THURSDAY'S SCORES
Marshall 3,
@Morehead State 0
Northern Illinois 3,
@Western Illinois 0
Missouri State 2,
SIUE 0
@IUPUI 2,
Southern Indiana 0
UT Martin 2, @Austin Peay 1
@Missouri 4,
Southeast Missouri 0
Little Rock 2, @FAU 2
Tennessee Tech 1, @Western Kentucky 1
@Kansas City 2,
Lindenwood 1
@Valparaiso 2,
Eastern Illinois 1
MARSHALL 3, MOREHEAD STATE 0
MOREHEAD, Ky. - On paper, Morehead State soccer had the upper-hand in just about every stats category, and possession, against Marshall in the season opener Thursday. But the visiting 'Herd took advantage of a few scoring opportunities to escape with a 3-0 victory over the Eagles.
The hosts held the ball for nearly 60 percent of the 90-minute match and had a distinct 17-8 total shots advantage. Forward Erin Fite led the starters with four shots, while newcomer Hedda Ornberg came in later on and belted four shots as well. Four others managed two shots as the Eagles blasted 'Herd goalkeeper Alexis Wolgemuth with eight shots on target, including several point blank opportunities. But, Wolgemuth turned back every attempt.
Morehead State also had the advantage in corner kicks (4-1), fewer offsides against (4-1) and fewer fouls (20-5).
After a scoreless first half, Marshall scored the season's first goal at 47:40 as Bailey Fisher found the back of the net. Alyssa Hardin took advantage of a miscue in front of the net to make it 2-0 at 49:15. The visitors finished the day with a goal at 81:37.
The Eagle defense only surrendered three Marshall shots on goal. Midfielder Avery Redmon and back line specialist Anna Lohrer played all 90 minutes.
After its first three matches at home (two exhibitions), Morehead State hits the road for the first time in 2023 Sunday as the Eagles travel to face Detroit Mercy at 1 p.m. ET.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS 3, WESTERN ILLINOIS 0
MACOMB, Ill. - The Leathernecks lost the first of their 16 total matches this season, in a game that was dominated by the Northern Illinois Huskies. Falling to 0-1 on the season, the Leathernecks will travel to Chicago St. on Sunday to play the Cougars.
The match started slow early on, as no one was able to find the net in the first half. NIU (1-0) was able to put the pressure on early, as they had three shots and four corners in the first 23 minutes of the match. The Leathernecks were able to put the pressure on late in the first, as they didn't allow a Huskies player to shoot until the end of the period.
Things quickly changed in the second half, as Northern Illinois scored a goal in the 4th minute of the latter period. WIU responded by putting the pressure on and drawing multiple corners and taking shots, but were not lucky enough to see the ball go into the back of the net. NIU would score two more goals in the second period, ('60, '79) which would prove to be too much for the Leathernecks. Western would see a few more chances go awry as the Huskies emerged victorious at John MacKenzie Alumni Field.
Senior midfielder Sydnee Sagal, freshman midfielder Alanna Pennington, senior midfielder Elise Bush, and senior midfielder Audrey Narine each tallied a shot a piece for WIU. Senior keeper Isabel Navas Rodriguez saved two Huskies' shot attempts.
The Leathernecks look to Sunday as they have their first road test of the season against the Chicago State Cougars.
MISSOURI STATE 2, SIUE 0
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE women's soccer dropped its 2023 season opener Thursday with a 2-0 loss at Korte Stadium to fellow 2022 NCAA Tournament participant Missouri State.
Burton said the Cougars were effective in creating chances late in the first half.
However, Missouri State sent the Cougars to the locker toom down 1-0 with a goal at 43:03 from Kaeli Benedict from the left side on a pass from Iraia Arrue.
The Bears added a second goal at the 76:13 mark with Grace O'Keefe feeding a pass to Julia Kristensen.
SIUE returns to Korte Stadium Sunday for 1 p.m. contest against Milwaukee.
IUPUI 2, SOUTHERN INDIANA 0
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Women's Soccer opened the 2023 season on the road in the state capital Thursday evening, falling 2-0 at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI).
