FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Murray State 3, Tennessee Tech 0
Southeast Missouri 4, @Eastern Illinois 0
@Belmont 2, Morehead State 2 (2OT)
@Jacksonville State 2, UT Martin 1
@Austin Peay 3, Eastern Kentucky 1
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 4, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois women's soccer lost a 4-0 home contest to visiting Ohio Valley Conference rival Southeast Missouri on Friday (Sep. 26) afternoon as the contest marked the league-opener for both squads. Panthers move to 1-8-1 overall on the season with the loss at Lakeside Field.
Eastern will return to league play on Sunday as the Panthers travel to instate rival SIU Edwardsville for a 1 p.m. matchup.
The Redhawks (4-3/1-0) took advantage of a 12-5 lead for shots in the first half as SEMO buried three consecutive scores. Two scores came via the foot of sophomore Natasha Minor at the 11th and 25th minutes of play, respectively, while classmate Christina Rohde then added her own goal off the corner kick feed with just under the 33rd minute mark in the opening frame.
In that half, the visitors had five corner kicks to just one for the Panthers and led EIU in total shots, 12-to-five, yet Eastern junior goalie Emily Hinton did secure three additional saves.
Senior Taylor Byrd botted in a security goal for SEMO at the 66th minute in the second half, thanks to a double Redhawk assist.
SEMO's Minor led all players on the field with six shots, including four on-goal. EIU seniors Madison Carter and Meagan Radloff each delivered a trio of shots for the Panthers, as Radloff joined classmates Lauren Hoppensteadt and Allie Lakie with a pair of shots on-goal for Eastern.
EIU's Hinton finished with six saves in the net, as SEMO's Kindra Lierz stopped eight Panther attacks for the win.
BELMONT 2, MOREHEAD STATE 2
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Belmont women's soccer team (3-3-3, 0-0-1 OVC) rallied to come from behind and force a double overtime draw on Friday night at Rose Park. The Bruins battled Morehead State (5-2-4, 0-0-1 OVC) to a 2-2 tie to open OVC play. It marked the fourth time this season BU had to go into extra minutes to get a decision.
Belmont wasted little time attacking the Eagle goal with a header by freshman Tara Austin (Beaumont, Texas) that bounced off the crossbar and nearly crossed the goal line just 55 seconds into the contest. BU kept up the pressure until senior Meredith Martin (Franklin, Tenn.) used a ball from classmate Kim Elmore (Salem, Va.) to find the back of the net with a long strike from the left side. A strong defensive effort helped Belmont carry the 1-0 advantage into the locker room.
After the break, Morehead State ramped up its intensity and found the equalizer around the 65th minute with an awkwardly bouncing ball that slipped by the Bruin keeper. The Eagles pulled ahead by one at the 80:06 mark with a second goal by Angela Black, another dribbler that squeaked by. Despite being down with time dwindling, the Bruins fought on. Eight minutes later, Belmont knotted the score with rookie Belicia Mendiola's (McKinney, Texas) fifth goal of the season off a free kick that was awarded after an Eagle was given a red card after a hard foul.
MSU played tough despite being one player down for the remainder of the contest but Belmont was determined to come away with points to open league play. The teams battled through a pair of overtime periods with close calls but were forced to settle for a 2-2 stalemate.
Morehead State held the slim advantage in shots, 14-12, but Bruins led in corner kicks, 4-3.
Mendiola finished with a team-high three shots, followed by junior Sydney Omweg (Yorktown, Va.) and sophomore Meg Howard (Brentwood, Tenn.), who recorded two apiece.
Between the posts, junior Lindsey Espe (LaCañada, Calif.) went the distance, grabbing four saves.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 2, UT MARTIN 1
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Senior Jackie Rush's golden goal in overtime lifted Jacksonville State past UT Martin, 2-1, on Friday night in the Ohio Valley Conference opener for both squads at the JSU Soccer Field.
Rush's goal three four minutes deep into the extra session broke a 1-1 deadlock with the Skyhawks, who won the regular season title a season ago and one of the favorites to repeat in 2014. The win gave Jax State its first conference win since the 2012 season and the first for second-year head coach Neil Macdonald. JSU moved to 5-5 overall on the season, while UTM dropped to 6-4 on the season. The winning result was the first over UTM since the 2005 season, snapping a seven-match winless streak against the Skyhawks.
