SUNDAY'S SCORES
Central Michigan 1,
@Eastern Illinois 0
@Iowa 2,
Southeast Missouri 0
Western Carolina 1,
@UT Martin 0
Austin Peay 1, @North Alabama 0
SIUE 2, @Evansville 0
@Kentucky 3,
Murray State 2 (OT)
CENTRAL MICHIGAN 1, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Central Michigan was able to take advantage of a deflected ball early in the first half as the Chippewas beat Eastern Illinois 1-0 in a tightly contested match on Sunday afternoon at Lakeside Field.
Central Michigan improved to 3-3 on the season while EIU fell to 2-4-1 overall.
Central Michigan had an attack go into the goal box by Jaelyn Dobrowolski early in the first half as her shot was deflected and found the foot of Gaelle Wells. Wells sent the free ball off the far post as it ricocheted into the net for what proved to be the only score of the match.
The Chippewas goal came in the 5th minute as CMU finished with 13 total shots in the match, eight on goal.
EIU had eight shots on the afternoon as the Panthers continued to press deep into CMU territory. The Panthers were only able to get one good scoring chance with Jenna Little collecting the Panthers shot on goal in the first half.
Faith Davies had seven saves for EIU while Allison LaPoint picked up the shutout in net for CMU.
Little had three of the Panthers eight shots in the match. Michaela Danyo, Morgan Rinker, Itxaso Aguero, Zenaya Barnes and Serra Pizano each had one shot for EIU.
IOWA 2, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0
IOWA CITY, Iowa - Southeast Missouri women's soccer (2-5) fell to Iowa (6-1-1), the 2020-21 Big Ten Tournament Champions, 2-0, Sunday afternoon at the Iowa Soccer Complex.
SEMO kept the Hawkeyes off the scoreboard through 56 minutes of play and went to the locker room for halftime knotted at 0-0.
Iowa outshot the Redhawks, 9-1, through the opening 45 minutes of play Sunday, including 4-0 in shots on goal.
Bailey Redden compiled four saves in the first half and finished with six. Redden made her first start since Aug. 29 after missing the past two contests due to an injury.
Samantha Tawharu scored for the Hawkeyes in the 57th minute off a pass from Hailey Rydberg.
Natalie Massa then increased the Iowa lead to 2-0, finding the back of the net at 72:04.
Iowa completed the game with a 21-2 margin in shots. The Hawkeyes found the target eight times Sunday.
Natalie Miller tallied the lone SEMO shot during the opening period.
Elizabeth Rater also posted a shot at 79:56, making her third start in the past four games.
Alyssa Walker paced Iowa with five shots with one on goal. Rydberg added four shots.
The Hawkeyes earned six corners compared to one for SEMO.
Morgan McCourt returned to the pitch after suffering an injury on Aug. 22 against Maryville. McCourt played in 52 minutes and was featured in the starting 11 at forward.
Natalie Jackson tallied her second-straight start on defense in 2021. Jackson led all field players, playing in all 90 minutes of action.
Sophomore Emma Brune finished with 87 minutes on the pitch, which snaps her streak of playing every minute of regulation at 18-straight games dating back to this past spring's 2020-21 season.
Lauren Welker was clocked at 86 minutes of playing time.
Mariah Johnson was assessed a yellow card in the 41st minute.
SEMO has now lost its last four games and last scored against Missouri-St. Louis on Aug. 26.
The Redhawks next return to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to face in-state foe Missouri State on Sunday, Sept. 19 in its annual Meg Herndon Memorial Green Up Game. First kick is set for 1 p.m., CT at Houck Field.
WESTERN CAROLINA 1, UT MARTIN 0
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin soccer team saw their scalding offense of late come to a grinding halt during the last of a three-game stretch of competing in their own backyard, succumbing to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Western Carolina after a 58th minute solo score which effectively ended the Skyhawks' three-game winning streak on Sunday.
