Ohio Valley Conference

MOREHEAD, Ky. - Little Rock completed a come-from-behind victory on the road against Morehead State, marking their best conference start since 2016 with a record of 2-0-1.

The highly anticipated match between Morehead and Little Rock lived up to expectations. Both teams had opportunities to seize momentum, but the Trojans ultimately outlasted the Eagles.

Morehead struck first in the 3rd minute with a chip shot goal from Hedda Ornberg. Despite facing an early deficit, the Trojans responded with a strong attack, increasing the pressure on Morehead's defense. Little Rock's leading scorer, Candice Kilderry, equalized in the 23rd minute, assisted by Abbie Smith. The score remained tied at 1-1 heading into halftime. Morehead outshot Little Rock 10-5 in the first half, with Peyton Urban making two saves compared to Morehead's one.

In the second half, the competition intensified. Morehead came out strong, applying pressure, but the Trojans' defense held firm, preventing any goals. In the 55th minute, Megan Rogan seized her opportunity, scoring a shot too powerful for the Morehead goalkeeper to save. This marked Rogan's first career game-winning goal and her first goal of the year. Both teams recorded five shots in the second half, but Urban notched three saves compared to Morehead's none.

EASTERN ILLINOIS 1, SOUTHERN INDIANA 1
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Women's Soccer battled Eastern Illinois University to a 1-1 draw Sunday at Strassweg Field, claiming the fifth consecutive result for the Screaming Eagles.
 
Southern Indiana (2-6-4, 1-0-2 OVC) still had to deal with rain and soggy field conditions against Eastern Illinois (2-5-5, 0-1-2 OVC) on Sunday as they did last time out on Thursday. The two teams contested for possession in a defensive start to the first half.
 
Junior midfielder Emerson Grafton, who scored in the last game Thursday, had two shot chances in the first 20 minutes. Junior midfielder Peyton Murphy had two shots with one on goal in the first half. Defensively, USI remained strong with several blocked shots.
 
Southern Indiana grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 38th minute. Following a corner kick that pinballed around in the box, freshman midfielder Ana Munyon tapped it back to fellow freshman midfielder Emma Schut for a shot into the right-side netting. The goal was Schut's second of the season.
 
Working with a 1-0 advantage out of halftime, Southern Indiana started the second half on the attack with multiple shots including four on goal in the first 15 minutes of the second stanza.
 
A big sequence in the second half came just after the 60-minute mark. Eastern Illinois was awarded a free kick inches outside the top of the box. The free kick went off the post and was cleared out by USI's defense. However, Eastern Illinois tied the match later, 1-1, in the 79th minute off a corner kick.
 
The Eagles could not collect the potential game-winning goal after a couple of shot attempts late, as the match ended in a draw.
 
USI tallied 17 shots with 12 coming in the second half. Eastern Illinois totaled nine shots in the contest. Southern Indiana had a 6-2 advantage in shots on goal. Emerson Grafton led USI with four shots. Schut and Murphy were among four Screaming Eagles to record two shot attempts. Seven of USI's starters played a full 90 minutes.
 
By the end of the early afternoon slate in the Ohio Valley Conference, Southern Indiana was fourth with five points.

WESTERN ILLINOIS 2, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 1
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Western Illinois University Women's Soccer has had a tough start to the 2024 season, battling several injuries as they dropped their first nine matches. On Sunday, the Leathernecks found their groove against SEMO, battling back from a 1-0 deficit to win their first match, 2-1, thanks to a pair of goals on set pieces. 

Southeast Missouri State got on the board first, as the opposing team has scored the first goal in every match for the Leathernecks this season. 

Hana Daoudi, a crucial cog of this Leatherneck side, then subbed in at the 17th minute, her first appearance since August 29—Daoudi, who had missed a month's worth of action due to injury, played the rest of the match. 

The Leathernecks got a corner chance in the 27th and capitalized on the opportunity after a rebound, as the ball landed at the feet of sophomore defender Ali Matthews, who buried it to give the Leathernecks their first equalizer of the season. The goal marked the first of Matthews' career. 

Alanna Pennington, who hasn't played due to injury since September 5, came in in the 27th minute, as the midfielder played 40 minutes in her first match back.  

