THURSDAY'S SCORES
Murray State 2, @Eastern Kentucky 1
Tennessee Tech 1, @Belmont 0
@Jacksonville State 2, Morehead State 1
MURRAY STATE 2, EASTERN KENTUCKY 1
RICHMOND, Ky. - Second half goals by Harriet Withers and Caroline Ashton helped the Murray State women's soccer team rally from a 1-0 halftime deficit to open OVC play with 2-1 win over Eastern Kentucky Thursday afternoon in at EKU soccer Field in Richmond.
Eastern Kentucky wasted little time in scoring in the contest when Cassie Smith connected with Amani Thomas on a cross in front of the goal in the third minute to give the Colonels an early 1-0 lead. Despite eight shots in the first half, including five on goal, the Racers still couldn't find the back of the net and went to the locker room trailing, 1-0, at the break.
Coming out of halftime, the Racers were in danger of giving up another goal, as Mikala Ferguson's shot was just off target and hit the cross bar. The close call seemed to energize the Racers, however, as they were able to equalize in the 58th minute. Withers scored for MSU when she dribbled down the field, took a shot, then buried the rebound in a open net after Anna Hall's initial save pulled her out of position.
Ashton scored the game-winner in the 82nd minute for Murray State on a play that was set up by nice piece of passing from Lyssie Wright. Wright sent the ball out in from of Ashton, who dribbled past a defender to giver herself great position, eventually finding the bottom right corner of the net and the win for the Racers.
Ashton led all players with five shots and one goal, while Taylor Stevens took three shots and placed one on goal. Shelby Haworth played all 90 minutes for the MSU between the posts and ended the match with four saves and one goal allowed. Murray State is now 5-3 on the season and 1-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference, while Eastern Kentucky falls to 0-9 on the year and 0-1 in the OVC.
The Racers will be at home on Sunday as they take on Saint Louis at 1 p.m. at Cutchin Field. Live stats and streaming will be available at GoRacers.com.
TENNESSEE TECH 1, BELMONT 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A defensive minded Belmont women's soccer team (1-7-1, 0-1 OVC) was unable to hold off visiting in-state rival Tennessee Tech (3-4-3, 1-0 OVC) on Thursday night. The Golden Eagles scored a goal late in the second half to edge the Bruins, 1-0, at Rose Park.
A tremendous back and forth battle marked the first half between the long-time rivals. Both teams leaned on a strong defensive effort to keep their opponent from getting too close to the box for long stretches. The effort was so stingy for both that they only combined for two shots in the first 25 minutes. Finally, the teams were able to start connecting offensively but neither was able to string together any crosses to set up a significant scoring opportunity, sending the teams to the locker rooms locked in a 0-0 stalemate.
In the second half, the back and forth battle quickly resumed however, the Bruins would gain control of the time of possession for most of the half on both sides of the ball. Rookie Sarah Bossung (Nashville, Tenn.) came away with a crucial defensive header in front of the net to stop a TTU cross around the 55 minute mark.
The Bruins kept the pressure up and continued to encroach the attacking third but just barely missed on crosses to set up great opportunities. In the 69th minute of action, junior Meg Howard (Brentwood, Tenn.) fired a rocket at TTU's goal that saw Naerdemann juggle the ball in her attempt to make a stop.
The seemingly evenly matched contest continued to battle into the waning minutes of regulation. Finally, Tennessee Tech used a serve to get into the box and in the confusion after a defensive block was able to use a ricochet to find the back of the net in the 84th minute. Despite continued pressure from BU, the Golden Eagles were content to play keep away to hold on for their first win of the OVC season.
Howard led the Bruins with three shots, followed by freshman Allie Svoboda (Lisle, Ill.) with two.
Netminder Stephanie Bukovec (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) finished with four saves on the night.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 2, MOREHEAD STATE 1
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Jacksonville State netted a pair of goals within minutes of each other in the second half to oust Morehead State, 2-1, in the Ohio Valley Conference opener for both sides on Thursday night at the JSU Soccer Field.
The win improved Jax State's overall mark to 4-5 on the season and won the league opener for the third time in the last four seasons dating back to the 2012 season. JSU has now won back-to-back OVC lidlifters for the first time since the 2010 and 2011 seasons. The Eagles of MSU fell to 3-6-1 overall and dropped its first contest to the Gamecocks for the first time since the 2005 campaign.
Dating back to last season, Jax State has now won seven of its last 11 matches against OVC competition.
After playing to a scoreless deadlock for the first 50 minutes, JSU moved the ball deep in to the Eagles' final half as junior Mackenzie Bellows drilled a shot that deflected off of MSU's goalkeeper, Kaitlyn Murphy's hands and in to the net just inside the right post in the 51st minute.
With momentum on their side the Gamecocks pushed the tempo against the Eagles and produced the eventual game-winning goal off the foot of senior Kelsey Bright. Moments after Bellows' first goal of the season, Bright drilled a shot from 35 yards out past Murphy and in to the left side of the net. It was Bright's second goal of the season and the 24th of her career. She maintains the fourth spot on the program's all-time goals list.
The Eagles sliced the lead in half in the 69th minute with a score by Haley Best. Best slid a ball past JSU keeper Caroline Robinson for MSU's lone goal of the contest. The Eagles had ample chances in the final 45 minutes with 10 of their 15 total shots in the second half. MSU also had 10 corner kick opportunities, while JSU was limited to one late in the contest. The Gamecocks registered 13 shots in the match with eight of the final tally coming in the opening half.