Ohio Valley Conference

MOREHEAD, Ky. - Something had to give.

In Sunday's Morehead State-Northern Kentucky women's soccer game at the MSU Soccer Field in Morehead, Ky., the hosts held a school-record nine-game home unbeaten streak, and the visitors held a 6-0-1 all-time series advantage.

Unfortunately for the Eagles and their supporters, it was the winning streak as NKU came out with a 1-0 victory.

Kylie Anderson scored off a pass from Lilly Yordy, which came from the left side, that Anderson ran onto and, just inside the interior goal box, tapped into the left corner of the net at the 80:23 mark to give the Norse a lead they did not relinquish.

The visitors kept the ball in the Morehead State (3-3-1) defensive zone virtually the entire second half and peppered 10 shots toward the Eagle goal, scoring on their final attempt to remain unbeaten in the series between the two clubs.

MSU used two keepers for the first time since the season opener and both freshmen Claire Cress and Lilly Bailey had to make several dramatic saves to maintain a clean sheet through the game's first 80 minutes. Cress got the start and played the first half finishing with two saves. Bailey entered after halftime and made four saves.

Northern Kentucky (2-5-0) won its first road contest of the year and snapped a three-game road skid.

It was just the second home game of the season for the Blue and Gold, which now stand 1-1 on its field in 2024.

Watch MSU head coach Paul Cox discuss the game.

In the opening half, Northern Kentucky held a 4-1 lead in shots and took all four corner kicks. By the day's end, it led those categories 14-5 and 6-1, respectively. MSU also had more fouls 10-8, but NKU had more offside calls 3-1. The Eagles were assessed both of the contest's yellow cards.

Sophomore forward Hedda Ornberg had a team-best two shots, with the Eagles' best scoring chance of the afternoon coming on a ball off Ornberg's foot that hit the crossbar from 25 yards out five minutes and 52 seconds into the match.

Kaya Vogt and Lydia Self each had three shots to pace the visitors. NKU also used three goalkeepers. Megan Gessner played 30 minutes and 35 seconds, followed by Tristen Cross for 29 minutes and 14 seconds and finally Donna Bundy for the final 30 minutes and 11 seconds. All three were credited with one save apiece.

Northern Kentucky spent two-thirds of its time with the ball in the MSU defensive zone, although the Eagles did finish with an edge in possession percentage (55 to 45).

SOUTH ALABAMA 3, TENNESSEE TECH 2
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Three unanswered goals were enough for South Alabama to come to Cookeville and leave with a 3-2 victory over the Tennessee Tech soccer team Sunday afternoon.

The Golden Eagles (0-5-3) raced out to a quick beginning behind a pair of early scores by Lucia Cuadra, but the Jaguars battled back with an early goal of their own in the first, and two more in the second, to escape with the narrow nod.

Cuadra collected her first two goals in her Tech tenure by finding the back of the net in the 11th and 12th minutes to push the purple and gold to a 2-0 advantage. The first of the two scores came courtesy of a penalty kick after the Barcelona, Spain native was taken down in the box just over 10 minutes into the match. Cuadra unwrapped the scoring by capitalizing on the chance with a low liner that snuck inside the left post.

Just over a minute later, the graduate student was at it again with another goal that doubled up Tech's margin. Skyler Williams led Katie Toney with a pass near the end line on the right side of the box before Toney's cross was deflected by a Jaguar defender and onto the waiting shoe tops of Cuadra. The 5-foot-2 midfielder gathered possession, made a quick move, and then buried the opportunity inside the right post to give the Golden Eagles a 2-0 lead in the 12th minute.

The two-score lead would prove to be short lived after South Alabama (4-3-0) responded a mere five minutes later on a Laurie-Ann Moise goal in the 17th minute. An initial cross from April Lantaigne was then skied by Syndey Magliocca right in front of the net and onto a waiting crowd situated in close. Moise emerged through traffic and headed it home to cut the Jaguar deficit in half. Lantaigne and Magliocca each earned an assist on the play.

Tech would go into intermission leading 2-1, but South Alabama quickly provided an equalizer with a game-locking score in the first minute of the second stanza. A lengthy top-shelf drive whistled in between the pipes by Irene Campo in the 46th minute to square the score at 2-2.

Campo would be involved in the go-ahead and deciding score late in the second after assisting Monique Gray on the game-winner in the 78th minute. A quick Campo pass found Gray with slight space in the box before the Jaguar forward found the back of the net for the club's third unanswered goal.

