FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Murray State 1, Western Kentucky 0
Tennessee Tech 1, @Georgia State 0
Morehead State 2, @Akron 1
Lipscomb 6,
@Belmont 1
@Kentucky 2,
SIUE 1
@Austin Peay 1, Middle Tennessee 0
@Jacksonville State 2, ULM 1
MURRAY STATE 1, WESTERN KENTUCKY 0
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State soccer team began their 2018 season strong with a 1-0 shutout victory over Western Kentucky Friday at Cutchin Field in Murray, Kentucky.
The Racers got on the scoreboard early when sophomore Kayla Travis found freshman Abby Jones in the 10th minute for the lone score of the contest. With the goal, MSU gained their first score of the season. Meanwhile, Jones earned her first collegiate start and goal Friday.
The Racers seemed to control the offensive tempo throughout the match after taking a total of 18 shots, with nine being on net. The Lady Toppers managed to record nine shots of their own. Goalkeeper Alex Steigerwald had six saves during the contest to help earn herself a shutout victory.
Murray State's season opening win marks the first victory in the record books for rookie head coach Matt Lodge.
The Racers will quickly return to action in a home matchup against Northern Kentucky (Aug. 19) on Sunday. The matchup against the Norse is at Cutchin Field and is slated for a 1 p.m. start.
MOREHEAD STATE 2, AKRON 1
AKRON, Ohio - The Morehead State soccer team knocked off the Akron Zips 2-1 on Friday evening at First Energy Stadium-Cub Cadet Field.
Freshman forward Colleen Swift's first-career goal in the 61st minute put the Eagles on top and proved to be enough as junior goalkeeper Eva Helgadottir bared down and made three of her five saves in the game's final 10 minutes.a
Akron drew first blood in the match when Rachel Baughman found the back of the net off a corner kick in the 35th minute. Morehead State countered quickly and put pressure on the Zips' defense causing a miscue that led to an own goal that brought the game even at 1-1 in the 38thminute.
The Eagles took seven shots in the game with five being on goal. Senior forward Dani Wilson took two shots with both being on target while Swift also took two with the one on target that scored to deciding goal.
Five Morehead State players played the full 90 minutes as Helgadottir went the distance in the goal while junior midfielder Ellie Weber, senior defender Samantha Damante, freshman defender Nicole Palmer, and senior defender Makenna Lavatori did the same in the field.
The triumph is the Eagles' first season-opening victory since 2014.
Next up for Morehead State will be another road challenge at Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon. The Panthers opened the season with a 2-1 victory at home over Ohio. The opening kick is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET from Ambrose Urbanic Field.
LIPSCOMB 6, BELMONT 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A capacity crowd of 501 fans turned out for Belmont's season-opening 6-1 loss to Lipscomb, an E.S. Rose Park record for a women's soccer match.
Lipscomb's attack was stout from the get-go with the Bisons (1-0-0) firing 12 shots in the opening half with seven of them on goal. That led to a 3-0 lead at the break with Lipscomb junior Olivia Doak scoring twice in the opening 15 minutes.
The deficit continued to swell before the Bruins' efforts translated to the scoreboard. Less than a minute after the Bisons' ran their lead to 5-0, Belmont played the ball into the box and sophomore Julie Garst (Franklin, Tenn.) made good on a feed from senior midfielder Jessi Boozer (Brentwood, Tenn.).
Garst buried the shot to give Belmont its first goal of the season in the 58th minute, a response to some of what head coach Heather Henson addressed at halftime. The Bruins needed to gradually work their way up the field rather than send in a long ball that Lipscomb could counter and return quickly.
The approach helped the home side match Lipscomb's ball possession in the second half, though the Bisons still outshot Belmont 24-14 and forced junior goalkeeper Lily Herman (Springboro, Ohio) to make seven saves in net.
The Bruins won't return to the friendly confines of E.S. Rose Park and its loyal fans for more than two weeks now. The next home match for Belmont comes on Sept. 2 against LIU Brooklyn with the Bruins' next two both coming on the road. That stretch starts Sunday with a short trip to Murfreesboro, Tenn., to face Middle Tennessee State.
KENTUCKY 2, SIUE 1
LEXINGTON, Ky. - SIUE women's soccer dropped their season opening match at SEC foe Kentucky 2-1.
The Wildcats (1-0) started off the scoring in the 12th minute with a Hollie Olding goal. Marissa Bosco and Payton Atkins were both credited with an assist after Bosco slid in a pass to Atkins who slotted through a center pass inside the box to Olding for the finish.
The score would stand at 1-0 at the half in Kentucky's favor. The Wildcats outshot the Cougars (0-1) 7-1 at the half.
Early in the second half, SIUE's Myah Diekema assisted Andrea Frerker in her first goal of the season. Diekema laid the ball off to Frerker about 30 yards out and Frerker chipped the keeper with a long-range effort.
