SUNDAY'S SCORES
@Southeast Missouri 4, Grambling State 1
@Austin Peay 2,
Lindenwood 0
Western Illinois 1, @Chicago State 0
@Southern Indiana 1, North Alabama 1
Milwaukee 3,
@SIUE 1
Morehead State 5, @Detroit Mercy 2
@Eastern Illinois 3, Illinois Springfield 1
Chattanooga 1,
@Tennessee Tech 0
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 4, GRAMBLING STATE 1
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri women's soccer (1-1-0, 0-0-0 OVC) picked up the first win of the 2023 season versus Grambling State (1-1-0, 0-0-0 SWAC) on Sunday morning by a final score of 4-1.
The win marked the first win for the newly renovated Houck Stadium as Sunday morning's match was the first action inside the new stadium.
After surrendering four goals on Thursday, the Redhawks responded on Sunday morning with four goals of their own as four different Redhawks registered a goal in the 90-minutes. Cayla Koerner (38'), Kiana Khedoo (46'), freshman Emily Baker (PK; 69'), and redshirt-senior Megan Heisserer (89') all scored their first goal of the season.
The Redhawks outshot GSU by a final mark of 8-5.
Sophomore forward Cayla Koerner registered the game's first goal in the 38th minute after coming off the bench for the Redhawks.
Koerner took a pass in the middle of the field and dribbled through the Tigers' defense and slotted the ball into the bottom left corner to give SEMO a 1-0 advantage right before half time.
The Mahomet, Ill.-native finished as the player of the match with her goal and two assists later in the match.
Senior Kiana Khedoo grew the lead for SEMO with her goal in the 46th minute, after a beautiful through ball from Koerner. Khedoo beat the defender to the ball, collected, and fired the ball past GSU's Aimee Benton early in the second half.
Emily Baker scored from the spot to make it a 3-0 Redhawks advantage. Melissa Kubin was taken down in the box to win the penalty kick. Baker put the ball in the bottom left of the goal to beat Benton.
Scott City, Mo.-native Megan Heisserer capped off the four-goal performance off a pass from Koerner once again with an easy tap in for her first goal of the season. Heisserer played 23-minutes off the bench for SEMO on Sunday.
GSU's Sophia Lezizidis beat freshman goalkeeper Madison Geisler in the 88th to get one back for the Tigers, but it was too little too late as the Redhawks held on for the 4-1 win.
Sophomore keeper Sophia Elfrink registered 65-minutes of action on Sunday where the Tigers failed to register a shot-on-goal against her. Elfrink tied her career-best for saves in Thursday's match (8).
The Redhawks utilized their bench in the contest as nobody played the full-90 minutes, led by graduate student Natalie Jackson with 82 minutes.
SEMO will be back in action on Thursday, August 24, when they host Evansville. Kick-off is slated for 6 p.m., CT. at Houck Field.
AUSTIN PEAY 2, LINDENWOOD 0
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - On Sunday, the Lindenwood women's soccer team (0-2-0, 0-0-0 OVC) would take on the Austin Peay Governors (1-1-0, 0-0-0 ASUN) in Clarksville, Tenn. In this opening weekend matchup of soccer, the Lions would fall to the Governors 2-0.
In the first half of this matchup, both teams led with strong defense, ending the half tied at 0-0. The Lions led the shot category in the first half, taking three shots while only giving up one shot.
In the second half, the Governors the second frame. The Governors would only give up two shots, while the Lions gave up ten shots in the second half. The Governors broke through adding the first tally of the game in the 64th minute from an assisted shot, with the Governors leading 1-0 with 26 minutes left to go. The Governors would score again in the 85th minute to seal the victory for the Lions.
Erika Anstine would start in net for the Lions, making two saves on two goals against.
The Lions will return to Hunter Stadium to take on Chicago State for their home opener on Thursday, August 24th at 7:00 pm.
