SUNDAY’S SCORES
@Eastern Illinois 2, Southern Indiana 1
@Western Illinois 2, Lindenwood 1
@Tennessee Tech 2, Little Rock 1
UT Martin 0, @Southeast Missouri 0
Morehead State 2, @SIUE 0
EASTERN ILLINOIS 2, SOUTHERN INDIANA 1
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The Eastern Illinois women's soccer team (4-8-4, 3-4-2 OVC) defeated Southern Indiana 2-1 in its final conference match before the playoffs begin next week. Espi Logan and Zenaya Barnes with a goal each to give EIU the triumph. With the win, the Panthers picked up sixth place in the final OVC standings with the same eleven points as UT Martin, but lost to the Skyhawks in the tiebreaker.
Before the first whistle, both teams were already qualified for the tournament, therefore, the Panthers and the Screaming Eagles entered the match looking for a better qualifying spot. The match started at a slower pace, with both teams studying each other. The first shot did not come until the tenth minute, when Avery Richardson was stopped by USI's goalkeeper. Eight minutes later, Espi Logan picked up the rebound from a ball crossed into the box, the sophomore defender did not hesitate to take a low left diagonal shot to put the Panthers up on the scoreboard, 1-0. The Screaming Eagles responded with Payton Seymour, scoring USI's equalizing goal just before halftime, 1-1.
The second half had more offensive action from both teams, and EIU did not take long to get back up on the scoreboard. In the 54th minute, Alex Tetteh had a shot that forced USI's goalkeeper to give a rebound. Following the rebound, Barnes was in the right spot to conclude the play by tapping it in. It was Barne's third goal of the season, as she is now sharing the lead with Tetteh and Abby Reinl. After the goal, the Screaming Eagles tried to pressure EIU in search of the equalizer once again, but the Panthers were able to neutralize all USI's attempts.
Goalkeeper Ashlyn Hoover posted six saves in net for the Panthers.
WESTERN ILLINOIS 2, LINDENWOOD 1
MACOMB, Ill. - On a beautiful October Sunday, the Western Illinois women's soccer team closed out the year with a big win on Senior Day. Sunday's match against Lindenwood marked the final time Audrey Narine, Maddie Hasken, and Malerie Rohweder, would don the purple and gold as a part of the Western Illinois women's soccer team.
Western Illinois and Lindenwood faced off in the squads' first ever matchup. The Leathernecks and Lions entered the match placed ninth and tenth in the OVC standings, respectively. Lindenwood grabbed a first-minute corner that would put the Leathernecks on their heels early, but WIU would bounce back strongly by pushing the ball forward into the Lions' third. In the sixth minute, Sachiko Gamo perfectly threaded in a lofted through ball to freshman Alanna Pennington who received the ball at the top of the eighteen yard box. A Lindenwood defender collided with Pennington, causing the ball to break free, which bounced right to Alanna who tapped it in to give the Leathernecks a 1-0 lead.
The Leathernecks would have the ball in the final third for a large portion of the first half, being aggressive in the early stages of the match. A pair of shot attempts from distance from Claire Brown and Sarah De Gannes wouldn't cause any danger for the Lions' keeper, but Western kept the pressure on.
Later on in the half, Kayla Turner would break free of a defender and receive a beautiful pass from Hana Daoudi, but Turner would be fouled just inside the box, leading to a Leatherneck penalty. It would be the senior Maddie Hasken who took the kick, and she buried it towards the left side to make it 2-0. Western would keep the result into the break.
In the second half, Western's defense would hold strong for the first thirty-five minutes of the period, with some nice plays made by Rita Moran and Emmy Ellington to keep the shutout. However, in the eightieth minute, Lindenwood would make things interesting with the Lions scoring a goal to make it 2-1. The Leathernecks would hold strong though, grabbing a big win on senior day, with the game winning goal scored by none other than Maddie Hasken.
Western Illinois finishes out the year with a 3-8-5 record, and a 1-4-4 record in the team's inaugural OVC season. The Leathernecks officially ended the year with a ninth place finish in the Ohio Valley Conference on the year with seven points. Pennington, who scored the opening goal today, and junior Sachiko Gamo led the team in goals on the year with three apiece.
TENNESSEE TECH 2, LITTLE ROCK 1
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Theatrics took center stage for the Tennessee Tech soccer team in a match that had the Ohio Valley Conference regular-season championship hanging in the balance Sunday afternoon at Tech Soccer Field.
Squared away at 1-1 toward the tail end of regulation, Gabby Garcia had a goal for the ages that pushed the purple and gold to a dramatic 2-1 victory over Little Rock that clinched the program's second-consecutive conference crown and third overall title in school history. Needing a win on Senior Day to reach the pinnacle, the Golden Eagles stepped up when it mattered most, and it was all capped off by Garcia's heroics with less than 10 minutes left.
After collecting a feed from Selma Askildsen, Garcia maneuvered toward the center and from close to 25 yards out, the 5-foot-3 forward drilled one into the upper right corner of the net to give Golden Eagles a 2-1 lead in the 82nd minute. Garcia's first goal of the season and sixth of her Tech tenure was her fourth career game-winning score. Sunday's heroics took place on her birthday.