SIUE recorded four shots and held a large amount of the possession in the second half.
In the 86th minute Kentucky's Yuuka Kurosaki slotted home the game-winner from Eva Mitchell after a defensive breakdown for the Cougars.
SIUE goalkeeper Jensen Schoch came up big for the Cougars with 10 saves on the night. She had multiple impressive moments where she came off her line to successfully stop the attacking play.
Despite the loss, Coach Burton is optimistic about the season and how well his team played.
SIUE's next match will be their home opener next Friday at Korte Stadium against Indiana State at 7:00 p.m.
TENNESSEE TECH 1, GEORGIA STATE 0
ATLANTA, Ga. - A dramatic finish and a history-making performance was the story in the Tennessee Tech soccer team's season opener. A Kendall Powell goal inside the final 10 minutes proved to be the difference, while Kari Naerdemann put herself in rarified air with another stellar showing in between the pipes to help lead the Golden Eagles to a 1-0 victory Friday evening at Georgia State.
With three saves and another shutout added to her robust resume, senior Kari Naerdemann broke a pair of distinguished program and conference records. Tonight's win was the 29th in her career, breaking a tie with Carly King (2001-04) for the most victories in program history, while the Herne, Germany native's latest blanking moved her past SEMO's Lindsay Pickering (2005-07) and SIUE's Jennifer Pelly (2012-15) for the most career shutouts in OVC history with 29.
Sophomore Kendall Powell played a pivotal role in Naerdemann's march toward history, providing the Golden Eagles (1-0-0) with all the heroics needed after breaking a scoreless deadlock in the 81st minute for the tilt's lone goal. Powell, who had four game-winning goals in her rookie campaign to tie the program's single-season record, wasted no time in collecting her first winner of 2018 behind a drive from just outside the box after the Cookeville native received a throw-in from sophomore Katie Bain.
Powell's goal proved to be more than enough thanks to a sturdy Golden Eagle defensive effort that limited the Panthers (0-1-0) to six total shots, only three of which were on-goal. Tech tightened the clamps in the second half, allowing only two shots throughout the match's final 45 minutes for the club's sixth-straight regular-season shutout after finishing 2017 with five consecutive regular-season goose eggs.
Tina Marolt tied her TTU career-high with four shots to help pace a Tech offense that generated five of its six shots after intermission. Kendall Powell and freshman Ashley Grimes accounted for the other two Golden Eagle shots.
Brooke Shank led the Panthers with two shots, one of which was on-goal. GSU goalkeeper Maddie Card did not make a save in the match, with Powell's score serving as the only Tech shot on-goal.
The Golden Eagles will close out their season-opening road trip with a stop at Lipscomb Sunday evening. First kick from Nashville is slated for 6 p.m. CT.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 2, ULM 1
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State soccer team opened the 2018 with a dominating offensive output in a 2-1 win over Louisiana-Monroe on Friday night at a drenched JSU Soccer Field.
The contest marked JSU's return to athletics on its home venues after a tornado last March ravished the campus and community. The winning result in the season opener is the second for JSU under the direction of Neil Macdonald. JSU has now won both meetings with ULM after a 2-0 blanking last season in Monroe, Louisiana.
The Gamecocks pelted the ball toward the ULM goal for most of the contest with a 19-4 edge in total shots. JSU held the Warhawks in check for nearly 70 minutes of the contest and limited the visitors from Louisiana to one shot. Senior Madison Carriuthers tallied a career-high seven shots, including five on goal opportunities. Senior Claire Petersen added three shots, while sophomore Lindsay Albani posted a pair of shots.
JSU recorded the first of two first half scoring plays in the 17th minute on a play that was started by redshirt junior Danelle Lindo's shot from just past the midfield stripe. The ball caromed off the ULM keeper to junior Rachel Blanding on the left side, who drilled the ball in to the right corner pocket of the goal.
Jax State kept the momentum throughout the first 45 minutes and added the eventual game-winner in the 36th minute. Junior Nadia Plawiuk connected on the goal from the left side of the box and past the keeper. Plawiuk finished with three shots in the opener.
The Warhawks broke through for their first goal of the season and tightened the contest the rest of the way with a goal by Cassidy Wiest. ULM's Alexandria Skidmore and Skekinah Wells were credited with the assists.
The Gamecocks will look to maintain the momentum gained from its season-opening performance with a trip to Jackson, Mississippi to face the Tigers of Jackson State. Match time is set for 1 p.m. in the capitol city of the Magnolia state.
AUSTIN PEAY 1, MIDDLE TENNESSEE 0
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay defeated visting Middle Tennessee, 1-0, in its 2018 season opener on Friday night.
Senior Jennifer Smith scored the lone goal of the game at the 26:29 mark. Junior goalkeeper Mary Parker Powell made five saves to secure the shutout.
The Govs are back in action on Sunday when they travel to Evansville. Gametime is set for 5 p.m. CT.