Despite a few more chances for the Leathernecks, the one-all scoreline held until the halftime break. It marked just the second time all season (9/22 vs. Lindenwood) that WIU entered the second half tied. 

SEMO put immense pressure on the Leatherneck goal to start the second half, as the ball stayed inside Western's third for an extended period. The Western defense held strong though, especially freshman keeper Ariel Bernard, who parried away nine shots in the match. 

Western did a good job around the 62nd minute preventing a SEMO goal by clearing away three consecutive Redhawk corner kicks.

The Leathernecks drew a corner of their own in the 68th, a good chance for the Leathernecks to take the lead. Kayla Turner whipped in a perfect ball to the far side to Rita Moran, who hit a booming header to the far side of the goal, giving WIU its first lead of the 2024 season. It was the first goal of Moran's career, a sophomore defender, from Shakopee, Minnesota. 

Rachel Balinao, Matthews, Moran, Bernard, and the rest of the Leatherneck defense made crucial stops down the stretch and gave the Leathernecks their first points of the season. The win moves the Leathernecks (1-9, 1-2) to seventh place in the Ohio Valley Conference.

LINDENWOOD 2, SIUE 0
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - On Sunday afternoon, women's soccer took on rival SIUE for military appreciation. The Lions would claim their first ever win over the Cougars, winning 2-0.

In the first half, strong defense would hold both teams off the scoreboard. The Cougars would have a great scoring chance in the 29th minute, but would be denied by Caroline Ritter, making a diving stop. After a half of play, the match would be tied at 0-0. SIUE outshot the Lions 4-2 in the frame. Ritter made two saves in the half. SIUE would have the 3-1 advantage in corner kicks.
 
In the second half, the Lions would notch the first goal of the match in the 50th minute of play. The Lions goal would come off rebound after hitting back-to-back shots off the crossbar. Allison Schrumpf would be attributed the goal, floating the ball over the goalkeeper, into the top left corner of the net. Schrumpf's goal would be the first score of her career as a Lion. Schrumpf's goal would be assisted by Lily Sutter. Six minutes later, the Lions would score again, after Mackenzie Compton would collect a loose ball off a Cougars goal kick, sending a flying through pass to Anna Johnson, where Johnson would finish the ball in bottom right corner of the net. Johnson's goal would be her third on the season.  At this point in the match, Lindenwood would lead 2-0. Strong defense by the Lions would keep the Cougars off the board. After the final whistle, the Lions would win 2-0. Lindenwood outshot the Cougars in the second half 10-5. The Lions would also have the 4-1 advantage in corner kicks in the half. Ritter would make four saves in the half, for a total of six on the afternoon.
 
After the match, the Lions improved to 6-4-1 on the year and 2-0-1 in OVC play, sitting tied for first in the OVC.

TENNESSEE TECH 2, UT MARTIN 0
MARTIN, Tenn. - Bookend goals helped ignite the way for the Tennessee Tech soccer team as the Golden Eagles scored early in the first half and late in the second to card a second-straight win with a 2-0 nod at UT Martin Sunday evening in West Tennessee.

Tech's first two-match winning streak of the season saw the club collect its second-consecutive clean sheet thanks to six Maggie Conrad stops for the junior's second blanking in a row to push the purple and gold to a 2-1 OVC ledger. The Golden Eagle junior goalkeeper denied a pair of Skyhawk tries in the first stanza before halting four more UTM attempts in the second to capture a second-straight shutout.

Skylar Williams picked up her first career Golden Eagle goal with an eight-minute net-finder that unwrapped the tilt's scoring in the affair's early stages. Neve Rewnick and Katie Toney each earned assists on the TTU go-ahead goal.

Leading 1-0, Tech (2-7-4, 2-1-0 OVC) added insurance in the match's waning moments thanks to a Toney goal in the 83rd minute for the junior' second goal in as many matches. Toney's fourth goal of the season was made possible behind a Lucia Cuadra assist for the Barcelona, Spain, native's third helper of the year.

Renwick lead all players in the match with a season-high eight shots. The Skyhawks (2-6-3, 1-2-0 OVC) were paced by Izzy Patterson's six total tries. UTM keeper Mac Titus secured fours saves in 90 minutes of action.