Ohio Valley Conference

CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois women's soccer continues to play well at home in Ohio Valley Conference action as the Panthers improved to 3-0-1 at Lakeside Field in league play following Thursday's 2-1 win over Tennessee Tech.
 
EIU jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the match on the first career goal by Avery Richardson as she headed home a corner kick sent in by Kya Trejo in the 17th minute.
 
EIU would carry that 1-0 advantage into the final ten minutes of action when they tacked on an important insurance goal.  Abby Reinl found the net for the fifth consecutive match as she beat the TTU keeper with a left foot cross on an assist by Alex Tetteh. In the 80th minute.
 
The Golden Eagles pressed in the final nine minutes finally breaking through in the 82nd minute as Tori Soutuyo touched home a ball in a mass of players in front of the net.  Soutuyo's goal was set up by an assist by Skylar Williams.
 
Both teams finished with four shots on goal with EIU goalkeeper Ella Kratochvil making three saves.  TTU keeper Maggie Conrad recorded two saves.
 
EIU improved to 5-6-5 overall, 3-2-2 in the OVC as they picked up three key points in the OVC standings.  TTU fell to 4-8-5 overall, 4-2-1 in the OVC.

UT MARTIN 2, WESTERN ILLINOIS 0
MACOMB, Il.. - The University of Tennessee at Martin soccer team used two first-half goals to dispatch Ohio Valley Conference foe Western Illinois in a 2-0 shutout at John MacKenzie Alumni Field.
 
Nyeemah Prescod-Beckles (14th minute) and Makayla Robinson (45th minute) both scored unassisted goals to give the Skyhawks (3-9-3, 2-5 OVC) a crucial three points in the standings with the regular season winding down.
 
Robinson had a match-high four shots and Prescod-Beckles launched a team-best three shots on goal this afternoon. Izzy Patterson (three shots, one shot on goal), Peyton Cook (one shot on goal), Alberte Amby (one shot on goal) and Abbie McHenry (one shot) helped keep the pressure on the Western Illinois defense throughout the contest as UT Martin outshot the Leathernecks by a 13-10 margin.
 
Goalkeeper Mac Titus nailed down her second shutout in a Skyhawk uniform by making three saves against 10 shots. Titus played the full match along with Parker Gelinas, Ella Rucka, Shayla Addington, Brooke Kala, Patterson and Robinson.
 
UT Martin outshot the Leathernecks by an 8-3 margin in the opening half. The Skyhawks capitalized on their third shot on goal in the first 14 minutes when Prescod-Beckles scored on the far post with a spectacular shot. It was eventually the second career game-winning goal in a UT Martin uniform for the senior forward out of Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.
 
While the Skyhawk defense held Western Illinois to zero shots on goal in the first half, Robinson put the cherry on top of the first 45 minutes with her team-high fourth goal of the season – finding the back of the net off a deflection with 31 seconds left before the halftime break.
 
The Leathernecks (1-12-1, 1-5-1 OVC) would put chances on target in the 69th, 80th and 88th minutes but Titus was there to snare all three shots, securing a road conference win for UT Martin.

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 2, SIUE 1
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri Women's Soccer (1-9-3, 1-3-3 OVC) picked up their first win of the season on Thursday night with a 2-1 victory over SIUE (2-7-5, 1-3-3 OVC) behind two second half goals from sophomore Emily Baker. 
 
Baker, who did not have a goal on the season coming into the match, put two in the back of the net including the first goal of the game. 
 
Alayna Jakul dribbled the ball into the SIUE box where she was fouled, setting up a penalty kick for the Redhawks. Baker stepped up and slotted it into the right side of the net to give SEMO a 1-0 lead in the 59thminute. 
 
The Cougars would respond nearly 30-minutes later off a cross-field kick that found the head of Grace Ferguson. Matea Diekema served the ball in and was credited with the assist. 
 
In the 89th minute, a beautiful turn at midfield by forward Cayla Koerner with less than 15 seconds left in the match gave the Redhawks one last attack. Koerner beat the SIUE defender and was two-on-one with the goalie as she dumped it off to Baker. 
 
Baker slotted it into an empty net, beating SIUE goalkeeper Abby Haskell for the second time to seal the victory. 
 
Goalkeeper Sophia Elfrink had another stellar performance in net for the Redhawks, turning away six SIUE shots-on-goal over the duration of the match. Elfrink was one-of-six Redhawks who played the full 90-minutes. 
 
Grace Crowden, Zoe Houston, Elizabeth Rater, Kristin Anderson, and Sophie Shrum were the other Redhawks who never left the pitch on Thursday night. 
 
SIUE edged the Redhawks in shots with an 11-3 advantage, but SEMO scored the most goals in a match this season on the evening.

