THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Ohio 2
, Eastern Kentucky 1 (OT)
Xavier 4
, @Murray State 3 (2OT)
Butler 3,
@Morehead State 0
@Western Kentucky 5,
Belmont 0
@UT Martin 3, Arkansas State 1
OHIO 2, EASTERN KENTUCKY 1
ATHENS, Ohio - The Eastern Kentucky University soccer team fell in overtime to host Ohio, 2-1, in the Colonels’ season opener at Chessa Field on Thursday.
EKU (0-1) produced a handful of dangerous opportunities in the first half, but neither team converted over the first 45 minutes.
Less than 10 minutes into the second half, Ohio (1-0) broke the scoreless draw when Sydney Leckle took a pass from Alivia Milesky and made it 1-0, Bobcats.
The Colonels did not fold. In fact, Eastern dominated the rest of the second half, outshooting Ohio 7-3 and attempting three corner kicks to the Bobcats’ none over the final 45 minutes.
That offensive pressure finally paid off when senior Marian Wolski found junior Kylie Thompson on a run, and Thompson buried her opportunity to tie it up.
The draw held through 90 minutes; however, five minutes into overtime, Abby Townsend scored the golden goal off another assist from Milesky to give the Bobcats the victory.
Ohio narrowly outshot EKU, 12-11, on the day. Thompson paced the Colonels with four shots, three of which were on frame. Freshman Audrey Anderson attempted two shots, one on goal.
All 21 active Colonels saw the field in the game.
Sophomore goalkeeper Zoe Aguirre made eight saves on the day.
EKU returns home to host Chattanooga on Sunday, August 25, at 1 p.m.
XAVIER 4, MURRAY STATE 3
MURRAY, Ky. - After thunderstorms delayed the start of the new campaign, Murray State women's soccer would make their 2019 regular season debut on Thursday evening as they hosted Xavier in a non-conference match at Cutchin Field in Murray, Kentucky. Despite three goals from an explosive Racer attack, Murray State fell to the Musketeers in heartbreaking fashion in double overtime – 4-3 would be the final after nearly 110 minutes of action.
MSU would open the scoring when Abby Jones netted the first goal of the season off a pass from Rebecca Kubin in the 19th minute.
With the Racers clinging to a 1-0 lead, the match would come level just a few minutes later when Samantha Dewey knotted the game in the 21st minute for the Musketeers.
As both teams traded a good share of the possession in a fast-paced first half, the Racers quickly regained the lead when 2018 All-OVC 1st Team selection Miyah Watford gained control of the ball in Xavier's penalty area and neatly tucked it in the bottom corner to give her side a 2-1 advantage with nearly 24 minutes gone in the contest.
The Racers closed the first half of play firing on all cylinders when Rebecca Kubin received a ball from Elizabeth Tilton and put away the third MSU goal of the afternoon to widen the margin to 3-1 as they entered the break.
Xavier would take back some of the momentum when they cut the Racer lead to just one early in the second half as Samantha Dewey slipped past the defensive line to score her second goal of the match off a pass from Emily Burton to make the score 3-2.
As both teams continued to fight a physical battle throughout the midfield, the game would not see its next goal until the 64th minute when Dewey completed her hat-trick to bring the game level – tying the score for the first time since the 21st minute of the competition.
Murray State saw a promising opportunity to tally the winner in the final five minutes of regulation as Watford fired a shot from within the Xavier penalty area, but the strike would sail just over the crossbar, leaving the match even at 3-3 and forcing overtime to decide the winner.
After a scoreless first period of overtime saw both sides record a pair of shots in the attack, the game would not be separated until the final minute of double overtime when a Xavier corner kick produced the game-winning goal as Samantha Dewey capped her outstanding performance with a headed goal to give her side a 4-3 victory after 109 minutes of play.
Possession was split at an even 50/50 between the two teams, while the Racers were able to record 17 shots (nine on target) to open regular season competition.
Freshman goalkeeper Jenna Villacres made 11 saves between the posts for Murray State.
The Racers will return to action on Sunday when they travel to Birmingham, Alabama to take on the Bulldogs of Samford University. Kickoff is slated for 2:00 p.m.
BUTLER 3, MOREHEAD STATE 0
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Butler Bulldogs used three first-half goals to defeat Morehead State Soccer 3-0 in the Eagles inaugural match of 2019 and their first at the MSU Recreation & Wellness Intramural Field on Thursday evening.
