SUNDAY'S SCORES
Lindenwood 2, @Little Rock 1
@Southern Indiana 2, Morehead State 1
Western Illinois 1, @UT Martin 1
@Tennessee Tech 3, Eastern Illinois 1
Southeast Missouri 1, @SIUE 0
LINDENWOOD 2, LITTLE ROCK 1
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - On Sunday, the Lindenwood women's soccer team took on Little Rock. The Lions would come out victorious, winning 2-1 over the Trojans.
In the 37th minute of the game, Faith Montandon would put a shot in the top center of the goal to put the Lions up 1-0. Montandon's goal would be assisted by Hannah Scholer. Strong defense by the Lions would keep the Trojans off the board in the first frame. Jordan Hollingsworth in her first start as a Lion made four saves in the first 45 minutes. The Trojans came out with the most shots in the half with seven as well as corners with four. Going into the second half the Lions would lead 1-0.
In the second half, the Lions would strike first, scoring in the 60th minute from an Eyglo Thorsteinsdottir shot. The Lions would lead 2-0 up to this point. Seven minutes later the Trojans would get on the board, bringing the Lions lead down to one goal. Both teams would remain out of the scoring column for the rest of the game.
Hollingsworth started in net for the Lions, making seven saves on one goal against. After this matchup, the Lions moved to 3-8-1 on the season and earned their first conference win of the year. Five freshmen started in today's match for the Lions.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 2, MOREHEAD STATE 1
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Women's Soccer (2-6-4, 1-1-1 OVC) held on and defeated Morehead State University (3-5-5, 2-1-2 OVC), 2-1, at Strassweg Field on Sunday afternoon. The match gave the Screaming Eagles their first Ohio Valley Conference win of the season and snapped Morehead's five-match unbeaten streak.
The first half was controlled by Morehead's offense as the Eagles tacked on four shots on goal, but it was USI's redshirt freshman goalkeeper Anna Markland (Hoover, Alabama) who held it close, securing four saves. Right out of the hydration break, USI earned the first goal of the match after an own goal was scored by Morehead with 20 minutes left on the clock. Despite the goal, USI could not muster a shot attempt in the opening frame.
It was a slow start for both sides after the intermission until USI got their first shot and second goal of the match from freshman midfielder Pilar Torres (Chula Vista, California) at the 66:50 mark to take a 2-0 lead. Torres' goal was scored thanks to a pair of assists from freshman midfielder/forward Kerigan Kivisto (Collierville, Tennessee) and sophomore forward Shy Iles (Demossville, Kentucky). However, Morehead cut the deficit after scoring with 12 minutes left in regulation. USI's defense stood tall and stopped multiple shot attempts from Morehead to seal the match.
Southern Indiana totaled just one shot that came from Torres' goal in the second half while Morehead put up nine shots with five on goal. Markland finished the game with one goal allowed and four first-half saves.
WESTERN ILLINOIS 1, UT MARTIN 1
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin soccer team ended their second straight home match with a 1-1 draw against Ohio Valley Conference newcomer Western Illinois.
UT Martin kept the Leatherneck defense on their toes with 30 total shots in the first all-time meeting between the two schools. This marked the first time the Skyhawks launched 30 attempts since 2019 when they recorded 31 shots against Eastern Illinois.
Brooke Kala had a career-high seven shots to go along with her first goal of the season which equalized the match in the 75th minute. Peyton Cook (five), Allie Buchmann (four), Rachel Okoro (three), Izzy Patterson (two), Jordan Bailey (two), Jenny Enriquez (two), Ella Rucka (one), Catey Hunt (one), Gwen Walters (one), Makayla Robinson (one) and Abbie McHenry (one) all chipped in to the offensive pressure.
Goalkeeper Poppy Bastock made four saves with only one goal allowed while facing 10 shots. Shayla Addington, Walters, Bastock and Hunt played the full 90 minutes for the Skyhawks.
In the first half, UT Martin held Western Illinois scoreless for 44 minutes until Kayla Turner sent a high shot to the net that ricocheted off Bastock’s glove and trickled in to give the Leathernecks the lead at halftime.