Keeping the Catamounts in check for the majority of the sunny afternoon in what's become a common theme for the UTM defensive front, head coach Phil McNamara's club only let two shot attempts slide by over the entire first half. The final 45 minutes saw a reversal of fortune, however, leading to an Abbie Lainhart breakaway just 13 minutes into the second frame that ultimately proved to be the difference maker.
Not a single opponent out of the first seven teams matched up with the Skyhawks has been able to record more than one successful strike against the navy and orange, and while that theme remained true on Sunday, the singular score was all that the Catamounts needed to walk away from the Volunteer State with a tight win, realizing all 11 shot tries by UTM failed to make their mark as the team searched for the equalizer.
A trio of first-year performers led the Skyhawks in the shots column during the one-goal downer, as Makayla Robinson, Brooke Kala, and Parker Gelinas each managed two such attempts each. Once WCU broke free for the fast-break score with 32 minutes left, UT Martin stayed the aggressor and managed four chances to even the odds to no avail.
Catamount keeper Melody Mezzina gains a significant amount of credit for holding the Skyhawk attack without a goal for the third time this year, halting two key opportunities by Gelinas and Bella Roberts just one minute and 25 seconds apart from each other that tightened Western Carolina's grip on the slim lead with 14 minutes to go.
Junior Catey Hunt's penalty kick launch at the 89:22 stamp proved to be UTM's final window to send the match into extra minutes, although the long-distance boot sailed high of the post.
Lainhart ended the weekend as the Catamounts' leader in shot attempts with three personally, outracing Skyhawk goalie Erica Myers in the early moments of the second period to submit the fifth score against UT Martin all season long. Entering the day with the fewest amount of goals given up in all of the Ohio Valley Conference, that number stays low in the end, but it was one too many scores surrendered for the Skyhawks in a seesaw final stretch.
Tallying six saves to her season total of 23, Myers prevented WCU from expanding on their advantage with a leaping tip save in the 43rd minute while also denying the visitors three chances at a score off a favorable corner kick bounce in the 57th minute. Unfortunately for coach McNamara and co., the Catamounts' persistent push out of the 2nd-half gates reeled in the match's only score that turned out to be the game-winner.
Finding four corner kick opportunities themselves during the shutout loss, the Skyhawks will look to regroup in their final non-conference bout a week from today against the Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville. In what will be the last match before OVC play begins, UTM will vie for the upset by taking on a team that finished as the Southeastern Conference Tournament runner-up recipient and NCAA Tournament third-round competitor behind a 12-4 record last spring.
The Razorbacks have been just as impressive this fall, achieving four straight victories by a staggering combined margin of 18-1, having just handed Lamar a 6-0 blowout on Sunday afternoon. Arkansas battles the Tennessee Volunteers in Fayetteville just 48 hours before facing UT Martin from the same venue.
Seven days after taking their first loss since August 26th, the Skyhawks will compete with the Razorbacks for the first time ever next week at 1:00 p.m. with live-streamed coverage from SEC Network+.
AUSTIN PEAY 1, NORTH ALABAMA 0
FLORENCE, Ala. - Senior goalkeeper Peyton Powell recorded her first career shutout and freshman Alec Baumgardt found the back of the net for the first time in her career to lead Austin Peay State University's soccer team to a 1-0 win over North Alabama, Sunday, at the Bill Jones Athletic Complex.
Austin Peay (2-4-1) came out on the attack, with Rachel Bradberry testing North Alabama (0-6-2) goalkeeper Payton Yates with a shot on goal in the first minute of the match. Anna McPhie and Claire Larose also put shots on target in the 17th and 24th minutes, respectively, but the Governors were not able to best the Lion's keeper in the first half.
Making her first start in net since the second match of the season at Lipscomb, Powell made a pair of saves in the first half to keep the score tied, 0-0, after 45 minutes of action.
