SUNDAY'S SCORES
Morehead State 3, @Eastern Illinois 1
@Belmont 4, Jacksonville State 1
Eastern Kentucky 3, @SIUE 2
@Murray State 3, UT Martin 1
@Tennessee Tech 2, Austin Peay 1
MOREHEAD STATE 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 1
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois women’s soccer had two costly turnovers which both resulted in Morehead State goals on Sunday afternoon as the Eagles picked up a 3-1 win over EIU in Ohio Valley Conference action at Lakeside Field.
EIU dropped to 5-8-1, 0-5 in the OVC. MSU improved to 3-8-1, 2-3-1 in the OVC.
The Panthers took a 1-0 lead in the 25th minute as they scored their first goal of the conference season. Hannah Heinz had a long throw in that landed in front of the goal box and following a quick scramble, Henar Urteaga tapped the ball in for the goal.
Morehead State tied the match in the 37th minute when an EIU defender misplayed the ball in transition right at the top of the goal box. Marisa Lavatori took one dribble with the loose ball and fired a high shot that was just over the hand of EIU goalkeeper Sara Teteak to make it 1-1 at the half.
The second turnover of the match for EIU came in the 64th minute when a ball played through to the keeper was mishandled. Dani Wilson stole the ball and quickly fired a shot into the net for the eventual game winner.
The Eagles tacked on an insurance goal in the 78th minute as Cara Maher received a ball on a breakaway from Marisa Lavatori. She raced down the left side and hit a shot that bounced off the far right post into the goal.
EIU finished with two shots on goal, both coming by Urteaga. MSU had six total shots on goal.
BELMONT 4, JACKSONVILLE STATE 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Belmont women's soccer erupts for three goals in the final minutes of the match to roll past Jacksonville State, 4-1, Sunday afternoon at E.S. Rose Park. Senior forward Belicia Mendiola (McKinney, Texas) was the unsung hero of the match, contributing to every score with two goals and a pair of assists.
The Bruins (7-4-1, 3-2-0 OVC) controlled the tempo of the match from start to finish, only allowing the Gamecocks (4-7-2, 1-4-0 OVC) to get off six shots. The squad continued its trend of scoring multiple goals en route to a victory as they've done in all seven of their wins this season.
Junior Jessi Boozer (Brentwood, Tenn.) got things going in the 20th when she met the service of Mendiola's corner with her head to give Belmont the early advantage. The Bruins continued to find themselves within inches of doubling their lead in the next ten minutes as they sent a trio of shots that grazed the wrong side of the left post to keep their tally to just one.
Jacksonville State would see the ball into the back of the net only when play was halted after Belmont was called for a handball inside the box resulting in a Gamecock penalty kick. Claire Peterson took full advantage of the opportunity as she snuck one past goalkeeper Lily Herman (Springboro, Ohio) in the 40th minute to knot the game up, 1-1, heading into halftime.
While BU came out of the locker room fired up, it wouldn't be able to convert on its first nine shots of the stanza. It wasn't until there were only 12 minutes left in the match that the squad would come alive. Mendiola initiated the movement after juggling the ball a few times and sending it past JSU keeper Caroline Robinson with her left foot to secure the game-winning goal.
From then on the Bruins couldn't be stopped as sophomore Niki Clements (Perkasie, Pa.) netted her first career goal two minutes later on an assist by none other than Mendiola who delivered a perfectly placed cross to the forward. The McKinney, Texas product then put the cherry on top with only one minute remaining, capitalizing on a misplayed ball to the keeper and tapping in BU's fourth goal.
Mendiola has scored eight times this season, tying her single season best from her rookie campaign. After her third multi-goal match of the season Mendiola now sits third all-time in career goals with 21.
Belmont finished the afternoon with 27 shots while only allowing the Gamecocks to tally one in the entire second stanza.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 3, SIUE 2
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - In a rematch of last year’s Ohio Valley Conference championship game, the Eastern Kentucky University soccer team used a game-winning header by senior forward Emmi Carroll to help defeat the SIUE Cougars, 3-2, Sunday afternoon on the road at Glen-Ed Soccer Field.
With the win, EKU (7-3-3-, 4-0-2) remains unbeaten in OVC play and atop the conference standings with 14 points.
The Colonels wasted little time scoring. In the 15th minute, sophomore midfielder Marian Wolski fired a cross to senior Jordan Foster that found its way past a SIUE defender. Foster then used a gorgeous left-to-right crossover that gave her the separation she needed to find the bottom right of the net. The Fairborn, Ohio native now holds a tie with Carroll with five goals on the season.