The Gamecocks challenged UTM throughout the entire contest, but really pressed the visitors in the final minutes of regulation and overtime. JSU pushed the ball deep into the UTM side of the pitch to set up the game winner. Redshirt junior Courtney Hurt started the scoring opportunity with a cross from the left side of the box. Junior Kelsey Bright was able to flick the ball in front of UTM's keeper, Mariah Klenke. Rush netted the ball from the right side of the box and past Klenke in the far left post.
Rush tallied her fourth goal of the season and her ninth of her career. The Trophy Club, Texas-native finished with three shots in the win.
JSU posted the first goal of the contest in the 18th minute as Hurt was able to get past UTM's backline and lift a ball over Klenke for her seventh goal of the season. The Huntsville, Ala. finished with three points in the contest after her assist on Rush's game-winner. She also carded three total shots on the evening.
UTM equalized three minutes later after scoring off of a corner kick situation. Ashlie Watson drilled a blocked Skyhawk shot in front of the net and passed JSU's goal keeper, Meara Johnson. Johnson, who was credited with seven saves in the affair, weather a UTM scoring rush in the first 45 minutes as UTM turned in 13 of its 22 shots in the first half. JSU finished with 10 total shots, with six coming on-goal.
UTM's Alyssa Curtis turned in a game-high six shots in the setback.
MURRAY STATE 3, TENNESSEE TECH 0
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State women’s soccer team opened play in the Ohio Valley Conference with a 3-0 home win Friday over the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles at Cutchin Field in Murray, Ky.
The streaking Racers (5-5, 1-0 OVC) have won four straight games and are one off the program record of five in a row from 2005. The Racers get their chance to keep the winning alive on Sunday when they host the Jacksonville State at 1 p.m.
MSU and TTU (2-8, 0-1 OVC) slugged it out through a scoreless first half. Julie Mooney scored her eighth goal of the season off an assist from Kelsey Smith in the 52nd minute. In the 73rd minute, the Racers scored off the foot of Harriet Withers and an assist by Rebecca Bjorkvall. With MSU dominating on the defensive end, they tacked on a third goal in the 86th minute by Lyssie Wright off another assist from Bjorkvall. For Withers, it was her third goal of the season and for Wright her first. Bjorkvall has six assist this season after her pair today.
The Murray State defense limited the Golden Eagles to six shots and goalkeeper Shelby Haworth stopped all three shots on goal she faced to record her second shutout in seven starts.
AUSTIN PEAY 3, EASTERN KENTUCKY 1
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Despite losing a pair of sister-act scoring machines in Tatiana and Natalia Ariza and Andy and Joceline Quiceno to graduation at the end of last season, Austin Peay State University's tradition of high-scoring siblings looks to still be going strong.
Freshman Sophia Fabbro notched her first career goal and her sister Gina scored twice to give Austin Peay a 3-1 victory against Eastern Kentucky in its Ohio Valley Conference opener, Friday.
The Lady Govs (2-7-0, 1-0-0 OVC) win their OVC opener for the second straight year. Eastern Kentucky falls to 2-8-0 (0-1-0 OVC).
The Lady Govs got going quick in this one, with the younger Fabbro slamming home the rebound from a Caroline Wistrom shot to give Austin Peay a lead in the sixth minute.
In the 17th, her sister got in on the action. A quick combo from junior Courtney Sheppard and senior Claire Pultz gave the elder Fabbro a chance to beat her defender off the dribble, and she smashed a shot into the lower left corner of the net to put Austin Peay up 2-0.
Eastern Kentucky's attack was stymied in the first half, with the Colonels held to just six shots. However, the visitors picked up the pace in the second half, forcing five saves from netminder Nikki Filippone – the junior Canadian became the first Austin Peay keeper to play the full 90 minutes this season.
Filippone's shining moment came in the 53rd minute. A penalty in the box gave the Colonels a chance at getting on the board, but Filippone pulled off an incredible save to hold Eastern Kentucky at bay.
The Colonels did get a goal thanks to a 62nd-minute cross from Paige Larkin that was headed in by Katie Bright. But Austin Peay kept the pedal to the metal and got an insurance goal from Gina Fabbro in the 81st minute, who collected a through ball from sophomore Merritt Monger and slotted it into the lower-left corner to put it out of reach.
Filippone got the win and snapped a six-match losing streak for the Lady Govs, making six saves in the process. Anna Hall made four saves for the Colonels in the loss.