Ohio Valley Conference

MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State and SIUE played to a 1-1 draw on Sunday.

With the tie Morehead State earned the No. 5 seed for the OVC Tournament while SIUE saw its season come to an end.

Morehead State's Hedda Ornberg scored in the 31st minute to start the scoring.  Just 1:13 later, SIUE's Taryn Moore scored to knot the game.

Lilly Bailey made four saves for MSU while Abby Haskell stopped three shots for SIUE.

EASTERN ILLINOIS 0, LITTLE ROCK 0
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - For the first time since joining the OVC, Little Rock have earned a double bye in the conference tournament, securing an automatic spot in the semifinals after a crucial draw against EIU. This achievement marks their highest conference seeding since 2018.

In a hard-fought conference match, Little Rock battled Eastern Illinois to a scoreless draw, showcasing defensive resilience that earned goalkeeper Peyton Urban her 10th shutout of the season. This milestone broke Little Rock's single-season shutout record, a testament to Urban's exceptional performance throughout the year

The Trojans set a strong defensive tone early, with Urban consistently denying Eastern Illinois, including key saves against Alex Tetteh and Abby Reinl. Little Rock's offensive efforts were led by Maria Schuller and Serenity Thake, both forcing saves from EIU's goalkeeper, Ella Kratochvil. Despite relentless attempts on goal and multiple corner kicks, neither side could break through

Marked by physical play and numerous fouls, Little Rock's defense held steady to the final whistle, securing them a valuable point in the standings and further solidifying Urban's place in Little Rock history.

TENNESSEE TECH 2, LINDENWOOD 0
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - It was a Sunday made for history in a match for all the marbles for the Tennessee Tech soccer team.

A goal in the first and one more in the second proved to be enough as the Golden Eagles capped off a rare and historic three-peat in a 2-0 win over Lindenwood at Tech Soccer Field. TTU's triumph pushed the purple and gold to the program's third-straight Ohio Valley Conference regular-season championship and fourth regular-season title overall (1998).

The three-peat is only the third in the history of the OVC, but just the second-ever outright three-peat. Murray State claimed a share of the 2016 title with Eastern Kentucky as part of the Racer run of three in a row from 2015-17. Samford claimed four consecutive outright crowns from 2003-06.

Tech's title also gives the Golden Eagles the No. 1 overall seed in the OVC Tournament and double-bye straight to the semifinals. TTU will host the semifinals (Nov. 7) and championship match (Nov. 10) for the third-straight year.

The Golden Eagles (6-8-5, 6-2-1 OVC) unwrapped the scoring late in the first half on a Neve Renwick goal for the sophomore forward's league-leading 10th of the year. The Sheffield, England native collected possession before navigating her way into the left side of the box and flicking a bid over the leaping try of Caroline Ritter to give the Golden Eagles the edge.

Renwick's 10th score ties Robin Vince (2001) for the fifth-most in a single season in program history.

Leading 1-0 at the break, Tech quickly doubled up the margin over the Lions (8-5-4, 4-1-4 OVC) early in the second half. A Lucia Cuadra corner in the 49th minute connected with Allison Lee, who headed in her third goal of the season to extend the Golden Eagle advantage to 2-0. Cuadra's assist was her OVC-leading ninth of the year to tie Jill Burns (2003) and Kristin Stegeman (2000) for the second-most in a single season in school history. All nine of Cuadra's assists have taken place over the last eight matches.

Tech's two-goal cushion was in good hands after Maggie Conrad notched four saves to pick up her fourth clean sheet of the season, all in conference action. The Cedar Rapids, Iowa native denied Lindenwood in its most serious threat after a Mackenzie Compton top-shelf attempt saw Conrad climb the ladder and pop the try over the crossbar to keep the Lions off the board.

Caroline Ritter picked up three saves across the way.

Renwick led the match with five total shots, while Compton paced Lindenwood with three attempts. Tech outshot the Lions, 13-10.

Prior to the start of the contest, Tech honored the senior class of manager Bethany Lyons, Lucia Cuadra, Bella Garrett, Madison North and Meredith Nye.

SOUTHERN INDIANA 3, WESTERN ILLINOIS 0
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Women's Soccer secured a 3-0 victory against Western Illinois University Sunday afternoon at Strassweg Field to conclude the regular season. The win was USI's fourth straight positive result and third win in the last four matches.
 
Southern Indiana (5-8-5, 4-2-3 OVC) entered Sunday having already clinched an Ohio Valley Conference postseason berth for the third time. With Sunday's win and results elsewhere around the OVC, USI claimed the No. 4 seed in the 2024 OVC Championship Tournament for the second consecutive season. The Screaming Eagles earned a first-round bye and the right to host a first-round match and their quarterfinal contest just as they did a season ago.
 