The first half started with early looks for the Screaming Eagles (0-1-0). USI fired away three shots within the first five minutes of the match. IUPUI (1-0-0) took hold of the first-half momentum, scoring in the 17th minute to take a 1-0 lead. The host Jaguars played a long pass to the far side of the box, and after a cutback move, a deflected shot snuck inside the post for the IUPUI goal.
IUPUI doubled its advantage in the 55th minute right before the skies opened with a downpour. After a race to the ball, IUPUI grabbed a 2-0 lead on a goal in the top-right corner of the net. The Screaming Eagles nearly answered with a goal of their own about 10 minutes later when the rainfall lightened. Sophomore midfielder Peyton Murphy (Bargersville, Indiana) sent a free kick into the box where senior defender Alexis Schone (Galena, Ohio) headed the ball just inches above the crossbar.
In the 82nd minute, USI threatened in the attacking third. Junior midfielder Adriana Berruti (Berwyn, Illinois) crossed a ball in that was headed first time by freshman forward Greta Ohlwein (Chicago, Illinois) and a second time toward goal by freshman midfielder Reese Frericks (Spring Grove, Illinois). However, IUPUI junior goalkeeper Ashton Kudlo was able to get a glove tip on the header and haul it in.
Statistically, USI was led by Murphy and junior midfielder Maggie Duggan (Defiance, Missouri) with two shots and one on goal each. USI totaled eight shots. Sophomore goalkeeper Anna Markland (Hoover, Alabama) tallied three saves on 12 shots faced in her first career start.
Southern Indiana will host its home opener from Strassweg Field Sunday at 1 p.m. against the University of North Alabama. Sunday's match can be seen with a subscription to ESPN+.
UT MARTIN 2, AUSTIN PEAY 1
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - The 2023 University of Tennessee at Martin soccer season started off with a 2-1 triumph over in-state rival Austin Peay.
Makayla Robinson started her junior year with a bang, scoring both goals for the Skyhawks. That set a new career high for goals in a game for the native of El Cajon, Calif.
Robinson netted the first goal of the season for UT Martin at the 9:02 mark when Oral Roberts transfer Caroline Moore found her to give the Skyhawks an early lead.
Austin Peay answered a little over eight minutes later with a Kasidy Schenk solo goal. Both teams would go scoreless for the remainder of the first half with the Governors leading UT Martin, eight shots to three.
Right out of the break, Nyeemah Prescod-Beckles would make her impact in the season opener with an exceptional ball to Robinson who finished it off to give the Skyhawks the lead for good.
Austin Peay had chances late in the game, but sophomore Poppy Bastock was there to keep the goal empty. Bastock recorded a game high seven saves facing 15 shots with eight being on goal.
MISSOURI 4, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Southeast Missouri soccer (0-1-0, 0-0-0 OVC) dropped its season opener to SEC opponent Missouri (1-0-1) at Audrey J. Walton Soccer Stadium on Thursday night by a final score of 4-0.
Sophomore goalkeeper and Columbia, Mo.-native Sophia Elfrink tied her career high in saves with eight. She tallied four saves in the first half and four in the second half, playing all 90-minutes.
Four Redhawks made their SEMO regular season debut in freshmen Justin Nelson, Emily Baker, and Anika Sproxton. Sophomore Melissa Kubin made her first career start in her debut for SEMO.
The Redhawks were outshot by the Tigers 24-0. Missouri put 12 of those on target while adding three corner kicks.
The game was physical with fouls adding up to 13, nine coming from SEMO.
Missouri registered the first goal of the contest in the 10th minute. Olivia Chianelli scored on Sofia Elfrink with a shot to the top center of the goal, coming off an assist from Brianna Buels.
Kylee Simmons, Shania Spriggs and Keegan Good added the other goals, with Spriggs also tacking on an assist.
Sophia Elfrink tied her career high in saves with eight. Four came in the first period and four in the second.
The Redhawks will play in their home opener this Sunday in Cape Girardeau against Grambling State. The match is slated to begin at 1:00 p.m. at Houck Field.
LITTLE ROCK 2, FAU 2
BOCA RATON, Fla. - Recap coming soon.
TENNESSEE TECH 1, WESTERN KENTUCKY 1
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - A sense of déjà vu struck the season opener for the Tennessee Tech soccer team, as the Golden Eagles once again provided a late equalizer to erase a 1-0 deficit against WKU on the way to forcing a dramatic 1-1 draw Thursday evening from the WKU Soccer Complex.
