SUNDAY'S SCORES
@Little Rock 1, Eastern Illinois 1
Morehead State 1, @Lindenwood 0
UT Martin 1, @Southern Indiana 0
@Tennessee Tech 3, Southeast Missouri 0
LITTLE ROCK 1, EASTERN ILLINOIS 1
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - For the second straight match forward Bronte Peel netted a game-tying goal in the second half which would eventually lead to a Little Rock draw. This time the score came against Eastern Illinois in the 74th minute as the game would finish 1-1 at the Coleman Sports Complex on Sunday.
Neither team could get much going in the first half as the two teams combined for just seven shots, only two of which were on net. The Panthers would take advantage of a Little Rock miscue as an attempted clear with funky spin took a bizarre bounce and ended up in the back of the Trojan net. The own goal in the 30th minute put Eastern Illinois ahead 1-0 and this is how things would remain until the second half.
Little Rock made its adjustments and played with ferocity after the intermission. The Trojans would take 12 shots in the 45-minute span and limit the Panthers to just three. Peel scored the equalizer in the 74th minute of play with an assist from Serenity Thake, a hard shot that rolled past an outstretched EIU keeper and into the back right corner.
The Trojans held possession for a staggering 60% of the match, much of which was spent coordinating attacks against the Panther defense in the offensive zone. Several great opportunities presented themselves but scoring attempts were thwarted again and again by Eastern Illinois defenders, mainly in the form of blocked shots inside of the box.
Perhaps the closest that Little Rock came to acquiring the lead was off a set piece in the 83rd minute. After a corner kick sent the ball in front of the net, Peel would fire a shot from about seven yards out which would ricochet off a Panther defender and straight to freshman Amaya Arias. The Downey, California native then sent her own shot toward the but it was nabbed by the Panthers goalkeeper.
MOREHEAD STATE 1, LINDENWOOD 0
ST. CHARLES, Mo. -After 87 scoreless minutes, the Morehead State soccer team finally found the back of the Lindenwood net on Sunday, beating the Lions 1-0 to remain undefeated in OVC play (4-0-2).
Erin Fite netted her first goal as an Eagle with just more than two minutes to go to give the Eagles the lead after the previous nine MSU shots on goal were saved by Lindenwood goalkeeper Sam Blazek. Both Hadley Cytron and Nicole Fiantaco were credited with assists.
Morehead State's defense more than did their part in the victory, as Lindenwood only registered two shots in the match with neither being on target as MSU posted its sixth shutout of the season. Erin Gibbs was credited with her fourth shutout of the season and remains undefeated in her collegiate career.
Morehead State finished the match with a 14-2 advantage in shots and a 10-0 advantage in shots on goal. The Eagles also held a 7-3 advantage in corner kicks.
UT MARTIN 1, SOUTHERN INDIANA 0
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Women's Soccer came within inches of tying the University of Tennessee at Martin late in the second half Sunday, but the visiting Skyhawks prevailed to a 1-0 win against the Screaming Eagles.
UT Martin struck early, scoring in the fifth minute. Sophomore midfielder Izzy Patterson scored in the far-side netting from a difficult, horizontal angle off a throw-in in the attacking third by redshirt-sophomore defender Lynette Hawkins.
Later in the first half, USI's junior forward Morgan Beyer (Rossford, Ohio) took a long-range shot in the 26th minute that was tip-saved off the crossbar by the Skyhawks' freshman goalkeeper Poppy Bastock. The Screaming Eagles had another good chance in the 35th minute, as sophomore midfielder Peyton Wilkinson (Collierville, Tennessee) headed a cross from junior midfielder Avery Schone (Galena, Ohio) that was also saved by Bastock.
UT Martin carried the 1-0 lead into the half. The Skyhawks outshot the Screaming Eagles in the first half 5-4 and 3-2 in shots on goal. Both teams had three corner kicks in the opening 45 minutes.
Southern Indiana started the second half with strong momentum on a pair of transition chances in the first ten minutes of the half. The Screaming Eagles seemed to have good numbers going forward, but both chances were called back due to offsides.
The middle of the second half settled into a scrappy battle for possession, as shot opportunities became tough to come by. Both defenses tightened up down the stretch, and USI pressed numbers forward when the attacking chances presented themselves.
The Screaming Eagles made a charge in the last two minutes. Junior midfielder Alexis Schone (Galena, Ohio) served a cross into the box toward her sister, Avery Schone, who headed the ball high above the crossbar. Seconds later, freshman midfielder Peyton Murphy (Bargersville, Indiana) struck the ball from just above the arc at the top of the box and hit the top woodwork.
For the match, UT Martin had eight shots with six on goal, and USI had six shots with two on target. USI finished with seven corners while UT Martin had three.
Graduate student Elizabeth Lippert (Lexington, Kentucky) led USI with two shots on the day. Beyer and Wilkinson each tallied a shot on goal. In goal, senior goalkeeper Maya Etienne (Midland, Michigan) collected four saves in the match, sitting two shy of third all-time in USI history.
TENNESSEE TECH 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Southeast Missouri women's soccer (6-6-2, 2-2-2) fell to Ohio Valley Conference leader Tennessee Tech (6-4-4, 4-0-2), 3-0, Sunday afternoon at Tech Soccer Field.
The Golden Eagles outshot the Redhawks, 24-7 (9-3 SOG), Sunday to stay atop the OVC standings with Morehead State at 14 points.
TTU took an early 1-0 lead at 25:09 in the first half off a set piece by Allison Lee. Macy Carter and Emily Carlevato were both credited with assists on the game winner.
The Golden Eagles had a shots edge of 11-4 (6-0 SOG) in the opening half.
Goalkeeper Sophia Elfrink made five saves in the opening 45 minutes Sunday and finished with six. Elfrink made a diving stop off a free kick in the 17th minute before a left-footed stop in the 25th minute.
TTU added a pair of goals in the second half to seal the win on its Senior Day.
Chloe Smith headed in a cross from Bailey Taylor and Katie Toney at 54:30. Taylor then increased the Golden Eagles advantage to 3-0 off a free kick from Smith.
Bailey finished with six shots (2 SOG) to go with her goal and assist. Smith chipped in four shots (2 SOG) for three points (1g-1a).
Emma Brune registered the Redhawks first shot on goal in the 58th minute.
Megan Heisserer added a shot on target at 60:32 but Maggie Conrad was there for the save.
Heisserer (1 SOG) and Zoe Houston led SEMO with two shots each.
Zoey Memmel posted a prime opportunity from distance at 88:04 that Conrad tipped over the bar.
Brune and Natalie Jackson both competed in the full 90 minutes Sunday as field players. For Brune, it was her 12-straight (13th in 2022) and for Jackson it was her 14th of the 2022 campaign.
Jackson also compiled a shot in the opening minute and was assessed a yellow card at 66:05.
Yao Giada Zhou finished Sunday with four shots (1 SOG) and Toney added three shots (1 SOG) with an assist.
Conrad totaled three saves for the clean sheet.