SUNDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Illinois 1, Belmont 0
@Morehead State 0, Southeast Missouri 0 (2OT)
@SIUE 5, Austin Peay 0
@UT Martin 2, Murray State 1
EASTERN ILLINOIS 1, BELMONT 0
CHARLESTON, Ill. - On senior day for Eastern Illinois women’s soccer it was two of the Panthers younger players on the roster that came through for the big goal as EIU beat Belmont, 1-0, at Lakeside Field.
EIU improved to 4-8-2 overall, 2-3-1 in the OVC while Belmont fell to 7-6-1, 4-2 in the OVC.
Cam Korhorn provided the lone goal of the match as she served a ball from the top of the goal box scoring in the 17th minute. The goal was assisted by Cami Lummus.
EIU goalkeeper Faith Davies turned away five Bruins shots on goals posting her third shutout of the season.
The Panthers had three shots on goal with Eva Munoz and Michaela Danyo also sending a shot on goal.
Mai Thy Nguyen and Erin Patterson each collected two shots on goal for Belmont.
MOREHEAD STATE 0, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Eagles wrapped up homecoming weekend at Morehead State with a tightly contested scoreless draw against SEMO on Sunday.
The draw moves the Eagles to 4-8-4 on the season and 2-3-2 in league play, and is the second scoreless draw of the season for Morehead State.
The Eagles largely dominated the game in possession time and statistically, outshooting the Redhawks 10-2 on the afternoon and recording a 10-0 corner kick advantage. Michelle Jerantowski only needed one save to notch her fifth shutout of the season, tying her with SEMO's Bailey Redden for the most in the OVC. The result is also the third consecutive home shutout for both Jerantowski and the Eagles.
The Eagles controlled much of the early phases of the game, featuring a great opportunity from Colleen Swift in the 12th minute that required a diving stop from SEMO's goalkeeper to keep the game scoreless. Morehead State added shots from Nicole Fiantaco and Abby Wesselkamper, but their defense was the star of the first half, holding the Redhawks without a single shot.
SEMO finally challenged the Morehead State goal with a shot early in the second half, but it was snuffed out by Michelle Jerantowski. But the Eagles continued to force pressure on the Redhawks, with Fiantaco putting a shot on goal in the 51st minute and then nearly taking advantage of a SEMO mistake towards their own goal moments later but the game remained deadlocked.
Katie Kiolbassa nearly broke the scoreless draw in the 70th minute with a dangerous free kick, but the chance was once again pushed over the crossbar by Redden. Another set piece in the 77th minute led to a golden chance for the Eagles, as a corner kick led to a scramble in front of the net, but once again, Morehead State was prevented from their breakthrough goal and the game was sent to extra time.
Jerantowski was called upon to save the game for the Eagles in the first overtime, sliding in the 98th minute to disrupt a breakaway chance for the Redhawks, and then catching a dangerous free kick moments later.
Redden finished the game with five stops.
SIUE 5, AUSTIN PEAY 0
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE women's soccer honored their 11 seniors with a dominant performance on Sunday afternoon, claiming a 5-0 win over the Austin Peay Governors.
The opening half saw the Cougars attempt to find their footing, as the SIUE defense stood strong for the first 45 minutes. The backline did not allow the Govs to take a single shot in the opening half. The Red & White put up 10 shots in the first frame, but none more important than a 30th minute strike from Lily Schnieders to kickstart the SIUE scoring. The 1-0 scoreline would stand until 56th minute, when senior Angel Ikeda bent a picture-perfect strike into the top corner of net to score her second of the 2021 season. The Cougars would net their third goal in the 65th minute, as senior MacKenzie Litzsinger took a pass from Sidney Christopher and netted her seventh goal of the campaign. SIUE would strike again in the 85th minute, as true freshman Grace Cobb scored her first collegiate goal on a pass from Kayla Klipsch to extend the Cougar lead to four. The barrage of goals continued just two minutes later, as true freshman Kaitlyn Nichols notched her second of the season to give the Cougars the final 5-0 victory.