WESTERN ILLINOIS 1, CHICAGO STATE 0
CHICAGO, Ill. - Western Illinois was able to get its first win of the season on Sunday when the Leathernecks traveled to Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep to take on Chicago State. Junior transfer Sachiko Gamo scored the team's first goal of the season with a goal in the 68th minute of today's match.
The game started with Western attacking early, as the Leathernecks tallied 4 shots in the first 7 minutes of the match. The Cougars them found themselves in their attacking boots as they drew 3 consecutive free kicks with nothing coming from them. Elise Bush recorded the game's first shot on goal in the 38th minute, but her effort was saved by the Cougars' keeper. Right before halftime, the ball found its way in the back of Chicago State's goal, but was eventually disallowed due to the ball being ruled out of play.
In the middle of the second half, junior Alexis Vasquez and sophomore Hana Daoudi both recorded shots on target, but were not able to score. These marked two of four shots on goal for the Leathernecks, as they recorded nine shots total.
Just a few moments later, the Leathernecks scored their first goal of the 2023 season when junior Sachiko Gamo was able to find the back of the net to give Western a lead they would not relinquish. The Cougars were not able to get a shot off until Isabel Navas Rodriguez recorded a save in the final minutes that sealed the win for the Leathernecks.
Western Illinois will host Northern Iowa on Thursday, Aug. 24 at 4 P.M. As of Aug. 20, the Panthers are 2-0 with wins over St. Thomas and Viterbo.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 1, NORTH ALABAMA 1
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Women's Soccer picked up a 1-1 tie in its home opener against the University of North Alabama on Sunday. The draw moved both teams' records to 0-1-1 on the young 2023 season.
The Screaming Eagles started out with early pushes into the attacking third. In the 7th minute, USI came within inches of scoring an early tally. Freshman midfielder Greta Ohlwein (Chicago, Illinois) crossed a pass to the middle of the box toward sophomore midfielder Peyton Murphy (Bargersville, Indiana). Murphy sent a low shot that went off the post.
With the match still scoreless, USI jumped onto the scoreboard in the 21st minute. Sophomore midfielder Emma Thurston (Leawood, Kansas) sent a long throw-in pass into the box, which deflected off a defender toward junior midfielder Maggie Duggan (Defiance, Missouri). The captain buried the opportunity into the lower right corner of the net for her first career goal. USI carried its 1-0 lead into the intermission.
North Alabama knotted the match at one in the 58th minute after a wayward pass led to a break toward the goal. Later, Southern Indiana nearly retook the lead in the 73rd minute when freshman midfielder Grace Bamber (Chesterton, Indiana) dished a cross to redshirt freshman defender Abby Rhoutsong (Newburgh, Indiana), who headed it inches above the crossbar.
In the last few minutes of the contest, the Screaming Eagles organized a couple of attacks in the final third of the field, but the Lions' defense was able to clear the ball out of danger to hold the match to a 1-1 draw.
Southern Indiana outshot North Alabama 7-6 in the game, as each side placed three shots on goal. While Duggan had USI's goal and Thurston with the assist, Murphy led the Screaming Eagles with two shots. Between the posts, sophomore keeper Anna Markland (Hoover, Alabama) made two saves.
On Thursday, Southern Indiana will travel eastward to Dayton, Ohio for a 6 p.m. CT matchup at Wright State University. Coverage links for the match at Wright State can be found at usiscreamingeagles.com.
MILWAUKEE 3, SIUE 1
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Milwaukee broke a 1-1 tie with a pair of unassisted goals Sunday and defeated SIUE women's soccer 3-1 at Korte Stadium.
The Cougars had three shots in the game, all from players who came off the bench in the sweltering heat.
After Milwaukee's Emma Famulak scored the game's first goal at 29:12 on an assist by Cate Cullison, SIUE got a game-tying goal with just 25 seconds left in the first half.
Ella Robinson sprinted on the right swing past her defender, taking a pass from Macie Begley. As Milwaukee goalkeeper Kendall Edwards was sprinting directly toward her, Robinson cleanly pushed it past for her first career goal.