A year ago in Cookeville, it was Katie Toney who squared the score in the 81st minute against the Lady Toppers for her first career goal to force the eventual 1-1 knot. Thursday night followed a similar script with another freshman finding her first career score behind an Abigail Davis deadlocking net-finder in the 85th minute that propelled the purple and gold to the tie column in the club's first contest of 2023.
Davis' heroics were made possible by a fellow rookie, with freshman Tori Soutuyo starting the dramatics on a corner with just over five minutes remaining in regulation. Soutuyo's strike smacked a crowd in the center of the box, and after a deflection, Sami Cullum connected a beautiful ball to Davis, who took care of the rest with a top-shelf finish placed perfectly into the upper left corner of net to knot the score at 1-1. Cullum's feed led the Yorba Linda, Calif. native to her first career assist as a Golden Eagle.
Tech's tying theatrics were part of a second-half turnaround that saw the TTU (0-0-1) outshoot the Lady Toppers 4-3 after WKU had the upper hand in the first stanza behind a 9-2 advantage in attempts. The Golden Eagles also held a 4-2 edge in corners after intermission, following a WKU 5-1 discrepancy over the first 45 minutes.
The Lady Toppers (0-0-1) unwrapped the scoring a third of the way into the affair, capitalizing on a TTU foul in the 15th minute that pushed the home side to the early edge. A lengthy WKU feed from midfield in essence started it all, with a soaring drive from the center line that allowed Brooke Sleeva to race toward the outskirts of the box in a bid to break the scoreless affair. Sleeva's chase was met by an oncoming Golden Eagle, who collided with the 5-foot-8 junior, causing a foul and giving the Lady Toppers a free kick from the edge of the box.
Katie Erwin delivered on the set-piece chance, sending a rope to the upper right corner of the net for the tilt's first goal. Erwin would go on to tie Sleeva and Kayla Meyer for the most shots by a Lady Topper with three tries apiece. Neve Renwick impressed in her collegiate debut with a Golden Eagle best three shots, including one of Tech's two attempts on-goal.
Maggie Conrad collected five saves in her season debut between the pipes, while WKU's Maddie Davis made one stop.
KANSAS CITY 2, LINDENWOOD 1
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - On Thursday night, the Lindenwood women's soccer team (0-1-0, 0-0-0 OVC) would take on the UMKC Roos (1-0-0, 0-0-0 Summit) in Kansas City, Mo. In the opening game of the season the Lions would fall just short to the Roos, losing 2-1.
In the first half, the name of the game was defense. Both teams were held scoreless in the first half, with the Lions and the Roos, both giving up one shot each. Eyglo Thorsteinsdottir had the lone shot for the Lions in the first half.
In the second half, offense ramped up for both teams with twelve shots in total coming in the second half. In the second, the Lions contributed three shots while the Roos contributed nine shots. The scoreless tie would be broken in the 61st minute by the Roos, coming from an own goal. The Lions would not stay silent for long, scoring just three minutes later in the 64th minute, coming from a Maggie Weller shot. In a tightly contested second half, both teams would remain quiet for the next twenty minutes. The Roos would put in an assisted goal in the 85th minute to seal the victory.
Erika Anstine would start in net for the Lions, making three saves on two goals against.
VALPARAISO 2, EASTERN ILLINOIS 1
VALPARAISO, Ind. - In a late night match, preseason Missouri Valley Conference second favorite hands Eastern Illinois its first loss of the season.
Just like in the previous exhibition match against UIC, the Panthers showed good strength and organization defensively by holding off Valpo's initial pressure. With only ten minutes left until halftime, Sam Gountounas scored the only goal of the half after a give and go passing combination in between the Panther's defense.
Early in the second half, a cross into the box found Allie Anderson's head to give Valpo a 2-0 lead in the 48th minute.
Later in the half, EIU picked up the intensity and after winning a battle on the offensive side of the field, Ella Onstott found freshman Abby Reinl, who scored her first college career goal after a header. EIU finished the match with three shots.
Goalkeeper Ella Kratochvil posted three saves in net for the Panthers. In the second half Ashlyn Hoover made her appearance logging another two saves.