All 11 seniors saw action in the contest, including senior goalkeepers Bella Henderson and Jensen Schoch, who put together a combined shutout. Henderson stood between the sticks for the first 45 minutes before Schoch took the pitch for the final 45.
As a team, the Cougars registered a season-high 28 shots - the most in a match since Aug. 31, 2018. In addition, SIUE took 10 corners, including a season-best six in the first half.
The Cougars, who improve to 6-6 overall and 3-3 in OVC play, will return to action in less than 48 hours to play against in-state foe Eastern Illinois. The match on Tuesday was rescheduled following the postponement of the originally-scheduled match on Oct. 7.
UT MARTIN 2, MURRAY STATE 1
MARTIN, Tenn. - Another familiar theme arose for the University of Tennessee at Martin soccer team during Sunday afternoon's showdown against Ohio Valley Conference rival Murray State, as the widely-gasconaded Skyhawk defense showcased precisely why it's gathered that reputation, holding the highest-scoring group in the league to a zero-goal output over the final 55 minutes of play on their way to a 2-1 triumph.
Entering the weekend locked in a tie for the top spot in the conference standings and ending it with sole possession of that 1st place slot, UTM snapped a three-match losing skid to the Racers thanks to a pair of first-half scores from underclassmen Emely van der Vliet and Emma Elliott, limiting a Murray State team that had accumulated 176 shots on the year to single digits in that category today.
The Skyhawks' senior Hildreth sisters – Jill and Jaden – each registered an assist to help the home squad outlast the Racers in a furiously-paced opening frame, before then letting their defense do the talking from there. In a statistic that continues to gain a wider gap between the other eight schools in the OVC, UT Martin's 14 goals allowed in as many appearances have been the most determining factor towards the team's improved record of 9-4-1 next to a 5-1 mark against league representatives.
Minus the only slip-up in conference play versus Tennessee Tech and a road trip to SEC powerhouse Arkansas earlier in the semester, head coach Phil McNamara's club has not been scored on more than once in a single outing, collecting three more points to their OVC resume for a grand total of 15 with two dates left until postseason activity.
As has been the case in the majority of the Skyhawks' victories on their own turf, most of the damage was dealt in the first 45 minutes, with the first score of the contest gently tapped in by van der Vliet two-thirds of the way through the opening period. Jill Hildreth and the reigning freshman of the year in the conference found themselves in a two-on-one advantage sprinting with MSU keeper Jenna Villacres, resulting in easy pickings once the goalie gambled. Hildreth hoisted her team-best point total up to 15 with the dish on the game's first strike, while van der Vliet secured her fifth score of 2021 and 12th of her UTM tenure.
It only took Murray State a little over four minutes to even the odds and brings things back to square one, as Riley Johnson capitalized on a deflected pass deep inside the box to knot up the rivalry match at one goal apiece. The navy and orange responded in a timely manner, however, dealing the Racers a taste of their own medicine with a quick strike at the 40:03 stamp from Jaden Hildreth to Elliott in what turned out to be the game-winner.
The one-goal difference in the final box score could have been a greater disparity had the Skyhawks avoided just missing out on a handful of opportunities at various points in the second stanza, namely a pair of up-close shots that sailed too high and an offside whistle that cost UTM their third goal of the day. Nonetheless, that vexatious back line that has left many opponents scratching their heads all season came through in the clutch again, obstructing MSU at nearly every opportunity to try and tie the match once more.
Kamryn Chappell, Parker Gelinas, Maria Castaldo, and Catey Hunt – the quartet that has started all 14 matches for Coach McNamara since August representing the defensive positions – was as solid as ever going head-to-head with a balanced and aggressive offense, downing Murray State for just the fifth time in Martin dating back to the 2000 campaign.
None of the Racers' seven corner kick opportunities translated to a score thanks to the Skyhawks' superlative preventive efforts on Sunday, as graduate GK Erica Myers only needed a single save to pick up her 39th career victory in the net. In total, UTM has outgained the other side by a combined margin of 25-14 this fall, including a 17-7 difference when competing on their own field.