Tech's victory not only clinches the regular-season championship, but also gives the Golden Eagles the No. 1 overall seed in the OVC Tournament. TTU will receive a double-bye straight to the semifinals and will host the semis and championship match for the second-straight year.
The late-match dramatics were made possible after Little Rock (5-4-8, 2-3-3 OVC) knotted the tilt in the 68th minute on a Bronte Peel goal that saw the red-shirt sophomore take off from outside the box for the equalizing goal. Colleen Gilliland set up the score to pick up an assist on the play.
Tech (8-5-4, 7-1-1 OVC) started the scoring just before intermission on a Yao Giada Zhou goal for the senior midfielder's conference-leading seventh score of the year. Meredith Nye began the play by slipping a pass to Katie Toney on the outskirts of the box, before Toney made her way the near the net and then crossed a beauty of a ball to Giada Zhou, who promptly took care of the rest. Nye's assist was her first of the year, while Toney's helper was the sophomore's sixth of the season to tie Giada Zhou for the most in the league.
Maggie Conrad helped keep the Trojans off the board in the first half with three key saves to help guide a Golden Eagle defense that has blanked the opposition in the first stanza in 11 of the last 12 matches. The Cedar Rapids, Iowa native would need just one second-half stop en route to the victory. Peyton Urban tallied four halts across the way.
Neve Renwick led the contest with six shots, including three on-frame. The freshman out of Sheffield, England ends the regular season with a conference-best 67 total attempts. Amaya Arias led Little Rock with two tries.
The Golden Eagles wrap up the regular season having gone unbeaten in eight-consecutive home matches after dropping the home opener to Chattanooga way back on Aug. 20.
Prior to the proceedings, Tech honored their senior class of Selma Askildsen, Emily Carlevato, Macy Carter, Taylor Clark, Sami Cullum, Katelyn Farmer, Gabby Garcia, Yao Giada Zhou and Bailey Taylor.
UT MARTIN 0, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri women's soccer (6-5-5, 2-3-4 OVC) played to a 0-0 draw on Sunday afternoon against UT Martin (5-7-6, 2-2-5 OVC) in the final regular season game of the 2023 season.
Sunday's match marked the final game at Houck Field for seven Redhawks seniors in Emma Brune, Faith Liljegren, Kiana Khedoo, Natalie Jackson, Maddie Paulson, Megan Heisserer, and Zoey Memmel.
The Redhawks were outshot 8-4 by UT Martin as both teams really struggled to find much on the offensive side of the field.
Sophomore goalkeeper Sophia Elfrink was in-form once again. The Columbia, Mo.-native was sharp between the posts once again as she recorded five saves including a nice diving stop to her left to deny UTM.
Nearing the end of the first half, freshman Emily Baker was shown a yellow card for a foul.
Six Redhawks played the full 90-mniute shift on a warm afternoon in Cape Girardeau as the defensive back line of Jackson, Paulson, and Jakul remained very solid as the Redhawks recorded the second-straight shutout of the week.
Emma Brune, Zoe Houston, and goalkeeper Sophia Elfrink were the other three to play the entire match.
Four different Redhawks recorded a shot in the contest. Emma Brune, Faith Liljegren, and Kiana Khedoo each recorded a shot (on target). Melissa Kubin also fired a shot towards the UTM net, but it was off target.
MOREHEAD STATE 2, SIUE 0
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Morehead State fifth-year midfielder Kate Larbes scored a pair of goals, and goalkeeper Erin Gibbs and the Eagle defense recorded the team's seventh shutout as the Eagles ended the regular-season wth a 2-0 blanking of SIUE at the Cougars' Korte Stadium Sunday.
The Eagles, who had already locked up at least the No.2 seed in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament, did their part to try to win the title. But a 2-1 win earlier in the afternoon by Tennessee Tech sealed TTU's slot as No. 1. As it is, the Eagles finished 6-1-2 - the most league victories since being 7-3 in 2013. MSU also won its last four matches and sits at 7-5-5 overall heading into the tournament. With the two seed, MSU gets a double bye into the semifinals and will play on Nov. 2 at Tech against either No. 3 SIUE, No. 6 Eastern Illinois or No. 7 Southeast Missouri.
MSU also scored its first win over the SIUE program since 2018, having dropped the last six in the series.
In the nine OVC matches, MSU only surrendered three goals to opponents (with an additional one being an own goal).
Despite the Eagles being out shot 10-6, Larbes made her three shots on goal count. She staked MSU to a 1-0 lead at 24:08 after an assist from fellow fifth-year Nicole Fiantaco. Fiantaco's helper tied her for the team lead with four assists this season.
Larbes then scored her fourth goal of the season, which ties her for the team lead with Colleen Swift and Hedda Ornberg, at 80:03 on a penalty kick. An Eagle was taken down in the far corner of the box by SIUE goalkeeper Taylor Spiller. Larbes buried the PK to the bottom corner of the back of the net.
Gibbs was credited with her seventh total shutout of the year, tying for second place in season clean sheets. She made six saves.