THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Illinois 1, SIUE 0
@Murray State 2, Austin Peay 1
@Tennessee Tech 1, Morehead State 0
@Jacksonville State 1, Belmont 0
@UT Martin 0, Southeast Missouri 0
EASTERN ILLINOIS 1, SIUE 0
CHARLESTON, Ill. - In the final collegiate match for six Eastern Illinois seniors, Hannah Miller capped her Panthers career with a game winning goal in the final 1:06 of regulation to lift EIU to a 1-0 win over SIU Edwardsville on a cold and windy day at Lakeside Field.
The goal was set up as EIU was awarded a free kick just outside the goal box. Miller took the free kick and her shot hit off the post and spun over the goal line for the winner.
EIU finished the season at 4-13-2, 2-7-1 in the OVC. SIUE had its season end with a 5-11-3 record, 2-7-1 in the OVC.
The Cougars had five shots on goal in first half and four shots on goal in the second half. Cassidy Sherman and Courtney Benning each had two shots on goal for SIUE.
EIU freshman goalkeeper Maddie Lyon made nine saves to post her fourth shutout this season.
EIU finished the day with seven shots on goal. Senior Molly Hawkins had three shots on goal while Miller added two. The final two shots on goal were by Kaci Schonert and Madi Fisher.
Jennifer Pelley made six saves for SIUE.
MURRAY STATE 2, AUSTIN PEAY 1
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State soccer team accomplished a first in Ohio Valley Conference play when they completed their championship run with a perfect 10-0 season. The Racers defeated the Austin Peay Governors in the regular season finale 2-1 at Cutchin Field in Murray, Kentucky.
The Racers got all they need on goals by Taylor Richerson and Harriet Withers in the first half and then held off a rally by the Govs to improve to 14-4 and become the first 10-0 OVC champion.
The Racers came out quickly and scored in the seventh minute when Taylor Stevens found Withers left of the goal. Withers drove and centered the ball to Richerson who found herself in front of an open net and scored her seventh goal of the season.
MSU kept the momentum going and scored again in the 24th minute when Richerson found Withers open. With a swift move, Withers beat the keeper and scored the second goal of the match and her ninth of the season.
The 2-0 lead for the Racers would hold heading into the half.
Coming out of the half, the Governors scored in the 47th minute on Gina Fabbro's 10th goal of the season to cut the Racers lead to 2-1.
The Racers played great defense from there and brought home the 2-1 final.
Alex Steigerwald got the win in goal for the Racers with six saves.
MSU adds another win to its historic season, bringing their team record to 14 wins (14-4) and a perfect mark of 10-0 in OVC play. Austin Peay fell to 8-10 and 4-6 in OVC play.
As the overall number one seed, the Racers will host the semifinals and championship matches of the OVC Championship (Nov 6 & 8) at Cutchin Field. Match times will be announced later. The field for the OVC Championship will be known by the end of play Thursday night.
MSU will be hosting the OVC Soccer Championship for the second time in the history of the program that began in 2000 and first since 2008. MSU won the tournament title once in 2009 at Morehead State.
MSU's 10-0 OVC title is the sixth undefeated and untied team in league history since women's soccer started in 1998. MSU's 10 wins is the first in OVC play. Other undefeated teams include: Tennessee Tech 4-0 (1998), Eastern Illinois 5-0 (1999), Eastern Illinois 5-0 (2000), Southeast Missouri 5-0 (2001) and Southeast Missouri 6-0 (2002).
TENNESSEE TECH 1, MOREHEAD STATE 0
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee Tech soccer team is heading to the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament semifinals, securing a first round bye by virtue of Thursday night's 1-0 win over Morehead State in the regular season finale. The victory clinches the No. 2 seed in the field of six, giving the Golden Eagles (8-7-4, 6-3-1) their first second place OVC regular season finish since 2000.
Adding to a program record for conference wins in a season, Tech notched number six with yet another stellar defensive effort and a timely Abi Gearing goal in the 56th minute. After a Morehead State (8-10-2, 5-4-1) foul inside the box on an attempt by Taylor Sutton, Gearing set up for a penalty kick and a chance to break the scoreless tie.
Cool, calm, and collected, the 5-foot-9 junior buried it into the back of the net for her fourth goal of the season, a new team high.
Defensively, Tech limited the Eagles, who came into the match with an OVC-leading 241 shots this season, to just nine total attempts. Freshman Kari Naerdemann collected her seventh shutout of the year, the second most in a single season in Tech history.