Butler's Anja Savich found the back of the net twice, scoring goals in the 10th and 33rd minutes. Celia Gaynor nestled a goal between Savich's two scores in the 15th minute of action.
The Eagles and Bulldogs played to a scoreless draw in the second half as the MSU defense tightened, allowing just five shots as compared to 13 in the opening half.
Offensively, Butler outshot Morehead State 18-4 with the visitors posting a 9-2 advantage in shots on goal. For the Eagles, sophomore defender Nicole Palmer and freshman midfielder Eva Kiper accounted for the shots on target.
Freshman goalkeeper Kayla Landman made six saves for Morehead State in her first-career start. Freshman goalie Grace Gaffney took charge of the net in the final 45 minutes and recorded zero saves on the Bulldog's five shot attempts.
Morehead State falls to 0-1 on the new campaign while Butler moves to 1-0
The Eagles jump back into action on Sunday when they travel to Louisville for a 7:30 p.m. ET match against the Cardinals at Lynn Stadium. The match will be streamed on ACC Network Plus.
WESTERN KENTUCKY 5, BELMONT 0
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - The Belmont women's soccer team fell to Western Kentucky 5-0 in the opening match of the 2019 campaign on Thursday night at the WKU Soccer Complex.
Western Kentucky jumped out in front in the first five minutes of the match, with Ansley Cate getting the first goal off an assist by Avery Jacobsen and Ambere Barnett. At the 10 minute mark, the Lady Toppers extended their lead thanks to Barnett setting up another goal for Cate.
Katie Erwin would score the third goal for the Lady Toppers in the 33rd minute of the first half, scoring off an assist from Olivia Stanley. In the second half, Barnett followed up with her own score three minutes in the half to give the Lady Toppers a four-goal lead.
Chelsea Moore capped it off with an unassisted goal in the 79th minute that gave the Lady Toppers a five-goal lead.
Belmont continues its non-conference slate with the Battle of the Boulevard at Lipscomb on Sunday at 5 p.m.
UT MARTIN 3, ARKANSAS STATE 1
MARTIN, Tenn. - Impressive showings in every facet of the game highlighted a 3-1 season-opening victory for the University of Tennessee at Martin soccer squad against Arkansas State on Thursday evening.
The Skyhawks (1-0) used contributions from a wealth of players to lift the squad to a victory in their first match of the season. After being a part of the program for three seasons, redshirt-sophomore Jill Hildreth made the most of her official Skyhawk debut, scoring goals in the 12th and 57th minutes to highlight a picturesque opener. While another goal by sophomore Hendrikje Baurmann late in the contest sealed the deal, it was arguably the play of All-OVC junior goalkeeper Erica Myers who stole the show.
Myers’ 13 saves rank as the seventh-best performance in school history, as she becomes the first Skyhawk to make at least 13 saves in a match since 2010. Overall, UT Martin’s 14 saves were the most in a match since the Skyhawks accumulated 14 stops against Colorado on Sept. 8, 2013. Additionally, tonight’s 13 saves were a career-best performance for Myers, whose previous high in a single match was eight saves (accomplished four times as a freshman in 2017).
Offensively, the Skyhawks tallied 14 shots on the evening led by four from Hildreth. While Hildreth and Baurmann accumulated the team’s scoring, the pair of Alice Adams and Nicole Collins also tallied individual points with an assist.
Arkansas State would strike first in the season opener. After strong scoring opportunities early, the Red Wolves’ Lindsey Brochu would serve a nice pass to Sarah Sodoma who placed the go-ahead score into the bottom right corner of the net in the 8th minute.
The lead would be short-lived however as the Skyhawks continued their offensive push. Their aggressiveness would prove valuable as Hildreth rifled a rebounded shot attempt past the vacant keeper in the 12th minute for her first career official collegiate goal after scoring a pair of goals in exhibition play.
The score would remain the same heading into halftime tied at 1-1. With both teams coming out of the break looking for the go-ahead score, the Skyhawks ultimately took control of the game in the 57th minute. The home team would make the most of impressive touches from Adams and Collins to set up Hildreth for her second goal of the contest to take a 2-1 advantage.
With the lead in hand and looking for a little breathing room, Baurmann snuck past the ASU keeper to find a loose ball and scored her first career goal in the 81st minute to put the game out of reach.
UT Martin will return to action with a matchup against Little Rock on Sunday, Aug. 25. Action from Skyhawk Field is scheduled to get underway at 1 p.m.