In the 56th minute, Tori Case sent the corner kick into the goal area, where it was headed by a North Alabama player before Baumgardt collected the loose ball at the top of the 18-yard box, avoided a defender, and fired a shot past the Lion's keeper with her left foot to give the Govs the lead, 1-0.
Baumgardt's goal was assisted by Case and was the final tally of the match, as Powell recorded her first career clean sheet and the first solo shutout by an Austin Peay goalkeeper since Mary Parker Powell shutout Cincinnati in a 0-0 double-overtime draw on Sept. 21, 2019. Mary Parker Powell and Chloé Dion also combined to shutout Morehead State on Oct. 18, 2019.
Austin Peay will travel back to Alabama for a 3 p.m., Thursday match at Alabama A&M. The Governors then wrap up the nonconference slate when they host North Dakota for a 6 p.m., Sept. 23 match at Morgan Bros. Soccer Field.
SIUE 2, EVANSVILLE 0
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The Cougars had a mission to maintain the momentum they built on Thursday night - they accomplished that against one of the region's top programs, handing the Evansville Purple Aces their first loss of the season in a 2-0 decision on Sunday afternoon.
SIUE firmly controlled the match in all aspects, leading in total shots (22-3), shots on goal (11-1), and corners (5-1). The Cougars got the scoring started in the 18th minute, as MacKenzie Litzsinger dribbled her way into the 18-yard box and confidently buried the ball into the bottom right corner of net to give SIUE a 1-0 lead. The Cougar attack would continue to click through the opening 45 minutes, taking 15 total shots and nine shots on goal to put the pressure on the Purple Aces.
The Cougars continued their commanding performance in the second half, as Lily Schnieders took a free kick and curved the ball around the five-player wall to double the SIUE lead. The stingy Cougar defense remained true to form in this match, as they have not allowed a goal in nearly 200 minutes. In that same time, the SIUE attack have outscored their opponents, 7-0.
Jensen Schoch played the full 90 minutes in goal, keeping her second consecutive clean sheet. Schnieders led all players in the match with six shots, with an impressive four of those shots finding the target. Schnieders accomplished this in under an hour of action, averaging more than one shot every 10 minutes. Emma Dutko and Maria Haro registered a pair of shots, as did Litzsinger and Matea Diekema.
The Aces, who entered Sunday's match ranked fifth in the Midwest region, will enter Missouri Valley Conference play on Friday, September 17 when they face Northern Iowa. Meanwhile, the Cougars will play one more nonconference match, travelling to the Lone Star State for a Sunday afternoon showdown at Texas. The match will be nationally televised on the Longhorn Network, marking the first time in the Division I era that the program has played in a nationally-televised contest.
KENTUCKY 3, MURRAY STATE 2
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Murray State Women’s Soccer team dropped a heartbreaker 3-2 in overtime to the University of Kentucky Wildcats at Bell Soccer Complex in Lexington, Kentucky on Sunday (Sept. 12) afternoon.
After a strong defensive effort for the beginning of the first half, Murray State fell behind on a penalty kick by Kentucky in the 25th minute the Racers would tie the game just before the half on an impressive goal by Izzy Heckman from just beyond the box in the 39th minute.
The Racers would take the lead over the Wildcats on an electrifying 57th minute goal off the right foot of Chloe Barnthouse just after she checked into the game for Abby Jones. Murray State would hold the 2-1 lead until the 66th minute when Kentucky would tie the game. The game would remain tied into overtime when Hannah Richardson would net the golden goal for the Wildcats off a deflected shot.
On the day, Murray State put up 13 total shots with five being on goal. All five shots on goal came from five different Racer players while Heckman led the team with two total shots. Jenna Villacres had six saves on the day while facing 21 Wildcat shots.
Murray State falls to 4-3 on the year and will finally return to Cutchin Field next Sunday (Sept. 19) against the Southern Illinois Salukis after being on the road for nearly an entire month.