SUNDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 1, Southern Indiana 0
@Lindenwood 1, Little Rock 0
Tennessee Tech 1, @Eastern Illinois 0
SIUE 2, @Southeast Missouri 0
@UT Martin 2, Alabama A&M 0
MOREHEAD STATE 1, SOUTHERN INDIANA 0
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Morehead State soccer team kicked off OVC play on a high note Sunday, as a clean sheet from Erin Gibbs and a goal from Colleen Swift capped off a gritty win over Southern Indiana.
Colleen Swift provided the early goal that proved to be all Morehead State needed offensively in the win, as her original shot was saved by the USI keeper, but deflected right back to her foot allowing Swift to give the Eagles the lead.
Defense played a big part in the win, as Anna Lohrer, Madelyn Mozeleski, Natalie Ledin, Madison Feldhaus and company stopped many USI chances before they reached the keeper. USI only had one shot in the first half, and eight overall.
Freshman goalkeeper Erin Gibbs registered her first career shutout in her first collegiate start in the win, making three saves. Gibbs appeared in last week's loss to Cincinnati and kept the Bearcats off the board with four saves in the second half.
Morehead State held the advantage in shots 11-8 and shots on goal 7-3. USI held a 5-3 advantage in corner kicks.
LINDENWOOD 1, LITTLE ROCK 0
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The Lindenwood women's soccer team (4-5-1, 1-0-0 OVC) defeated Little Rock (3-4-2, 0-1-0 OVC) by a score of 1-0 in its conference opener on Sunday afternoon from Hunter Stadium in St. Charles, Mo.
Most of the opening half was spent in the middle of the field with quality scoring chances coming at a premium. Each team combined for six shots, including two on goal. Lindenwood generated the only two corner kicks of the first half but couldn't capitalize. The game was scoreless at the halftime break.
Both squads continued the strong defensive play throughout the second half, as the match was tightly contested. Lindenwood looked for a goal from a set piece throughout the second half, with the Lions compiling three corner kicks. In the 68th minute, Rachel Jackson found the back of the net from a corner kick for her fourth goal this season, three of which have come from set pieces, giving Lindenwood a 1-0 lead.
Little Rock made a push for the equalizer late in the half, but the Lindenwood defense held its ground, earning a victory to open the conference slate and another shutout, their fourth of the year.
TENNESSEE TECH 1, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Both Eastern Illinois and Tennessee Tech had scoring opportunities on Sunday in the Ohio Valley Conference women's soccer opener for both schools, in the end Tennessee Tech was able to muster a goal in the final 15 minutes to collect a 1-0 win over EIU.
The Panthers fell to 2-3-4 on the season, 0-1 in the OVC. TTU improved to 3-4-2 on the season, 1-0 in the OVC.
In the opening half EIU had two shots on goal with TTU registering four first half shots on goal. Jenna Little had a first half chance, one of four shots on goal in the match by EIU.
Bailey Taylor and Chloe Smith both had first half shots on goal for TTU.
In the second half Taylor Rhodes was able to break the scoreless draw as she received a pass from Dalis Hawkins and worked her way to the top of the box where her left-footed shot found the bottom corner of the net. Rhodes goal came in the 76th minute. It was one of two shots on goal for Rhodes in the match. Smith led the Golden Eagles with three shots on goal as TTU had nine total.
Ella Onstott, Michaela Danyo and Cami Lummus all added shots on goal for EIU in the match.
SIUE 2, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - SIUE women's soccer scored two goals within two minutes in the first half and rolled over Southeast Missouri 2-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference opener Sunday for both squads.
Matea Diekema gave SIUE a 1-0 lead at 30:01 on an unassisted goal. Savannah DeFini added her second goal of the season at 31:47 on an assist from Maria Haro.
SIUE's Taylor Spiller collected her second shutout of the season and had seven saves. SEMO's Sophia Elfrink also had seven saves in the loss.
SIUE, which started the OVC regular season with a shutout for the first time since 2015, improved to 2-4-2 for the season and 1-0 in the OVC. SEMO fell to 4-5 overall and 0-1 in the OVC.
Both teams came out firing shots with SIUE holding the edge 19-15 overall. It was a season high in shots for the Cougars.
UT MARTIN 2, ALABAMA A&M 0
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin soccer team closed out the non-conference portion of its schedule with a 2-0 victory against Alabama A&M on Senior Day behind goals by Makayla Robinson and Hannah Zahn.
The Skyhawks (2-4-2) picked up their second win of the season in convincing fashion behind a pair of second half goals by Robinson and Zahn while the defensive unit recorded their third shutout of the campaign.
Prior to the team’s final non-conference bout of the season, UT Martin honored five of the team’s academic seniors. The group of Maria Castaldo, Ryann Mushkin, Megan Drake, Sophia Mankowski and Lynette Hawkins received their deserved praise in a pregame ceremony while the squad gave their veterans a win to remember.
UT Martin outshot Alabama A&M by four in the contest but controlled the tempo of the match for all 90 minutes. The Skyhawks maintained the majority of the possession – including 69 percent of its touches coming on the attacking half.
After the score remained tied for the opening 45 minutes of action, the Skyhawks found the back of the net twice in the second half. The game’s first goal came in the 59th minute as Brooke Kala’s attempt was deflected by the Bulldogs but perfectly set up Robinson who beat the keeper with a strike into the back of the goal. The margin remained at one for nearly 30 minutes until the Skyhawks added some insurance in the closing minutes as Drake found Hannah Zahn for her first goal of the season in the 86th minute.
A flurry of substitutions to keep the team fresh saw the Skyhawks rotate frequently with only Mushkin playing all 90 minutes while only four others eclipsed 70 minutes. Those rotations also saw goalkeepers Poppy Bastock and Rachel Pugh split action with 45 minutes each for the combined shutout. Bastock got the start and tallied one save in the first half while Pugh earned her first win as a Skyhawk after notching three saves in the second half to preserve the clean sheet.
UT Martin will now turn its attention to Ohio Valley Conference play as the defending regular season champions open league action on Thursday, Sept. 22 at Little Rock.