FRIDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Kentucky 1, @Eastern Illinois 0
@Murray State 5, UT Martin 1
@Morehead State 1, Belmont 0
Southeast Missouri 2, @Austin Peay 1
EASTERN KENTUCKY 1, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
CHARLESTON, Ill. -Eastern Kentucky pressed in the opening minutes of the match Friday afternoon making an early goal stand up in a 1-0 win over Eastern Illinois in Ohio Valley Conference action at Lakeside Field.
EIU fell to 1-6-1 on the season, 0-2-1 in the OVC. EKU improved to 4-7 overall, 2-1 in the OVC.
Starting five forwards in the line-up and winning the coin flip, EKU pressed into the offensive zone early. A break came for the Colonels as Ali Kirk took a free ball in midfield and dribbled towards the EIU net. She would send a cross to Sarah Owusu who would beat EIU’s goalkeeper Sara Teteak to the low side in the fourth minute.
That would be the only goal of the match as Teteak finished with five saves for the Panthers. EKU would finish with six total shots on goal with four coming from Audrey Anderson.
EIU answered with six offensive chances of its own with the best scoring opportunities coming from Lindsey Carlson on a high ball in the wind in the first half and a shot by Itxaso Aguero late in the second half. EKU keeper Billie Clark turned away all six chances.
Pilar Barrio would finish with two of the Panthers six shots while Angela Corcoran and Sarah DeWolf each added a shot on goal.
MURRAY STATE 5, UT MARTIN 1
MURRAY, Ky. - Murray State women's soccer cruised to another impressive victory on Friday, defeating the Skyhawks of UT Martin 5-0 in front of an enthusiastic crowd at Cutchin Field in Murray, Kentucky.
It was actually the Skyhawks who opened the scoring in the sixth minute when Alice Adams finished a loose ball to give her side a 1-0 lead, but the Racers would go on to tally five unanswered strikes to secure a convincing win - improving to 2-0 against OVC competition in 2019.
Murray State's first goal would come courtesy of Rebecca Kubin, who carried the ball down the right wing before cutting back and beating the keeper to the top corner, recording the equalizer in the 15th minute of the match.
About 20 minutes later, the Racers captured their first lead of the game, this time thanks to Elizabeth Tilton, who finished a Murray State corner kick delivered by Abby Jones to put the Racers on top 2-1 with just over ten minutes remaining in the first half.
The first-half scoring would not end there, however, as the Racers added one more before the break after Izzy Heckman went on a run down the left wing, slotting the ball back towards Emma Heise who tucked the ball towards the far post with a brilliant first-time finish - widening the Racer margin to 3-1 entering the halftime break.
The Racers showed no signs of slowing down coming out of halftime, scoring their fourth goal of the day when Miyah Watford netted her team-leading ninth goal of the season after she got on the end of a perfectly-weighted ball from Arianna Mendez, beating the keeper 1v1 to make it 4-1 in favor of the Racers.
Elizabeth Tilton would then cap the Racer scoring with her second goal of the day, dribbling from left to right across the top of the penalty area before firing an unstoppable strike into the top corner as the Racers prevailed 5-1 at Cutchin Field in Murray, Kentucky.
For Tilton, Friday's brace marks her first two goals of the season, while Kubin and Heise bring their season totals to five and three respectively.
The Racers, who have allowed just one goal through their first two OVC matches, have outscored their opponents 10-1 to begin conference competition.
MOREHEAD STATE 1, BELMONT 0
MOREHEAD, Ky. - With three seconds remaining in the match, Morehead State Soccer sophomore defender Nicole Palmer scored the game-winning goal as the Eagles defeated Ohio Valley Conference foe Belmont 1-0 on Friday evening at the MSU Recreation & Wellness Intramural Field.
Palmer's goal in the waning moments came after a corner kick for MSU was deflected into the goalie box where the ball found itself at the Philadelphia native's feet allowing her to put it into the back of the net and seal the win.
In the match, the Eagles outshot the Bruins 16-1 with nine shots being on goal. Palmer fired three shots in the match target while freshman Gabby Nastasi led the MSU attack with four shots.
Morehead State freshman goalkeeper Kayla Landman made several key plays in the match despite not recording any save attempts.
For Belmont, goalkeeper Lily Herman turned away eight shots before Palmer's match-winning goal.
With the loss, Belmont falls to 1-7-2 overall and 0-3-0 in OVC play.
Morehead State moves its overall record to 3-6-1 while improving in league play to 2-0-1. The 2-0-1 start to OVC play is the program's best since 2010 when the Eagles began 3-0-1 in conference.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 2, AUSTIN PEAY 1
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Southeast Missouri defeated Austin Peay, 2-1, to remain undefeated in OVC play on Friday. The Redhawks improved to 5-3 overall and 3-0 in league play while the Govs fell to 1-5-3 overall and 0-1-1 in OVC action.
Southeast Missouri got off to a fast start as Cassidi Tomsu scored a goal three minutes into the match.
Austin Peay would tie the game in the second half as Rachel Bradberry found the back of the net at the 62:05 mark.
Just over five minutes later, the Redhawks took the lead for good as Esmie Gonzales scored the game-winning goal.
Southeast Missouri's Bailey Redden made three saves in while giving up one goal in the win.
Austin Peay goalkeeper Mary Parker Powell gave up a pair of goals and made five stops.