The Skyhawks would inch closer towards the equalizer and found it in the 75th minute when Kala scored a screamer off the crossbar to beat Western Illinois goalkeeper Isabel Navas Rodriguez.
Following the goal UT Martin would continue its offensive push but wouldn’t get the winner past Rodriguez in the final moments.
TENNESSEE TECH 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 1
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Another surge of scores highlighted the Tennessee Tech soccer team's Sunday afternoon, as the Golden Eagles put up a three-spot on the way to a 3-1 victory over Eastern Illinois to begin the month of October.
Tech's triumph pushes the club's current unbeaten streak to five straight, with the Golden Eagles (4-4-3, 3-0-0) outscoring their competition 18-4 over the five tilts. TTU has outscored its OVC opponents 13-1 en route to the perfect 3-0 beginning and the Golden Eagles have now run their unbeaten streak in conference regular-season matches to 17, dating back to the beginning of October 2021.
Yao Giada Zhou, the reigning OVC Offensive Player of the Week, unwrapped the scoring in the ninth minute with her fourth goal of 2023. A free kick on the edge of the right side of the box was all the senior midfielder needed after she buried the set-piece chance on a low, twisting drive that snuck around EIU's wall and into the back of the net to put the purple and gold ahead 1-0.
The San Michele al Tagliamento, Italy native is now tied with Neve Renwick and Bailey Taylor for the team lead in scores, which is also tied for the most in the OVC.
Giada Zhou would be heard from later, helping Meredith Nye on a goal early in the second half to extend TTU's lead to 2-0. Giada Zhou's serve into the box connected with Nye in front of the net, before the Jackson, Tenn. product took care of the rest with a ball into the back of the cage in the 58th minute for her third score of the season and third goal in as many matches.
Katie Toney put the finishing touches on Tech's trio of scores thanks to her third goal of the year on a missile from well outside the box in the 66th minute. Toney's take saw the McMinnville, Tenn. native blast one from near the right corner flag and into the back of the net to put the Golden Eagles in the driver's seat with a 3-0 edge.
The Panthers (2-6-3, 1-2-1 OVC) managed to get on the board in the waning moments of regulation behind an Abby Reinl goal in the 86th minute for EIU's only second-half attempt on-goal.
Overall, Tech outshot Eastern Illinois 23-10 for TTU's second-highest total of the year. Neve Renwick notched a match-leading seven tries to extend her season mark to 37, the highest amount in the OVC. The rookie forward has taken 24 shots in her last four matches. Carys Grieve and Avery Richardson led the Panthers with two attempts each.
Maggie Conrad posted three saves in the victory, while Ella Kratochvil stopped six Golden Eagle bids across the way.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 1, SIUE 0
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Senior defender Maddie Paulson found herself on the end of a Zoe Houston Pass in the 89th minute and scored the game-winning goal as Southeast Missouri women's soccer (6-3-2, 2-1-1 OVC) secured their second-straight OVC victory over SIUE (4-5-1, 2-1-0 OVC) 1-0 Sunday afternoon.
A foul on SIUE's Mary Fetter set up the Redhawks with a free-kick opportunity. The ball bounced out-of-bounds for a SEMO throw-in that eventually landed at the feet of midfielder Zoe Houston.
Houston delivered her second assist of the season to Maddie Paulson who then fired the shot into the top center of the goal with her right foot beating SIUE goalkeeper Taylor Spiller.
For Paulson, the goal was the first of her season in 2023 and the first Redhawks defender to score all year.
Spiller finished the afternoon with seven saves as the Redhawks racked up 10 shots, including eight on target, against the Cougars.
Sophomore forward Cayla Koerner led the Redhawks in shots with three and two on target. Kiana Khedoo and and Emma Brune finished with a pair of shots each, with three on target between the midfield pair.
SEMO outshot the Cougars 10-9 in the contest and doubled SIUE's shots on target with an 8-4 advantage.
Sophomore goalkeeper Sophia Elfrink recorded her seventh shutout of the season, including the second-straight shut out after previously blanking Lindenwood earlier this week.
With today's win, the Redhawks move into third place in the OVC table having played one less game than second place Morehead State (2-1-2 OVC).