Trailing by one, the Golden Eagles would have one last look, but a Neve Renwick free kick a few feet outside the box in the tilt's final two minutes was redirected on a diving try by South Alabama keeper Allison Luckhardt hold the Jaguar edge.

Renwick's attempt was one of three shots for the sophomore forward. Cuadra led the Golden Eagles with four bids, while Moise's five tries were the most in the match. The Jaguars outshot the Golden Eagles 21-12, with TTU picking up six attempts in each half.

Maggie Conrad notched six stops and Luckhardt recorded two saves on shots by Renwick and Toney in the affair's first six minutes.

MIAMI (OHIO) 2, SOUTHERN INDIANA 0
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Women's Soccer had multiple shot attempts go off the goal frame on Sunday afternoon at Strassweg Field, but the Screaming Eagles had no luck finding the back of the net as USI fell to Miami University (Ohio), 2-0.
 
After both sides battled to control possession early, Southern Indiana's (0-6-1) defense had to stand tall in the first part of the opening half. Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Anna Markland (Hoover, Alabama) grabbed three saves within a stretch of eight minutes against Miami's (3-1-2) offensive attack.
 
The visiting Redhawks struck first in the 28th minute to take a 1-0 lead off a free-kick header, but USI held Miami without a shot for the remainder of the first half.
 
Coming out of halftime trailing 1-0, the Screaming Eagles looked to create an offensive spark after having two shots in the first 45 minutes of play.
 
Like the early minutes of the first half, USI's defense was tested early in the second stanza. Miami produced eight shots within the first 15 minutes after the intermission. The USI backline blocked a trio of shots while Markland saved two more.
 
The Redhawks extended their lead to 2-0 in the 77th minute on a header off a short cross in the box following a corner kick.
 
In the middle of the second half, Southern Indiana ran into some tough luck with multiple shots banging off the woodwork of the goal frame. First, a corner-kick header by redshirt freshman Eva Boer (St. Charles, Illinois) went off the post. A few minutes later, a free kick from outside the box by sophomore midfielder Grace Bamber (Chesterton, Indiana) hit the crossbar. Plus, sophomore midfielder Kerigan Kivisto (Collierville, Tennessee) also had a shot clank off the crossbar in the last seconds before the final whistle.
 
USI finished the match with seven shots. Kivisto and Bamber had two attempts each. On the other side, Miami totaled 15 shots with seven on goal.

NORTHERN ILLINOIS 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois women's soccer dropped its final home non-conference match of the season on Sunday afternoon falling to in-state opponent Northern Illinois, 3-0.
 
EIU (2-4-2) wraps up non-conference action on the road on Thursday at Indiana State.  NIU improved to 4-1-1 on the year.
 
The Huskies went on the attack early finishing the match with 19 total shots including eight on goal.
 
Tyra King scored the first of her two goals in the match in the 16th minute knocking home a pass from Alyssa Stephenson and Lea Gruennagel.
 
King's second score came in the 69th minute when she redirected a shot that was deflected by EIU goalkeeper Ashlyn Hoover.  The initial shot sent into the box by Abby Zipse.
 
NIU's final goal came off the foot of Isabel Struble in the 24th minute as NIU led 2-0 at the half.

LINDENWOOD 1, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 0
CARBONDALE, Ill. - On Sunday afternoon, Lindenwood women's soccer team faced off against the Salukis of Southern Illinois in the Lions second to last non-conference matchup of the 2024 campaign. The Lions would record their fourth win of the season against the Salukis, winning 1-0, scoring a goal in the early part of the second half.

In the first half, both teams were held off the scoring column.  Lindenwood would be held to only one shot on the frame, while Southern Illinois had five. Lindenwood would make three saves in the frame. Southern Illinois had the 4-3 advantage in corners, going into the second half.

In the second half, Lindenwood would score the only goal of the match in the 56th minute. Georgia Pardalos would be credited with the goal, and Lily Sutter would be credited with the assist. Gritty defense by the Lions would keep the Salukis off the scoreboard in the second half. Southern Illinois outshot the Lions in the second half 10-5. The Salukis would also have the 3-2 advantage in corner kicks in the second half.

After the match, Lindenwood improved to 4-3 on the year. Caroline Ritter got the nod in net for the Lions, making six saves, recording her second career shutout as a Lion.

NORTHERN IOWA 3, UT MARTIN 2
MARTIN, Tenn. - In a back-and-forth match, the University of Tennessee at Martin soccer team put forth a valiant effort but fell 3-2 to Missouri Valley Conference foe Northern Iowa at Skyhawk Field this afternoon.
 
