SUNDAY SCORES
@Jacksonville State 2, SIUE 0
Eastern Illinois 2, @Tennessee Tech 1
Eastern Kentucky 1, @Murray State 0
@UT Martin 2, Morehead State 1
@Southast Missouri 2, Austin Peay 1
JACKSONVILLE STATE 2, SIUE 0
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Jacksonville State capped off the soccer season in fine fashion with a 2-0 blanking of SIU Edwardsville on a brisk Sunday afternoon at the JSU Soccer Field.
The Gamecocks finish the season at 4-11-2 overall and 2-7-1 in the OVC, while the Cougars fell to 5-9-1 on the season and 4-5-1 in league play. The loss hampered SIUE's 2018 OVC Tournament standing with the setback as it dropped from third place to a tie for fifth with Belmont. JSU finishes the final weekend at 1-0-1 after recording a scoreless draw on Friday against Eastern Illinois.
Jax State carried momentum from the hard-fought outing on Friday in to the Sunday's finale and it paid off with a goal in the 16th minute and added an insurance goal in the second half. The program honored its two seniors - Madison Carruthers and Claire Petersen on Friday night prior to the EIU match and it was fitting that one of the two leaders score the first goal of the game. Carruthers, from Frankford, Ontario, Canada, scored her second goal of the season in the 16th minute after sophomore Alicia Pallister directed the ball from the right side of the pitch to the left for Carruthers to put it away in from of the SIUE goalkeeper.
The Gamecocks would carry that advantage through the halftime break, finishing with eight shots in the opening half. JSU turned in 11 total shots, while SIUE had 13 on the day.
SIUE had opportunities early in the second half to equalize, but was denied in the box with the play of the JSU backline and goalkeeper Morgan Lerch. Lerch, playing the program from her backyard of Collinsville, Illinois, turned in six stops on the day. The redshirt freshman collected 81 saves in her first season in goal.
JSU tacked on the second goal in the 51st minute with Chloe Doherty's team-leading fourth goal of the season. Doherty finished off a pass in to the box from junior Rachel Blanding. Doherty was on the opposite side to send it in to the back of the net.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 2, TENNESSEE TECH 1
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Eastern Illinois picked up a 2-1 win at Tennessee Tech on Sunday afternoon as the Panthers locked up their first Ohio Valley Conference Tournament bid since the 2013 season.
Following completion of all matches on Sunday, EIU learned it will be the No. 3 seed in the tournament receiving a first-round bye. EIU will host the winner of the Belmont / Southeast Missouri match next Sunday, Oct. 28 at 1 pm at Lakeside Field. Belmont and SEMO will play at 1 pm this Friday (Oct. 26) at Lakeside Field in Charleston.
EIU improved to 6-7-5 overall, 4-3-3 in the OVC with the win. EIU was the first OVC team to beat TTU in Cookeville since October of 2015 ending the Golden Eagles 16-match unbeaten conference home streak which included 14 wins and two draws. TTU ended its season at 7-8-2 overall, 3-5-2 in the OVC.
Tennessee Tech went on the offensive attack early in the match as the Golden Eagles needed a win to advance to the OVC Tournament field. The early offense paid off in the 29th minute when Cassidy Bereda scored as she redirected a save on a corner kick for a goal. Rachel Blow had the assist.
EIU countered five minutes before the end of the first half as Haylee Renick knocked home a header that was crossed into the box by Lindsey Carlson. TTU had a 10-6 shots advantage in the first half and 23-13 for the match. Sara Teteak finished with 12 saves for the Panthers.
Eva Munoz scored five minutes into the second half as she beat TTU keeper Kari Naerdemann to the upper right hand corner of the net. Itxaso Aguero had the assist on the winner. Naerdemann finished the match with three saves as EIU had five shots on goal for the match.
Angela Corcoran and Aguero both had shots on goal to join shots by Renick and Munoz (2).
EASTERN KENTUCKY 1, MURAY STATE 0
MURRAY, Ky. - Junior Erin Torrence scored her program-record ninth goal of the season to lift the Eastern Kentucky University soccer team to a 1-0 win at second-place Murray State in the Colonels’ regular season finale on Sunday afternoon at Cutchin Field.
EKU (8-7-3, 4-3-3 OVC) struck in the 36th minute. Junior Rachele Manfre dribbled through the Murray State defense and lifted a beautiful cross to Torrence, who finished with her left foot to give the Colonels a lead they would never relinquish.
It was Manfre’s first assist of the season, and it proved to be a big one.
Murray State (11-4-1, 7-3 OVC) tried desperately to equalize, firing 21 shots on the day; however, the Colonel defense held.
Freshman goalkeeper Zoe Aguirre made five saves in the game, including a diving stop on a Murray State free kick with just over a minute to play. It was her fifth shutout of the season.
Manfre, Katie Shaffer, Alyssa Julien and Kacy Eckley played all 90 minutes on the EKU backline.
EKU finishes the regular season tied for third in the OVC and will be the No. 4 seed in the OVC Tournament, receiving a bye into the quarterfinals.
UT MARTIN 2, MOREHEAD STATE 1
MARTIN, Tenn. - The Morehead State soccer team scored the first goal of the match but ultimately fell, 2-1, against Ohio Valley Conference regular-season champions UT Martin on Sunday afternoon at Skyhawk Soccer Field.
Senior defender Makenna Lavatori scored the match's first goal when she booted home a free kick from near midfield in the eighth minute of play.
Lavatori, who earned the OVC Defensive Player of the Week award on Tuesday, now has two goals in 2018 and in her career.
The Eagles held onto a 1-0 advantage as the teams went to the halftime break.
UT Martin tied the match in the 55th minute of play when Amy McGivern headed a cross from Nicole Collins past senior goalkeeper Michelle Washburn. The Skyhawks took the lead nine minutes later when Danae Kaldaridou was able to get a clean look off a deflection at the goal line.
Morehead State was outshot by UT Martin 24-7 in the match.
Washburn made eight saves in the match while Makenzie Crawford made two stops for the Skyhawks.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 2, AUSTIN PEAY 1
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri (5-8-3, 3-4-3 OVC) defeated Austin Peay (8-8-1, 3-6-1), 2-1, to secure a spot in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament on the final day of the regular season Sunday.
This year marks the 18th that SEMO has made the OVC Tournament in its 20-year history.
Esmie Gonzales netted both goals for the Redhawks. Her first goal came in the first half when she broke away at midfield and drove through defenders to score in the 17th minute.
APSU tied the match a minute into the second half and the Governors continued with heavy pressure for the remainder of the match.
Gonzales' second goal then came in the 52nd minute of play when she received the ball inside the box and punched it in to secure the win.
The Fort Worth, Texas native now has nine goals this season and 25 in her career at SEMO. She ranks fourth in that category in program history.
Bailey Redden recorded five saves and faced 16 shots on the day.
The Redhawks were outshot 16-10 in the game, but recorded seven shots on goal to the Governors six.