Ohio Valley Conference

MOREHEAD, Ky. - The University of Tennessee at Martin soccer team shutout Morehead State, 2-0, Thursday afternoon in Morehead to keep the Skyhawks inside eight-team field for the upcoming OVC tournament.

The scoring began for UT Martin in the 21st minute when Addy McCleary found Abbie McHenry in front of the goal. McHenry took the pass and sent it into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead and her first goal of the season.

The score remained 1-0 until late in the game when Peyton Cook picked off a Morehead State pass in the 82nd minute and scored on a breakaway to make it 2-0 and seal the win for the Skyhawks. Cook leads the team with four goals on the season, while McCleary leads in assists with three.

Mac Titus picked up her sixth clean sheet of the year in the match on the back of a brilliant performance in which she saved all eight shots she faced. Cook had two shots on goal in the match, while McHenry, McCleary and Unni Wolf accounted for the five total shots on frame by UT Martin on the day.

The win puts the Skyhawks in sixth place in the OVC standings and five points clear of the cutoff line for the eight-team postseason tournament later this month.

LITTLE ROCK 3, WESTERN ILLINOIS 0
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.  - Little Rock cruised to a 3-0 win over Western Illinois on Thursday afternoon, extending its winning streak to three matches and moving into sole possession of second place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings.

The Trojans remain unbeaten at home and posted their fourth clean sheet of the season, improving to 6-3-5 overall (4-0-3 OVC). Western Illinois dropped its 16th straight match, falling to 1-16 (0-7 OVC).

With the victory, Little Rock climbed to 15 points in the conference table—now just one point behind first-place Eastern Illinois, which still holds a game in hand. The Trojans' three-match win streak is the longest active run in the league, as they continue to heat up at the right time with just two regular-season matches remaining.

On a hot and sunny afternoon, Little Rock wasted no time setting the tone. From kickoff, the Trojans controlled possession and dictated the pace of play. The back line, anchored by freshman Emily Nahon and sophomore Kaylee Cuff, held firm and denied the Leathernecks any early opportunities.

Twelve minutes into the match, senior Amaya Arias threaded a perfectly timed through ball to sophomore Maria Schuller, who dribbled around the goalkeeper and calmly finished for her 11th goal of the season.

Just a minute later, with cheers still echoing through the Coleman Sports Complex, junior Candice Kilderry doubled the lead off an assist from junior Megan Rogan, marking her fourth goal of the season.

The offensive pressure continued as graduate Jaeda Centeno forced a deflection in the box, allowing sophomore Maggie Turner to pounce and slot home the Trojans' third goal of the day.

Senior Emma Beattie nearly added her first career goal in the first half, but her shot deflected off the post. The Trojans entered halftime with a commanding 3-0 lead.

The second half saw extensive rotation from head coach Kelly Farrell, with fresh legs maintaining the pressure and possession. The back line continued to stand tall, limiting Western Illinois to minimal chances as Little Rock comfortably saw out the 3-0 victory.

LINDENWOOD 1, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
ST. CHARLES, Mo.  - The Lindenwood women's soccer team (7-4-4, 4-2-1 OVC) picked up a massive 1-0 win over Eastern Illinois (8-5-3, 5-1-1 OVC) at Hunter Stadium on Thursday afternoon to insert themselves firmly into the conference title race. The Lions looked strong for the entire 90 minutes, finding the deciding goal late in the second half.

The Lions dominated the first half, holding 62% of the possession and outshooting the Panthers 11-2, with 77% of their ball control coming on EIU's half of the field. The Lions generated multiple quality chances, including one shot on goal by Lily Sutter and a pair of shots off the posts by Rachel Jackson and Mackenzie Compton.

However, Lindenwood could not find the back of the net and despite applying continued pressure in the second half, the score remained 0-0 with less than seven minutes remaining in the game.

LU's high work rate would eventually pay off in the 84th minute, with Mackenzie Compton getting on the end of a ball down the right sideline, shielding off an EIU defender before finding an open Anna Johnson in the center of the box. The composed Johnson settled the ball before burying it into the right of the net for the game winning score.

TENNESSEE TECH 2, SOUTHERN INDIANA 0
COOKEVILLE, Tenn.  - The Tennessee Tech soccer team picked up a crucial OVC win as the Golden Eagles scored in each half on the way to a 2-0 victory over Southern Indiana Thursday night at Tech Soccer Field.

Katie Toney split the pipes in the 22nd minute to put the Golden Eagles on the board, while Lucia Cuadra put the finishing touches on the night with a goal in the 89th minute that put the match on ice. With the win, Tech (4-6-7, 4-0-3 OVC) moves into a tie for second place with Little Rock behind 15 conference points. Eastern Illinois, who lost to Lindenwood on Thursday, remains in first place with 16 points with only two matches remaining in the regular season.

Scoreless at the midway point of the first half, Toney unwrapped the scoring by finding the back of the net for the third-straight contest. The senior forward's fourth goal of the season saw Toney receive a feed from Cuadra from outside the box before the McMinnville, Tenn. native blasted one top shelf to give the Golden Eagles a 1-0 edge in the 22nd minute.

With the score, Toney became the third Golden Eagle to get to 20 goals in a career.

Cuadra, who earned an assist on the play, went on to wrap up a three-point evening with her fifth score of the season in the waning moments of the second half. The Barcelona, Spain native collected a pass before racing down the pitch and behind the Southern Indiana defense. With only the keeper to beat, Cuadra's first attempted was batted back by USI keeper Anna Markland, but the rebound was then put on point by the Golden Eagle graduate student to extend Tech's lead to 2-0.

Tech limited the Screaming Eagles (6-6-4, 3-1-3) to just six shots, including only one in the first half, on the way to snapping USI's 10-match unbeaten streak, the longest for Southern Indiana since 1998. The Golden Eagles have now gone undefeated in seven straight matches for TTU's longest stretch since a nine-match unbeaten streak in 2023.

Maggie Conrad collected her third clean sheet of the season behind two saves. With the blanking, the senior keeper became the second Golden Eagle to get to 20 career shutouts. Markland made six stops for USI across the way.

Tech attempted 13 shots, including nine in the first half. Cuadra posted a TTU career-high six attempts. Emma Thurston led USI with two tries.

SIUE 1, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo.  - SIUE women's soccer captured a key home victory Thursday, besting Southeast Missouri 1-0 at Korte Stadium.

Claire Nieroda scored the game winner at 75:11 from 12 yards out as SIUE improved to 2-3-2 in Ohio Valley Conference play and 3-10-3 overall. Southeast Missouri dropped to 2-13-1 overall and 2-4-1 in the OVC.

Savannah DeFini recorded the assist on Nieroda's second goal of the season.

Sarah Bozeman earned her third shutout of the season and finished with four saves. Her counterpart Madison Geisler collected 11 saves for the Redhawks.

SIUE set another season high in shots with 22, including 13 in the first half. Nieroda and Alayna Hauser each had four shots while DeFini and Kira Kumada each nabbed three shots.