UT Martin (1-4-2) had scores from Izzy Patterson (match-high five shots, two shots on goal, one assist) and Makayla Robinson (three shots, two shots on goal), who both knocked in their second goals of the season. Parker Gelinas (three shots, two on goal), Peyton Cook (three shots, one on goal), Brooke Kala (two shots), Unni Wolf (assist) and Shayla Addington (assist) also led the Skyhawk offense put pressure on the Northern Iowa back line. Overall, UT Martin fired 16 shot attempts (seven on goal) today.
 
Skyhawk goalkeeper Mac Titus made six stops against 17 Panther shots while Wolf, Addington, Gelinas and Kala played the full match.
 
Northern Iowa (5-1-1) started the scoring in the first half with goals in the 13th and 17th minute. However, UT Martin would get a response from Patterson, who spun around for a nifty goal amongst traffic to slice the Skyhawk deficit in half at 2-1.
 
The Panthers answered with a score in the 39th minute to carry a 3-1 advantage into halftime.
 
A motivated UT Martin squad would come out of halftime firing. Patterson put a lengthy pass on a dime for a picture-perfect goal by a streaking Robinson in the 53rd minute to make the score 3-2.
 
Titus made sure the score remained at 3-2 with three more saves the rest of the way. The Skyhawks would have scoring chances with shots on goal in the 58th, 72nd, 78th and 85th minute but Northern Iowa would turn away those opportunities.

ILLINOIS STATE 1, WESTERN ILLINOIS 0
MACOMB, Ill. - The Western Illinois Women's Soccer team looked to bounce back on Sunday from a tough loss on Thursday to Green Bay. The Leathernecks took on the Redbirds of Illinois State on Sunday afternoon, finishing off a three-game homestand at John MacKenzie Alumni Field. The Redbirds capitalized on an early opportunity to take a one-nil lead, which held until the final whistle.

The Redbirds got a good chance in the eighth, but a shot bounced off the post before a Western player cleared it for a corner. On the following set piece, ISU capitalized as they put the ball into the back of the net to take a one-to-nothing lead. The Redbirds kept putting the pressure on with three straight shots, all saved by Ariel Bernard, while the Leathernecks wouldn't record another shot until after the halftime break.

ISU had three straight corners early on in the second half, but the Leatherneck defense held strong to not allow a goal. The Redbirds won the corner battle in the match, recording ten compared to Western's three. 

Illinois State had two shot attempts bounce off the woodwork in the 76th and 81st, but the match ended without a score change. The single goal is the least the Leathernecks have given up so far in 2024.

#19 SAINT LOUIS 6, SIUE 1
ST. LOUIS - MaryClaire Imig's second-half goal was the highlight for SIUE women's soccer in a 6-1 loss to No. 19-ranked Saint Louis.

Playing at CITYPARK, the home of St. Louis City SC, the Cougars and the Billikens battled for the second straight season at the home of the area's Major League Soccer team.

Imig, a freshman from St. Louis, made the most of her debut at CITYPARK with a goal at 64:02 to the bottom right of the goal. It was her second goal of the season, and it was assisted by Macie Begley.

The Billikens picked up two goals from Emily Gaebe and used a strong second second half in which it scored five times.

SLU outshot SIUE 19-7. Imig and Kaitlyn Nichols provided two shots each for the Cougars.

SIUE, 1-2-2, next heads to Carbondale for a 6 p.m. matchup against the Salukis of SIU Carbondale. It will be SIUE's final nonconference match on the road.

MISSOURI 5, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Southeast Missouri women's soccer (0-4) fell to Missouri (2-3-1) on Sunday evening by a final score of 5-0 from Audrey J. Walton Stadium. 
 
Goalkeeper Sophia Elfrink made five saves in the match, playing the full 90-minutes for just the first time this season. She faced 25 Missouri shots, with nine on target. 
 
Five Redhawks outside of Elfrink played the full 90-minutes in the match including Navi Washington, Justi Nelson, Melissa Kubin, and Alayna Jakul. 
 
The Tigers got on the board first in the 11th minute as Kylee Simmons used her head off a crossing ball by Leah Seim. Simmons headed the ball into the center of the goal to give the home team a 1-0 advantage. 
 
Nearly 12 minutes later the second goal for the Tigers was slotted in, this one by Seim off an assist from Landis Canada. 
 
The Tigers would score their third goal of the half 29-seconds later. A penalty kick due to a hand ball in the box committed by the Redhawks defense allowed Brianna Buets to score the fourth goal of the half and give Missouri a 4-0 lead at halftime. 
 
The Tigers would score a final goal to win the match 5-0 in the second half.