Just three minutes later in the 18th minute, Wolski found junior midfielder Bailly Bounds uncovered in the box. A pair of SIUE defenders came over to contest, but her shot still found its way past the Cougars’ goalkeeper, her third score of the year.
Wolski is now one of only seven Colonels to record two assists in one game. She is tied with Foster for the team lead in assists this season (three).
The Cougars (5-6-1, 3-2 OVC) made the game interesting with a goal in the 57th minute from Kelsey Pruett to make the score 2-1. However, in the 77th minute, freshman defender Katie Shaffer placed a free kick from midfield in the perfect position for Carroll to go up and head the ball through the net.
The Cougars gave chase at the lead again in the 85th minute, when Peyton Roehnelt scored off a penalty kick to make the score 3-2. However, the Eastern defense locked in and did not allow the Cougars to fire another shot in the remaining five minutes.
Foster led Eastern with three shots, two of those being on goal. In total, EKU had eight shots on the afternoon, compared to just six for SIUE.
MURRAY STATE 3, UT MARTIN 1
MURRAY, Ky. - On the back of three goals coming within two minutes of each other, the Murray State Racers continued their dominance with a 3-1 victory over the UT Martin Skyhawks at Cutchin Field in Murray, Ky.
With their third consecutive win, the Racers move to 9-1-1 overall and 4-0-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference, while UT Martin drops their third straight game, moving to 4-8-2 overall and 2-3-0 in the OVC. With back-to-back wins this week, the Racers pick up their 150th and 151st all-time wins.
"In the first half UT Martin did a good job, they had four back and at times six in the midfield. It was hard for us to break through. Towards the end of our game, our fitness showed and we were able to score the three goals. But we were very disappointed to give up the one goal though," said head coach Jeremy Groves
Possessing the ball for most of the game, the Racers had chances early and often to get on the board. As 10 first half shots were taken by Murray State with four getting on net, while only one total shot was credited to the Skyhawks in the first half. The Racers also took eight of their nine corners in the first frame.
It wasn't until the 80th minute that lightning struck for the Racers, Rebecca Kubin took a hard shot that should have gone in if it weren't for a spectacular save from the Skyhawk keeper. Harriet Withers found the rebound and kicked in her 11th goal of the year to give the Racers a 1-0 lead.
Withers was once again at the forefront of the offensive action moments later. She gathered the ball on the left side of the box and put a shot on the ground, beating the keeper to the right side for her second goal of the game and 12th on the year. With the two goals against Martin, Withers not only beats her personal record of 11 goals scored in a season (2015) but is now just one goal away from tying the all-time season record of 13 goals scored in a season. The record was set by Theresa Reedy in 2004.
UT Martin got on the board moments later to make it a 2-1 contest. This was the first goal given up by the Racers since Saint Louis at home on Sept. 17.
Roughly a minute after the UT Martin goal, the Racers found their scoring touch once again. This was the case for Emma Heise, who took control in the middle of a chaotic scramble in the UT Martin box. She scored her first goal of the season, making it 3-1 Racers. Heise is the fifth Racer to score this year for Murray. Withers, Miyah Watford, Kubin and Aaron Lankster are the other four.
In total, the Racers put up 20 shots with nine of them getting on goal, while holding UT Martin to seven total shots.
Making three saves, Alex Steigerwald earned her ninth of the year, moving her record to 9-1-1.
The Skyhawks were led by freshmen Ashley Levingston (one goal) and Alice Adams (two shots, one assist). Amy McGivern, Vanessa Dwumfour-Poku, Morgan Glaenzer and Miah Olaleye all tallied one shot apiece.
TENNESSEE TECH 2, AUSTIN PEAY 1
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech defeated visiting Austin Peay, 2-1, on Sunday evening. The Golden Eagles improved to 6-4-1 overall and 3-1-1 in the OVC while Govs fell to 7-5-1 and 2-3-1 in league play.
Austin Peay got on the board first as Shelby Stewart score just over two minutes into the match.
Tech's Nora Vicsek tied the game at 1-1 as she netted her second goal of the season at the 31:37 minute mark.
Less than seven minutes later, the Golden Eagles took the lead for good as Mayra Manzanal scored the game-winner.
TTU's goalkeeper Kari Naerdemann made three saves while Austin Peay's Mary Parker Powell made four stops.