FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Murray State 3, Belmont 1
@Eastern Kentucky 2, Morehead State 0
@Tennessee Tech 1, Eastern Illinois 0
@Southeast Missouri 1, Austin Peay 0
@SIUE 2, UT Martin 0
MURRAY STATE 3, BELMONT 1
MURRAY, Ky. - Murray State women's soccer returned home to host Belmont in another pivotal OVC match on Friday afternoon in front of Racer faithful at Cutchin Field. Outshooting the Bruins 19-6 on the day, the Racers improved to 4-0 on the season with a 3-1 victory in Murray, Kentucky.
Belmont (1-3) struck first when Grace Parsons scored off a pass from Erin Patterson, but the Racers would equalize before the halftime break when Rebecca Kubin got on the end of a ball from Abby Jones before cutting inside and overpowering the Bruin goalkeeper with a shot from inside the penalty area to make it 1-1 in the 31st minute.
While the score line showed an even game through the first 45, the Racers outshot the Bruins 8-4 while owning 58% of possession through one half of action.
The Racers took control in the second half and wouldn't look back, going in front in the 61st minute when Symone Cooper's header from an Abby Jones corner kick made it 2-1 in favor of Murray State.
MSU continued to dominate possession, and would put the game away in the 89th minute when Cooper found the net again with a stunning goal from 45 yards out to make it 3-1 in the game's closing moments off a pass from Grace Bodker.
The box score showed another dominant performance as the Racers allowed just one attempt on goal, while generating 10 for themselves and holding 60% of the possession on the day.
For Cooper, her brace is the first and second goals of the season as the Loganville, Georgia native brings her career total to six in a Racer uniform. She also becomes the seventh different MSU player to score a goal in the new campaign.
For Kubin, her goal brings her season total to a team-best three on the year as the senior moves into a tie for fifth with Jackie Thomas (2000-03) on Murray State's all-time scoring list with 25 career goals.
Abby Jones, who became the Racers' all-time assist leader in the previous match against UT Martin, distanced herself from the #2 spot with two more in today's contest.
For Bodker, the assist is the first of her career.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 2, MOREHEAD STATE 0
RICHMOND, Ky. - – The Eastern Kentucky University soccer team blanked in-state rival Morehead State, 2-0, on Friday afternoon for its first win of the 2021 season.
The Colonels are now 4-0-1 versus the Eagles in their last five meetings.
Michaela Iacono put EKU (1-2-0) on top in the 37th minute with a beautiful goal. The sophomore curled a free kick into the upper left corner of the net from distance, making it 1-0. It was Iacono’s first career score.
Senior Taran McMillan added insurance in the 76th minute. Fellow senior Claire Hicks played a ball into the box. Sophomore Audrey Anderson deflected it to McMillan, who finished it off for her first collegiate goal.
Iacono led the Colonels with three shots in the match, two of which were on frame.
Hicks and senior Katie Shaffer played all 90 minutes of the shutout on EKU’s backline. Freshman defender Mackenzie Burdick only came off the field for three minutes.
Senior goalkeeper Sophia Braun made five saves to earn her first clean sheet as a Colonel.
TENNESSEE TECH 1, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - 504 days proved to be worth the wait for the Tennessee Tech soccer team.
In the club's first home action since Oct. 25, 2019, the Golden Eagles gave their fans more than a fair share of dramatics, as freshman Gabby Garcia scored four minutes into overtime to push Tech to a 1-0 win over Eastern Illinois Friday evening.
Garcia's first career goal lifted the purple and gold to a 3-0-0 start, marking the first time since 2015 in which Tech has started OVC play with three consecutive wins and the first time since 2004 that TTU has started a season 3-0-0. The Golden Eagles have won all three matches by 1-0 margins to remain the only team in the conference yet to yield a goal this spring and it's also the first time in program history that Tech has started a year with three straight shutouts.
After a series of attempts on-goal went begging, Tech's relentless attack showed that the 10th time was the charm early into the extra session. Yao Giada Zhou pushed a quick pass to the shoe tops of Garcia, who had more than enough space to let loose on a missile well outside the box. Garcia's blast from the right went upper-90 into the back left side of the net to smack an exclamation point on the end of the 2021 home opener.
The Golden Eagles peppered a number of attempts on-point with nine during the course of regulation, including a number of serious threats to dent the scoreboard. A Sarah Block corner in the 28th minute led to a deflection that caused EIU keeper Daniela Bermeo to move out of position. Despite heavy Tech traffic in front of the net, and Bermeo out of her normal spot, the Golden Eagles were not able to get a shot off until a Selma Askildsen attempt was eventually gobbled up by Bermeo, who made her way back in front of the net.
In the 34th minute Chloe Smith found herself with space on the left side of the box, but Smith's low liner ricocheted off Bermeo's shoe tops to keep the match scoreless.
In the 55th minute, a Cassidy Bereda shot was directed off Bermeo and into the left post before the carom trickled to Smith who had her shot halted by Bermeo. The ensuing deflection went to right back to Smith, but her second attempt was off the mark.
EIU's biggest chance came a minute later, courtesy of a Haylee Renick breakaway in the 56th minute. The 5-foot-6 senior slid past Tech's back line and found herself all alone with just the keeper to beat, but Isabelle Austin aggressively charged forward and halted Renick's bid at breaking the 0-0 knot.
Austin's most challenging save was one of three for the Tech senior that led her to her sixth career shutout and third clean sheet this season. Bermeo matched a career-high with nine saves across the way.
EIU attempted just seven shots in the match, the third consecutive affair in which the opposition has had single-digit attempts against Tech. Chloe Smith led the Golden Eagle charge with five of the squad's 13 total shots. The Cincinnati, Ohio product produced a team-best four shots on-goal.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 1, AUSTIN PEAY 0
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Lauren Welker's goal sent Southeast Missouri (3-0, 3-0) to a 1-0 victory over Austin Peay (1-3, 1-3) on a rainy Friday night at Houck Field.
SEMO won its third-straight game and posted its second shutout this week.
Welker scored her team-high third goal of the season in the 11th minute of play. Hannah Compernolle delivered a nice pass to Welker who placed the ball in the top left corner of the net beyond the reach of Governors goalkeeper Chloe Dion. Dion made her first start in goal this season.
SEMO turned up the pressure in the second half where it recorded seven of its 10 shots for the night. Of those 10 shots, six were on goal. The Redhawks outshot APSU, 10-4, with a 7-2 advantage in the final half.
Bailey Redden improved to 3-0 as SEMO's goalkeeper en route to claiming her second shutout.
The assist was Compernolle's first of the spring.
SIUE 2, UT MARTIN 0
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE defeated UT Martin, 2-0, on Friday night. The Cougars improved to 4-0 on the season while the Skyhawks fell to 2-2.
Mackenzie Litzsinger and Angle Ikeda each scored goals for SIUE. Litzsinger also recorded an assist in the win.
Jaden Hildreth led the Skyhawks with three shots on the night.