Milwaukee, which had 13 shots, picked up unassisted goals from Lainey Higgins (51:37 and Kat Van Booven (55:50) to lift the Panthers to their first win of the season (1-0-1).
SIUE, 0-2, next faces Purdue Fort Wayne in a 7 p.m. contest Friday at Korte Stadium.
MOREHEAD STATE 5, DETROIT MERCY 2
DETROIT, Mich. - A trio of first-half goals propelled the Morehead State soccer team to its first win of 2023 Sunday. For good measure the Eagles found the back of the net twice more in the final 45 and knocked off Detroit Mercy 5-2 on the Titans' home turf in the first-ever meeting between the two schools on the pitch.
The five goals marked the program's most in a match since Sept. 11, 2015 when the Eagles defeated Francis Marion (S.C.) 5-3. It is the most against a Division I foe since Nov. 6, 2014 when MSU blasted Murray State 5-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. The Eagles' five assists also marked the highest total since Oct. 13, 2013.
After falling behind 1-0 off what was credited as an own goal (goalkeeper deflection into net), the Eagles erupted for a trio of goals in a 14-minute span in the first half.
Freshman Hedda Ornberg notched her first career goal at the 27:48 mark, following a double assist from fifth-year Nicole Fiantaco and freshman Michelle Hochstadt. Fifth-year midfielder Kate Larbes gave her team the lead at 32:33, her first time finding the back of the net in 2023 and third of her career.
Fiantaco, playing just 20 miles from her hometown of Sterling Heights, Mich., made it 3-1 at 41:46. It marked the forward's seventh career goal and was assisted by sophomore Sejla Podzic (her second career helper).
Taking a 3-2 lead into the break, MSU poured it on late in the final half. 2022 First-Team All-OVCer and sixth-year midfielder Colleen Swift got a back pass off a rebound and rocketed her 11th career goal at 74:56. Senior Hadley Cytron picked up the assist, her second career one of those.
Larbes then registered her first career multi-goal match, getting a shot past the Titan keeper at 76:31. Fifth-year Natalie Ledin picked up her first career assist as an Eagle.
Shots were nearly even, at a 17-15 slight edge for the Titans, but the Eagles made theirs count more. MSU led 10-9 in shots on goal, with five touching the back of the net for the visiting Eagles. MSU also held possession for 54 percent of the match, compared to just 46 for Detroit.
Despite allowing the two goals, Eagle goalkeeper Erin Gibbs turned back eight shots.
Morehead State stays on the road this week, traveling to face Big 10 opponent Indiana on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD 1
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois women's soccer picked up its first win of the season as the Panthers hosted UIS on Sunday afternoon. With the win, EIU improved to a 1-1 record on the season.
EIU opened the match strongly on the attack as Alex Tetteh scored in the 3rd minute to put EIU up 1-0. The Prairie Stars did not take long to find the goal that equalized the match. In the 8th minute, Madison Grandys found the back of EIU's net to put UIS back in the game.
The game then settled down with both teams fighting hard for the ball. In the 36th minute, Abby Reinl found Katiebeth May near the eighteen yard box. May used her right foot to finish the play that would put the Panthers back in the lead 2-1.
Seven minutes later, Reinl and May switched roles. On a diagonal pass into the box, May found Reinl, the freshman forward who did not hesitate to finish and score her second goal of the season. EIU led 3-1 at halftime.
In a scoreless second half, goalkeeper Ashlyn Hoover made three saves to help EIU secure the win.
The match marked the second time in history that both schools met. In 2021, the Panthers beat the Prairie Stars 3-0
EIU will now have four days to prepare for its next match. On Thursday, Aug. 20 the Panthers will travel to Dekalb, Ill. to face Northern Illinois University. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
CHATTANOOGA 1, TENNESSEE TECH 0
COOKVILLE, Tenn. - Recap coming soon.