SOUTHERN INDIANA 1, LITTLE ROCK 0
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Women's Soccer posted its second consecutive 1-0 victory Thursday night, as the Screaming Eagles defeated the University of Arkansas at Little Rock from Strassweg Field.
 
The result gave Southern Indiana (4-8-4, 3-2-2 OVC) its fourth overall win and third Ohio Valley Conference win to match both respective win totals from last season in 2023. On the flip side, USI handed Little Rock (7-6-3, 4-1-2 OVC) its first loss in conference play.
 
Southern Indiana came out pushing the tempo into the attacking half, taking a pair of early shots. Little Rock also had a stretch in the attacking half, leading to three saves in a 10-minute span by USI redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Anna Markland.
 
Minutes after redshirt freshman forward Eva Boer had a shot miss just above the crossbar, sophomore midfielder Pilar Torres had a shot saved. However, Torres would not be denied in the 27th minute, connecting on the backend of a pass across the front of the goal to give USI a 1-0 lead. The assists went to sophomore midfielder Kerigan Kivisto and junior forward Payton Seymour.
 
Torres' second goal of the season came after also scoring the Eagles' game-winning goal last time out against Morehead State University on Sunday. Junior midfielder Peyton Murphy was the last Screaming Eagle to score in consecutive matches, doing so in the fourth and fifth matches of OVC play in 2023, before Torres' two goals this week.
 
The Screaming Eagles' 1-0 lead carried into halftime as the defense blocked four shots and Markland made a couple more saves in the latter minutes of the first half. Both teams recorded 10 shots in the opening half.
 
After a couple of early looks out of the break from USI, the shot rate decreased as the match turned into a slugfest and a battle for possession until the midway point of the second half. The Eagles' defense continued to stand tall by winning one-on-one and clearing the ball back up the field.
 
Torres and the Screaming Eagles sought a second goal and almost had one with under 10 minutes remaining, but a shot coming off a set piece was cleared away at the goal line. Then Little Rock went in the other direction with an opportunity. Markland came through and covered up a big save following a few deflections inside the box.
 
USI's defense sealed the win with a pair of blocked shots and multiple clearances to expire the rest of the game clock.
 
For the contest, USI registered 15 shots with six on goal while Little Rock had 17 shots and seven on goal. Between the posts, Markland earned her second consecutive shutout and the team's third this season with Thursday's victory. USI's netminder grabbed seven saves.
 
Torres' goal Thursday was only the second goal the Trojans have conceded this year in Ohio Valley Conference action. Torres paced USI in the win with seven shots and three on goal. The last time a USI player had seven or more shots was by Katlyn Andres against Truman State University in October 2021 with eight attempts. After scoring in consecutive contests and picking up five assists previously this season, Torres now leads the squad with nine points on the campaign.
 
Through Thursday's slate of matches around the OVC and with only two conference games remaining in the regular season, Southern Indiana is tied in fourth place with Eastern Illinois University at 11 points and only four points behind first-place Lindenwood University.

MOREHEAD STATE 1, LINDENWOOD 1
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - On a chilly Thursday night, women's soccer (8-4-2, 4-0-2 OVC) took on Morehead State (6-6-3, 3-3-0 OVC). The Lions would come from behind to draw a 1-1 tie against the Eagles.

In the first half, both teams would be held off the scoring column, ending the half tied at 0-0.  The Lions would control the ball majority of the half with 56% of the possession in the frame. The Lions would outshot the Eagles 7-5 in the frame, putting two shots on target. Caroline Ritter would make two saves in the half. Corner kicks would be tied at 1-1 in the frame.

In the second half, the Eagles would draw first blood, breaking the 0-0 tie in the 51st minute, scoring off a corner kick. The Eagles 1-0 lead would be short-lived. In the 57th minute, Mackenzie Compton would tally her fifth goal of the season, putting the ball past the goalkeeper in the bottom right corner of the net. Compton's goal would be assisted by Anna Johnson and Jessica Dodd. At this point in the match, the Lions would be tied 1-1 with Eagles. For the remainder of the match both teams would be held off the scoring column. The Lions with less than three minutes to go had a great scoring chance off a free-kick but would be denied by the cross-bar. After the final whistle, the match would end in a 1-1 tie. In the half Lindenwood outshot Morehead State 13-8, having three shots on target. In the frame, Ritter made two saves in net, for a total of four on the night. The Lions in the second half had the 5-2 advantage in corner kicks. In the match the Lions held the ball 57% of the time. 

After the match, Lindenwood moves to 8-4-3 overall, and 4-0-3 in conference play, sitting in first place in the OVC with 15 conference points.