SUNDAY'S SCORES
@Murray State 4, Eastern Illinois 0
Eastern Kentucky 2, @Jacksonville State 1
@Southeast Missouri 0, Tennessee Tech 0
UT Martin 2, @Morehead State 0
@Austin Peay 2, SIUE 0
MURRAY STATE 4, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
MURRAY, Ky.- The Murray State women's soccer team recorded itssecond straight shutout as it defeated the Panthers of Eastern Illinois 4-0, Sunday at Cutchin Field in Murray. The win gives the Racers 13 for the year, setting a new program record for wins in a season.
It was a senior day special for the Racers as senior Rebecca Bjorkvall scored the first goal for the MSU in the 21st minute. Aaron Lankster found Marissa Burroughs inside the box who then passed it out to Bjorkvall who shot the ball out of the keeper's reach to give the Racers a 1-0 lead.
Despite outshooting the Panthers 10-2 in the first half, Murray State made its way back to the locker room with only a 1-0 lead at the break.
However, the Racers found their spark in the second half. In the 66th minute, Taylor Richerson and Harriet Withers had great ball movement out front and were able to find Taylor Stevens who buried the ball in the low left corner of the goal to give MSU the 2-0 edge.
The lead would only grow from there. as in the 80th minute a blocked attempted shot found its way to Caroline Ashton who kicked the ball out to an open Emily Niehaus to increase the lead to 3-0.
The final goal of the match would come at the foot of Harriet Withers, as Niehaus and Stevens found the open sophomore out in front of the goal. Withers then dribbled in with a swift move faked out the keeper to net the fourth and final goal of the match.
With the win, Murray State moves to 13-4 on the year and 9-0 in conference play. Meanwhile, the loss drops Eastern Illinois to 3-13-2 on the year and 1-7-1 in OVC play.
The Racers were a force on offense, out shooting the Panthers 28-6 on the day with Withers leading all Racers with eight shot attempts and placing three on target.
Alex Steigerwald got the start in goal for the Racers, racking up four saves for the day, but it would be sophomore Katie Gaskins who would close out the shutout for the Racers in goal.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 2, JACKSONVILLE STATE 0
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Eastern Kentucky University soccer team got a pair of second-half goals from freshmen Monica Rios and Haley Kemper to defeat Jacksonville State, 2-1, in its regular season finale on Sunday afternoon at JSU Soccer Field.
EKU closes out the season with a record of 4-6-0 in OVC play.
Kelsey Bright scored off a corner kick in the 28th minute to give Jacksonville State (4-4-1 OVC) a 1-0 lead at halftime.
However, Eastern regrouped at the half and came out of the locker room rejuvenated. Rios notched the equalizer off a corner kick two minutes into the second half. It was her first-career goal.
Kemper then scored the game-winner in the 59th minute, taking a cross from sophomore Logan Harvey and scoring just inside the 18 to make it 2-1 in favor of the Colonels. It was Kemper’s team-leading second game-winning goal and Harvey’s team-leading third assist of the season.
Sophomore Jordan Foster led Eastern with three shots in the game, two of which were on goal. Junior Cassie Smith attempted two shots.
Harvey, Smith and defenders Amani Thomas, Merrissa Vault, Makenna Sullivan and Kacy Eckley all went the distance in the win.
Sophomore goalkeeper Anna Hall made five saves to preserve the victory.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0, TENNESSEE TECH 0
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri and Tennessee Tech played a scoreless double overtime stalemate Sunday.
With one regular season match remaining, the Redhawks are now 8-5-5 on the season and 3-2-4 in Ohio Valley Conference play. Tennessee Tech is now 7-7-4, 5-3-1 OVC.
With the tie, Southeast ties a program record of five ties in a season, set back in 2003. The Redhawks' four conference ties is now a program record.
At the end of the first half, Southeast outshot the Golden Eagles, 3-1.
The scoring drought would hold through the second half and two overtime periods.
The Redhawks put 11 shots up, five of which were on goal. The Golden Eagles were held to just four shots, three of which were on goal.
The Redhawks had all five corner kicks in the match.
Jennifer Antonacci led the Redhawks with three shots in the match while Luehmann had a pair of shots including a shot on goal in the final 12 seconds of the game.
