junior Kelsey Bright became the second Gamecock this season to reach double digit goals in the season. The Kingwood, Texas-forward took an assist from Dominikovich for a header past the TTU keeper. Bright joins redshirt junior Courtney Hurt with 10 goals on the season. Jax State wanted to get off to a fast start against the Golden Eagles, who finished the season at 0-8-2 in the league and 2-15-2 overall. The Red and White finished with seven of its nine shots in the opening half, led by Bright's game-high four attempts. Tech had a plus-one advantage in total shots with 10.
Tech's lone goal game late in the contest as Zoie Hensley tallied her first goal of the season near the 80th minute.
JSU split the goal-keeping duties between freshman Caroline Robinson and sophomore Katie Thomas. Robinson handled the opening half, while Thomas came in for the final 45 minutes.
MURRAY STATE 1, UT MARTIN 0
MARTIN, Tenn. - The Murray State Racers finished the Ohio Valley Conference women’s soccer regular season Friday with a 1-0 win on Halloween night in Martin, Tennessee.
The Racers improved to 11-8 and 7-3 in OVC play, which was enough to earn the No. 3 seed in next week’s OVC Championship. MSU will play in Cape Girardeau, Mo., where they’ll play a Thursday match against Morehead State in a 4 p.m. kick at Houck Stadium.
The Racers played a brilliant and scrappy defensive game at Skyhawk Field and in the spot light was freshman goal keeper Shelby Haworth who made a career-high 11 saves to complete her seventh shutout in 16 starts.
Murray State was outshot by UTM 22-16, but in the 59th minute they got the only one that mattered.
Pavlina Nepokojova, who was only an assist from matching the MSU single-season mark, scored her fourth goal of the season off a through pass from Harriet Withers. When the senior Nepokojova knocked the ball into the net in the upper left corner, the Racers had the lead and all they had to do was protect.
Through the expected frantic UTM push, the Racers held on for the1-0 win.
After starting the season for rookie head coach Jeremy Groves at 1-5, the Racers caught fire and finished the season winning 10-of-13.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 2, SIUE 1
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -
BELMONT 4, AUSTIN PEAY 2
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - On a night so cold even Austin Peay's Canadian contingent seemed to feel it, Austin Peay State University women's soccer team saw its 2014 season come to a close with a 4-2 loss to Belmont at Morgan Brothers Soccer Field.
The Lady Govs conclude 2014 with a 4-13-1 mark (3-6-1 OVC), mired in a three-game losing streak to close the campaign. Belmont evened its record at 7-7-4 (4-4-2 OVC).
Austin Peay struck the first blow quickly, with sophomore Brianna Avitabile netting her first career goal just five minutes into the contest. The Hixson, Tenn., native took the feed from sophomore Gina Fabbro and launched a screamer that Belmont's Lindsey Espe got a hand on but couldn't keep out of the net.
Unfortunately, the visitors would score four straight goals to take a commanding lead – the fourth time this season the Lady Govs were unable to make an early lead stand up. The barrage was started by Belicia Mendiola, who shot from the left side of the box just past the outstretched hands of freshman Lindsey Todd in net in the 30th minute, the first of two for the Belmont forward on the evening – she would later add an 84th minute goal to close out Belmont's scoring ledger.
After the break, Belmont's Taylor Smith scored on a ricochet in the 48th minute, and Addison Cartwright added a 71st minute goal on a low cross from Meg Howard that found Cartwright in perfect position six yards from the net.
Under attack most of the evening and pressed into duty after regular starting keeper Nikki Filippone suffered an injury early in the week during training, Todd performed admirably and finished with a career-high 10 saves, tied for most by an Austin Peay keeper in 2014. Espe made two stops in the win.
Fabbro recorded a goal in the 86th minute, continuing her climb up the all-time charts. The goal was her season's seventh – tied for sixth-most in a single season in Austin Peay history and equaling her freshman output – and her career's 14th, tying her with Jessica Hosse (2004-07) and Emily Perkins (2011-12) for fourth all-time.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 2, SIUE 1
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Southeast Missouri (11-5, 8-2) earned a 2-1 victory SIU Edwardsville (11-6-1, 8-2) thanks to a late goal by MF Torey Byrd with just over five minutes remaining on Friday evening. With the win, the Redhawks earned a share of the Ohio Valley Conference regular season title and will host as the top seed of the OVC Tournament that runs from Nov. 6-9.
Southeast has now won five regular season conference titles in the 16 years of the program in addition to two OVC Tournament championships.
In the 25th minute, F Natasha Minor gave Southeast a 1-0 lead when she scored at the far post off of a pass from F Breana Beine. It was Minor's team-leading eighth goal of the season and the fourth assist for Beine. The forwards increased their seasonal point totals to 22 and 18 points, respectively.
SIUE answered back in the second half when Kayla Delgado scored off a feed from Samantha Jones to tie the score 1-1 in the 75th minute.
MF Torey Byrd scored the go-ahead goal in the 85th minute off of a rebound following a free kick by D Christina Rohde. SIUE GK Jennifer Pelley deflected the initial shot by Rohde but the ball then rolled towards the goal and Byrd beat Pelley to the ball to put it in the net for the game-winner. It was Byrd's second goal of the season and Rohde's first assist.
SIUE outshot Southeast 14-4 on the evening, including a 6-2 advantage in shots on goal. Byrd notched a team-high two shots.
Michelle Auer, Cassidy Sherman and Delgado posted a game-high three shots each with Sherman recorded a match-best two shots on goal.
GK Kindra Lierz finished with five saves for Southeast. She improved her record to 11-4 on the season.