Morehead senior Kaitlyn Murphy made two saves in between the pipes, while fellow senior Kelsey Gomez pushed the Eagles to a team save after the 5-foot-6 defender headed away a Mackenzie Miller strike in the 21st minute that appeared destined to break the scoreless tie. Miller started her second match of the season, playing 70 minutes on the pitch.
Sophomore Zoie Hensely led the Golden Eagles with two shots, two off the pace of Morehead's Dani Wilson's match-high four.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 1, BELMONT 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Senior Kelsey Bright's goal in the first half propelled the Jacksonville State soccer team in to the 2015 Ohio Valley Conference Soccer Tournament for the second consecutive year as JSU held off Belmont, 1-0, on Thursday night in the regular season finale at E.S. Rose Park.
The Gamecocks, who finished the regular season at 8-9-1 overall and 5-4-1 in the OVC, also earned the No. 3 seed in the six-team field and will host the No. 6 seed Southeast Missouri in the opening round of the tournament on Sunday at the JSU Soccer Field. The OVC will announce the start time for Sunday's contest on Friday. For the first time this season, the opening round matches will be held on campus sites and the two surviving teams will advance to the semifinal round on Friday, November 6. Murray State won the regular season crown with a clean 10-0 worksheet and earned the right to host the semifinals and championship match. The championship match will be held on Sunday, Nov. 8.
MSU and Tennessee Tech earned opening round byes and will await the winners of Sunday's two matches. UT Martin claimed the No. 4 seed and will host No. 5 seed Morehead State on Sunday. UTM MSU and Jax State all finished with identical 5-4-1 records in conference play, but the Gamecocks won the three-way tiebreaker with the other two clubs to receive the No. 3 seed.
Bright put the Gamecocks on the scoreboard early with the goal coming in the 14th minute of the contest. The Kingwood, Texas forward dribbled past the Bruin defense and her shot deflected off the goalkeepers' hands in in the back left side of the net. JSU was limited to just five shots but Bright made one of those count with a netted ball. JSU was able to keep that advantage the rest of the half as Belmont produced nine shots in the first 45 minutes. The Gamecocks were held to one shot in the second half. Bright moved closer to the program's all-time career shots lead with two more of Friday. She needs three more shot attempts to match former Gamecock Jackie Rush's all-time mark of 210 career shots.
Jax State thwarted many Bruin runs in the final 45 minutes as BU was credited with 12 shots in the second half and finished with 16 more shots than JSU. Sophomore goalkeeper Caroline Robinson, playing near her hometown of Hendersonville, Tennessee, put on a solid performance in goal to preserve the win and extend JSU's season. Robinson posted her fifth shutout of the season and fourth against a conference opponent. She collected a season-high 11 saves in the contest.
Belmont's Meg Howard tallied a match-best six shots in the setback. The Bruins ended the 2015 season at 4-12-2 overall and 3-6-1 in league play.
Sunday's quarterfinal match up with the Redhawks of SEMO (8-5-6, 3-2-5 OVC) will be a rematch of last season's semifinal contest of the OVC Soccer Tournament. JSU knocked off the host and to-seeded Redhawks 1-0 in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. SEMO claimed the regular season contest between the two clubs back on October 18, 1-0, on SEMO's home pitch.
UT MARTIN 0, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s soccer team set a new program record in shots while holding Southeast Missouri to just three shots in the final 65 minutes but in the end the two teams finished in a scoreless draw at Skyhawk Field.
With the result UT Martin (7-10-1, 5-4-1 OVC) earned the fourth seed in the 2015 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament and will host No. 5 seed Morehead State in the opening round of the tournament on Sunday, Nov. 1. A game time will officially be announced tomorrow.
The Skyhawks fired 42 shots in the draw against the Redhawks, breaking the program record of 39 set in 2013 against Southeast Missouri in a double overtime win. The shots are also the most in a match featuring two OVC teams since 2002.
A total of eight Skyhawks went the distance in the match. Saphyra Coombs-James led the Skyhawk attack firing nine shots with a team-best six finding the Redhawk goal. Freshmen midfielders Amy McGivern and Maggie Burkett followed behind with seven shot attempts each.
While the offense was setting a record, the Skyhawk defense held strong to create chances for the offensive attack. After allowing five shots in the first half, Southeast Missouri only took one shot in each the final three periods. MaKenzie Crawford netted her second consecutive shutout, making three saves in the contest.
Southeast Missouri (8-5-6, 3-2-5 OVC) were led goalkeeper Kinda Lierz, making 16 saves in the overtime contest. Angie Mann led the team with a trio of shots attempted while Natasha Minor fired a pair of shots.