Karigan Owens owned two of Tech's four shots.
Kindra Lierz (7-5-5) earned the solo shutout. She played all 110 minutes in goal and made three saves.
Kari Naerdemann (7-7-4) also played all 110 minutes in goal. Naerdemann made five saves in the match.
UT MARTIN 2, MOREHEAD STATE 0
MOREHEAD, Ky. - A pair of goals in a five minute span of the first half proved to be the winning formula for the University of Tennessee at Martin women’s soccer team as they pushed their winning streak to three matches with a 2-0 win over Morehead State.
UT Martin (7-10, 5-4 OVC) jumped out to the lead with goals from a pair of freshman. Lisa Schmieder notched a penalty kick goal only to be followed up five minutes later by Amy McGivern. Overall the Skyhawks outshot the Eagles by 14-12 margin, placing 10 shots on the Morehead State goal. Goalkeeper MaKenzie Crawford notched her second career shutout, making four saves in the victory.
Morehead State (8-9-2, 5-3-1) turned up the pressure in the second half, firing seven shots in the final half. Abby Timm led the attack with three shots taken while Macy Kootz followed with two. Goalkeeper Kaitlyn Murphy notched eight saves against the Skyhawks in the loss.
After both teams fought to establish their offensive styles in the opening minutes, UT Martin broke the scoring open against the defensive minded Eagles. After a free kick from Maggie Burkett drew a handball inside the 18-yard box, Schmieder stepped up to the spot and buried the shot into the left side for the 1-0 lead. The score for Schmieder is her second of the weekend and pushes her into a tie for the team lead with six goals this year.
Moments later UT Martin doubled its lead on a quick counter attack after Morehead State looked to tie the match. It began when Sara Ketis passed wide to Schmieder who dribbled up the near sideline. The Elzach, Germany native crossed to Coombs-James and fought off a pair of defenders before laying a soft pass to McGivern who drilled a shot from 15-yards out and into the right side.
While the first half saw the Skyhawk offense dominate the match by a 10-5 shot margin, it was the defense that came alive in the second period. The Eagles turned up the pressure on their senior day but Crawford and the defense was able to keep Morehead State off the scoreboard with four saves in the match. The O’Fallon, Mo. native was called upon to make a crucial save with 15 minutes remaining as the ball clanked off the crossbar forcing Crawford to make a point blank save against Morehead State’s Samantha Damante.
AUSTIN PEAY 2, SIUE 0
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - In the final regular season home match of their careers, seniors Shelby Olszewski and Courtney Sheppard scored for Austin Peay State University women’s soccer team in a 2-0 victory over SIU Edwardsville, Sunday, at Morgan Brothers Soccer Field.
The Lady Govs (8-9, 4-5 OVC) completed the weekend sweep in shutout fashion as the defense, led by sophomore keeper Lindsey Todd, picked up a pair of clean sheets. With the win, APSU gains an additional three points to be in the hunt for an Ohio Valley Conference Tournament berth.
In a defensive first half, both teams combined for five shots. The original opening would come as Olszewski went up for a header in the 22nd minute, but SIUE keeper Jennifer Pelley got a touch to bat it away.
With previous meetings between both teams resulting in one goal games – including the last three – the physicality increased in the second half. Seventeen fouls were recorded in the period, along with three yellow cards given to players. But the Lady Govs remained composed to score the breakthrough goal in the 56th minute.
Freshman McKenzie Dixon lined up a corner kick from the left side, whipping an inward ball to Olszewski on the back post, who headed it home. It’s the second-consecutive game Olszewski has found the back of the net, giving her five goals on the year.
In the 62nd minute, Austin Peay would score the go-ahead goal after pressuring the Cougars (5-10-3, 2-6-1) in the box. After an original shot was blocked, Sheppard followed with a laser from a close distance, her first goal of 2015.
Todd made one save in net for APSU, improving her record to 8-9-0 this season after back-to-back shutouts. Pelley took the loss with four saves made.
Olszewski, Sheppard and freshman Jennifer Smith each had two shots to lead the Lady Govs, while Jorie Clawson led SIUE with two.