FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Illinois 1, Tennessee Tech 0
Murray State 1, @Belmont 0
@Jacksonville State 4, Austin Peay 3
@Morehead State 2, SIUE 1
EASTERN ILLINOIS 1, TENNESSEE TECH
CHARLESTON, Ill. - A pair of former Charleston High School teammates connected for the lone goal on Friday afternoon helping Eastern Illinois pick up its first Ohio Valley Conference win of the season with a 1-0 victory over Tennessee Tech.
EIU improved to 3-9-2, 1-3-1 in the OVC. TTU fell to 5-5-3, 3-1 in the OVC. The Panthers return to action on Sunday hosting Morehead State at 1 p.m., part of Family Weekend on the EIU campus.
Tennessee Tech opened the first 17 minutes of the game with three shots on goal as EIU goalkeeper Maddie Lyon posted her second straight shutout. Lyon made a total of seven saves with six in the first half.
The Panthers got on the board midway through the first half as Maddie Fisher fired a shot into the goal box that was deflected and sent home by Ali Carlson in the 29th minutes for her first goal this season. Fisher and Carlson were high school teammates before both coming to EIU last season.
The Panthers had three total shots on goal for the afternoon with Molly Hawkins and Hannah Miller recording the other two.
Kari Naerdemann made two saves for TTU. Cassidy Ortman had three shots on goal.
EIU’s defense was able to keep Tennessee Tech without a shot in the final 12 minutes of the match.
MURRAY STATE 1, BELMONT 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Belmont women's soccer team (2-10-1, 1-4 OVC) battled literally until the final seconds of their match on Friday night at Rose Park but could not topple league leading Murray State (8-4, 4-0 OVC). The Racers barely held on to their narrow advantage in second half, thanks to quality shooting by the Bruins. However, MSU was able to hold on for the slim 1-0 victory.
Belmont dominated time of possession for much of the first stanza but the Racers would press and use a deflection in the box to put the ball back in the 17th minute to take the 1-0 lead. The Bruins dug in their heels on the hunt for the equalizer but fell just shy by the close of the first half.
After the break, the Bruins maintained their heavy pressure on both sides of the ball, holding possession for long stretches. BU outpaced the Murray State offensively down the stretch and were seemingly inches away from connecting on what could have been game tying goals. One of Belmont's best attempts came in the 82nd minute. Sophomore Belicia Mendiola (McKinney, Texas) was fouled just outside the box and fired an attempt that went just right of the post. Encouraged, the Bruins kept striking even as the match entered the final 10 seconds. Junior Meg Howard (Brentwood, Tenn.) squared up in front of the Racer goal with five ticks remaining and just narrowly missed as time expired.
Howard led the Bruins with a game-high four shots, followed by Mendiola, who recorded a pair.
Between the posts, junior Stephanie Bukovec (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) tallied one save thanks to a stringent defensive effort by the back line.
Belmont held the advantage in shots, 14-7, with nine coming in the second half. Murray State held the advantage in corner kicks, 7-6.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 4, AUSTIN PEAY 3
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - After a pair of defensive battles last weekend, the Jacksonville State soccer team saw itself in a shootout with Austin Peay on Friday in a thrilling 4-3 decision at the JSU Soccer Field.
The Gamecocks moved to .500 on the season overall and more importantly improved to 3-1-1 in Ohio Valley Conference play. With Tennessee Tech falling to Eastern Illinois earlier on Friday, JSU moved in to sole possession of second place and on the heels of OVC frontrunner, Murray State. The Racers will come to Jacksonville on Sunday holding on to first place at 4-0 after edging Belmont, 1-0, on Friday in Nashville.
After holding its opponents scoreless for the last 304 minutes, dating back to the Tennessee Tech match, JSU surrendered the first goal of the night in the 28th minute. APSU's Gina Fabbrro netted a ball off of a corner kick from Nicole Wojcik to give the Lady Govs the early advantage.
JSU responded four minutes later on one of its corner kick opportunities as Mackenzie Bellows booted a ball toward the goal to give Justine Panchuk a solid look at scoring and she delivered with her first career goal. With time winding down in the first 45 minutes, both teams looked like it would be a 1-all deadlock going into the break, but freshman Claire Petersen belted the ball in to the back of the net with just 1.1 seconds left in the first half to give Jax State momentum.
JSU and Petersen came out of the halftime break with momentum and added her second goal of the night as she beat an APSU defender and past the keeper for her second goal of the night.
The Gamecocks looked in control of the match with a two-goal margin, but knew the Lady Govs would make runs at them to equalize. APSU put its second goal of the night on the board in 59th minute after Mckenzie Dixon connected on a shot after dribbling past JSU's defense. APSU kept the pressure on JSU the rest of the way and tallied the equalizing goal in the 85th minute off the foot of Fabbro again.
After a 3-all deadlock and looking like JSU would play in a third extra session contest in a row, senior Courtney Hurt sent a ball in front of the APSU net and it was mishandled by the goalkeeper and slid in to the net for the eventual game-winner moments after APSU equalized.
JSU finished with 16 shots and half of them on goal, while the Lady Govs countered with 12 total shots. APSU benefited from six of its eight corner kicks in the second half.
MOREHEAD STATE 2, SIUE 1
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Morehead State Soccer's first road win of the season couldn't have come at a better time, as the Eagles defeated SIU Edwardsville 2-1 at Korte Stadium Friday evening.
The freshman forward tandem of Abby Timm and Dani Wilson continued to shine, hooking up for the two goals on the evening. MSU improved to 3-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference and to 6-7-1 overall, while the Cougars dipped to 4-7-3 overall and 1-3-1 in the conference.
Wilson assisted Timm first in the opening minute of the match. Timm broke free off a lead pass, beating the Cougar defender one on one to put the Eagles up 1-0 in the first 17 seconds. It marked the Eagles' quickest strike of the season.
SIUE's offense then went on the attack the rest of the first half. But the back line of defenders, anchored by the senior foursome of Karen Hilt, Kelsey Patera, Kelsey Gomez, and Teig Palmateer, kept the Cougars at bay.
The defense held its ground as Timm and Wilson continued into the second half, scoring the second goal in the 60th minute. Wilson fed Timm with a lead pass, as she went one on one with the goalkeeper, scoring her eighth goal of the season.
SIUE answered shortly after off a corner kick in the 64th minute. Junior defender Cory Levels headed in a rebound, cutting the lead in half.
The Eagle defense maintained its stinginess, allowing only one goal for the third straight match, finishing off the Cougars in the final 25 minutes.