Before Sunday's kickoff, the afternoon began with Senior Day ceremonies for USI Women's Soccer. USI celebrated goalkeeper Zoe Lintner, midfielder Maggie Duggan, midfielder Adriana Berruti, defender Sophia Finol, defender Brooke Coleman, and manager Maddy Baum.
 
Once the game was underway, Southern Indiana jumped onto the scoreboard for a 1-0 lead in the sixth minute when a lengthy service from junior midfielder Peyton Murphy was inadvertently kicked into the net by a Western Illinois defender.
 
USI ramped up the pressure in the middle of the first half. Two shots on goal by junior midfielder Emerson Grafton and freshman midfielder Emma Schut were punched away by Western Illinois' goalkeeper.
 
The Screaming Eagles kept the ball pinned into the attacking half for most of the first half, as Western Illinois came out of the opening 45 minutes with only one shot compared to USI's nine attempts. USI maintained its 1-0 advantage into halftime.
 
Western Illinois moved down the field with a few shots early out of the break, but Southern Indiana added a second goal in the 56th minute. Murphy punched in her second goal of the season off a couple of passes from Grafton and sophomore midfielder Kerigan Kivisto.
 
While Western Illinois created more chances in the second half, including a shot that forced USI redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Anna Markland to make her only save of the game, Southern Indiana continued to assert its pressure. The Screaming Eagles added an insurance goal in the 84th minute when Grafton combined with freshman midfielder Ana Munyon on a give-and-go pattern to increase USI's lead to 3-0 and seal the victory.
 
Southern Indiana generated 21 shots with eight on goal on Sunday. The Leathernecks tallied nine attempts with one on target. Grafton led the Eagles with four shots and three on goal. With a goal and an assist on Sunday, Grafton moved into the team lead for goals, assists and points. Grafton also jumped to second in the OVC in assists. Redshirt freshman forward Eva Boer also had four shots Sunday afternoon, while Murphy finished with two shots including the one into the net.
 
Through the end of the regular season, the Screaming Eagles set new program highs in the Division I era for OVC wins (4) and points (15) in addition to 19 goals scored overall this season.
 
Western Illinois dropped to 1-14-1 and 1-7-1 in the OVC with Sunday's loss, missing out on the OVC tournament alongside Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
 
Tennessee Tech University captured the top spot in the OVC Championship field after winning its third consecutive regular-season championship. The University of Arkansas at Little Rock earned the No. 2 seed, joining Tennessee Tech with a double-bye into the semifinals. Lindenwood University finished as the No. 3 seed as the other first-weekend host with USI. The rest of the field ended up with Morehead State University as the 5-seed, Eastern Illinois University as the 6-seed, Southeast Missouri State University as the 7-seed, and the University of Tennessee at Martin as the 8-seed.
 
For the Screaming Eagles, USI will host and await the winner on Sunday, November 3, of the first-round 5/8 matchup between Morehead State and UT Martin on Thursday, October 31.

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 2, UT MARTIN 0
MARTIN, Tenn. - Southeast Missouri Women's Soccer (2-10-3, 2-4-3 OVC) clinched the seventh seed in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament Sunday afternoon with a 2-0 victory over UT Martin (4-10-3, 3-6-0 OVC) behind a fierce offensive attack.

SEMO notched a season high 22 shots on the day with six of them being on goal. UT Martin recorded 12 shots with three on target.

Cayla Koerner, Zoe Houston, and Alayna Jakul led the Redhawks with four shots apiece. Elizabeth Rater and Houston paced SEMO with two SOG's.

Sophia Elfrink had an amazing day with three saves against 12 shots faced.

Houston scored the first goal of the contest to give SEMO the early 1-0 lead in the first half. Off of a pass from Koerner, Alli Saviano slotted it to Houston, who put the ball to the top left of the net to score in the 17th minute of the game.

The Redhawks dominated the first half box with 14 first half shots compared to UT Martin's 4. Out of those 14 shots three shots were on goal.

Coming out of halftime Emily Baker and Koerner both fired off a shot within the first 11 minutes of the second half.

21 seconds later the Redhawks were in the corner. In the corner, Justi Nelson kicked a perfect ball into the box right to the head of Rater to score SEMO's second goal of the contest.

Rater's goal was her second on the season and would prove to be the last goal of the game, giving SEMO the 2-0 victory to advance to postseason play.

Joining Elfrink, Sophie Shrum, Kristin Anderson, Jakul, and Rater played the full 90 minutes.

The #7 Redhawks will play #6 Eastern Illinois in the first round of the OVC tournament. The game will be held at #3 Lindenwood in St. Charles Mo., with the first kick slated for 7:00 p.m., CT.