BRACKET
FIRST ROUND SCORES
Southeast Misouri 1, @Jacksonville State 1 (Southeast Missouri advances on a shoot out)
Morehead State 4, @UT Martin 2
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 1, JACKSONVILLE STATE 1
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville state soccer team ended the 2015 season with heart-breaking opening round contest of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament as southeast Missouri advances on penalty kicks after the two sides played to a 1-1 draw after 110 minutes of action.
The Redhawks, the No. 6 seed, will now face No. 2 seed Tennessee Tech on Friday in the semifinals of the OVC Tournament in Murray, Kentucky. JSU wraps up the season at 8-9-2 overall.
After both teams recorded goals in the first 45 minutes, the rain-soaked contest was a stalemate the rest of the way. JSU and SEMO had quality looks at a game-winning goal as they combined for 30 shots. Jax State finished with a two-shot advantage at 16-14, including three looks at goal in the second overtime session.
In the penalty kick stage, Neil Macdonald followed the script from last season's OVC Tournament contest with UT Martin and inserted junior Katie Thomas in goal. Thomas saved SEMO's first attempt as did SEMO goalkeeper Kindra Lierz on Courtney Hurt's attempt. Lierz would go on to stave off the Gamecocks three other times. SEMO's Paige Blankenheim turned in the winning goal on the final attempt to send her squad to the semifinals.
JSU's Claire Petersen and Mackenzie Bellows connected on goals in the penalty kicks session.
The Gamecocks took the early advantage with a goal from Hurt in the 33rd minute. After a run that was started by sophomore Kayla Thompson and senior Katt Dowd, Dowd sent a high deep cross from the left side of the pitch to the right post for Hurt to put the ball in the back of the net. The Huntsville, Alabama senior collected four shots in her final game in a Gamecock uniform. Hurt finished her career with 23 goals, which ranks her fourth on JSU's all-time career goals chart, just behind senior Kelsey Bright, who posted 27 career goals. Bright, who had three shot attempts in the extended match, tied JSU's all-time mark for career shots with former Gamecock Jackie Rush. Rush and Bright sit atop the list with 210 career shots.
SEMO equalized three minutes later as Maddy Cornell connected on a shot from the left side of the pitch on a feeder from Natasha Minor.
Both squads plated solid defense throughout the contest with wet field conditions. Robinson turned in six saves, while Lierz tallied the same amount
MOREHEAD STATE 4, UT MARTIN 2
MARTIN, Tenn. - Morehead State Soccer advanced to the semifinals of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament with a 4-2 victory over UT Martin at Skyhawk field Sunday afternoon.
MSU (9-10-2) played comeback early against the Skyhawks (7-11-1), but a resilient senior-led team guided the Eagles to four goals and highlight reel saves throughout the match.
Perhaps the defining moment of the match came in the 56th minute. With the contest tied at two, the freshmen striking tandem of Abby Timm and Dani Wilson came up big once again for the Eagles. Timm beat the defense with a slicing a pass between two defenders, finding an open Wilson who knocked in her eighth goal of the season. For Timm, it was her fourth assist to go along with her team-high nine goals.
In the 80th minute, the Eagles added an insurance tally from senior defender Teig Palmateer. Off a free kick from twenty-five yards out, Palmateer launched a missile from her right foot.
Palmateer wasn't the only upperclassman to get in the mix, as the Eagles turned to a pair of seniors for their first goal. In the 26th minute, defender Kelsey Gomez drilled a high lead pass to midfielder Kim Golden right in front of the goalkeeper. The 5-foot-11 Golden leaped in the air and struck the ball to her left for a header and an equalizer to tie the contest 1-1.
In the 32nd minute, MSU took the lead from the Skyhawks. Sophomore Taylor Stivers collected a rebound on the left side of the goalkeeper's box. She struck with a furious kick, depositing the ball in the left corner of the net for her first career goal.
UTM got on the board early with a corner kick from freshman midfielder Maggie Burkett in the third minute. From the right corner, she delivered a ball to freshman midfilder Amy McGivern, who placed the ball in the back of the net off a header. The Skyhawks gave up two unanswered goals in the first half, but made it interesting in the second half. Junior forward Saphy Coombs- James evened the contest at the beginning of the second half, knocking a deflection back into the goal in the 49th minute.