FRIDAY SCORES
@Eastern Kentucky 1, Jacksonville State 0 (2OT)
UT Martin 2, @Belmont 0
@Morehead State 2, Tennessee Tech 0
Murray State 2, @Austin Peay 1
UT MARTIN 2, BELMONT 0
NASHVILLLE, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin soccer squad kept up its hot pace of play as it defeated Ohio Valley Conference foe Belmont in a 2-0 clean sheet this evening.
UT Martin (11-2-1, 6-0-1 OVC) outshot the Bruins by a 27-3 margin while the Skyhawks placed 12 shots on goal. The victory pushed UT Martin's unbeaten streak out to nine matches while the Skyhawks have not lost a conference bout this season.
UT Martin was led by the outstanding play of Amy McGivern today as she found the back of the net twice. The Ballynahinch, Northern Ireland native reeled off five total shots (two of which were on goal). McGivern is coming off of a week in which she earned a share of the OVC Offensive Player of the Week award and pushed for her case to claim another award this week.
Nicole Collins earned an assist in the bout as she produced a nifty pass to McGivern. Alice Adams put up five shots (three on goal) while Samantha Kelly racked up five shots (four of which were on goal). The quartet of Danae Kaldaridou, Sara Ketis, Jacalyn Schubring and Collins all put up a pair of shots. Rounding out the shot column was Bianca McFarland, Kaci Mitchell, Skylor Keane and Kamryn Chappell.
Defenders Mitchell and Chappell each tallied a complete match on the pitch as both have been key contributors to the UT Martin back line that has kept opposing offenses cornered.
Goalkeeper Erica Myers stood tall yet again as the Holland, Ohio native racked up her fifth shutout of the year. She logged the full 90 minutes in goal while stopping the only two shots she faced throughout the whole match.
The match had the early signs to being a stalemate as both teams went into the halftime intermission knotted up at 0-0. UT Martin would crack into the scoring column at the 60-minute mark as McGivern took a pass from a rebound off of Collins to put the Skyhawks up 1-0. The second scoring swing from McGivern came in the 81st minute as she found a loose ball in the box.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 1, JACKSONVILLE STATE 0
RICHMOND, Ky. - Junior Erin Torrence buried a free kick in the 107th minute to lift the Eastern Kentucky University soccer team to a crucial 1-0 win over visiting Jacksonville State on Friday afternoon.
After 107 minutes of scoreless soccer, EKU (7-6-2, 3-2-2 OVC) was fouled just outside of the Jacksonville State (3-10-2, 1-6-0 OVC) box. Torrence, the Colonels’ leading scorer on the year, took the ensuing free kick, and struck it true, past JSU keeper Morgan Lerch and into the lower left corner of the net.
The beautiful golden goal was Torrence’s team-leading seventh score of the year.
Following a fairly even first half in which the two teams combined for only four shots, EKU dominated the second half and overtime periods.
The Colonels had a chance to take the lead early in the second half, when Jacksonville State fouled inside the box; however, Lerch made a great save on Monica Rios’ penalty kick to preserve the scoreless draw.
Eastern outshot JSU, 15-8, in the game, and attempted 11 corner kicks to the Gamecocks’ four. However, the Colonels could not break through until Torrence’s last-minute set-piece heroics.
Torrence and Sarah Owusu led EKU with three shots apiece.
Senior Kacy Eckley and sophomore Jess Philpot played all 107 minutes on EKU’s backline.
Freshman goalkeeper Zoe Aguirre made four saves to earn her fourth shutout of the season.
Senior Claire Petersen, who had two of the Gamecocks' eight shots, had one of her shots rattle off the bar from about 25 yards out. Senior Madison Carruthers joined Petersen with multiple shot attempts with two, including one on goal chance.
Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Morgan Lerch came up just short in her bid for a fifth shutout of the season. Lerch collected eight saves against EKU.
MOREHEAD STATE 2, TENNESSEE TECH 0
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Morehead State soccer team picked up its' second-consecutive victory and knocked off Ohio Valley Conference foe Tennessee Tech, 2-0, on Friday evening at Jayne Stadium.
After playing to a scoreless tie at halftime, second-half goals from senior midfielder Samantha Damante and freshman forward Colleen Swift made the difference.
Damante opened the scoring in the 53rd minute when a throw-in from Swift dropped into the middle of the box and left Damante one-on-one with the Golden Eagles' goalie. Less than a minute later, Swift found herself the beneficiary of a well-played ball off passes set up by senior forwards Cara Maher and Dani Wilson that she was able to rocket into the back of the net from atop the box.
The goal was Damante's first of the season and fifth of her career. Swift's goal was her second of the season while her assist was the first of her career. Wilson and Maher's assist was their first of the season.
Stellar defensive play from the Eagles and senior goalkeeper Michelle Washburn were also key to the Eagles' win. The match marks the second consecutive shutout for Morehead State, both with Washburn in goal. The senior made one save on her way to picking up her third-career clean sheet.
The Eagles tied their season-high single-game shots total of 17 in the victory. Wilson led the team in the category with five shots
Tennessee Tech was led by forward Kendall Powell who fired five shots in the match. In goal for the Golden Eagles, Kari Naerdemann made six saves.
MURRAY STATE 2, AUSTIN PEAY 1
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Murray State defeated Austin Peay, 2-1, on Friday night. With the win, the Racers improved to 9-3-1 overall and 5-2 in the OVC while the Governors fell to 8-6-1 overall and 3-4-1 in league action.
Rebecca Kubin scored both of Murray State's goals. She scored her first goal just over 12 minutes into the game. Kubin then took an assist from Elizabeth Tilton and scored the game-winner at the 29:26 mark.
Austin Peay's Caroline Wistrom scored her third goal of the season just over three minutes into the second half to cut the Racers lead to 2-1.