Ohio Valley Conference

SIUE 2, IU INDY 1
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - SIUE women's soccer needed just 36 seconds to break a second-half tie and go on to a 2-1 season-opening victory at IU Indy.

Savannah DeFini scored the game-winning goal at 71:03, lifting the Cougars to their first opening-contest win since 2022. DeFini, a senior who scored a team-leading five goals for the Cougars last season, scored past IU Indy goalkeeper Sarah Bambrick.

IU Indy had scored a game-tying goal at 70:27 when Avery Bangert used an assist from Olivia Hopper to provide an equalizer.

SIUE freshman Alayna Hauser recorded her first career goal and put the Cougars on the scoreboard for the first time this regular season. Her score at 30:40 was connected with a double assist to fellow freshman Claire Nieroda and senior Taryn Moore.

Sarah Bozeman collected five saves in goal for SIUE and earned her first victory as a Cougar.

Hauser and Nieroda each led the Cougars with three shots each. IU Indy outshot the Cougars overall 18-11.

MARSHALL 3, MOREHEAD STATE 0
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State women's soccer's Claire Cress made a career-high nine saves as visiting Marshall peppered the sophomore netminder with 19 shots en route to a 3-0 win on Thursday night in the season opener for both squads at the MSU Soccer Field in Morehead.

The Eagles struggled to gain possession of the ball for most of the night, preventing them from getting many chances to get on the scoreboard as Marshall (1-0) claimed its ninth win in the series and improved to 4-1-1 in Morehead. The victory also snapped an 11-game overall road winless streak for the Thundering Herd that dated back to 2023.

The visitors got on the board in the 14th minute when Bailey Fisher was taken down in the box by freshman defender Olivia Lowe, who earned a card on the play, and Fisher converted the resulting penalty kick to the bottom left corner.

The second score came at 29:52, when Cress attempted to clear a Fernanda Dantas corner kick by punching the ball, but it landed on the head of Marcella Alves, who sailed it back over the head of Cress and into the net from 15 yards out.

Morehead State (0-1) went into the intermission having been outshot 9-0, but the second half was a different story as the Eagles were able to gain possession of the ball more and unleash five shots.

Marshall's Tiggi Gent headed in a Brookly McComas pass from the right side from 12 yards out that went across the box and over Cress' head and inside the far post at 71:09 to complete the scoring.

MSU coach Paul Cox rated it as one of the most disappointing performances of his tenure with the Blue and Gold but took accountability for the shortcomings.

Yet, there were highlights.

Particularly noteworthy was the play of Cress, whose nine saves bettered her previous career high of six, which also was set in a 3-0 defeat (Wright State on Sept. 5, 2024).

Marshall had two point-blank shots just yards from the goal in the latter stages of the first half that Cress saved.

The Thundering Herd finished the night with a 19-5 edge in shots and a 6-3 advantage in corner kicks. The Eagles had 11 fouls to Marshall's seven. Both teams had one yellow card and neither was flagged for being offside.

Morehead State's best scoring opportunity came when sophomore forward BB Bonzheim's 23-yard shot hit the crossbar in the 69th minute.

Fisher had a game-high eight shots, while freshman midfielder Charlotte Lee paced the hosts with two.

Emma Durand made two saves and earned the win (1-0). Cress fell to 0-1.

Marshall held the ball for 56 percent of the night, with 52 percent of its possession coming in the MSU defensive zone. The Eagles were on the attack 44 percent of the time they had the ball, with the vast majority of that coming in the second half.

Due to the heat, play was stopped in the middle of both halves for a short water break.

Morehead State played its third straight contest shorthanded, with three players sidelined with injuries.

Marshall and MSU tied 1-1 in the 2024 season opener in Huntington, W.Va. Two years ago in Morehead, the Thundering Herd also claimed a 3-0 victory in the first game of the year. MU leads the series 9-1-3 and has won or tied the last seven meetings. It is the fifth consecutive fall the two teams have faced each other.

The Eagles are 4-9 when they begin the campaign at home. Thursday's contest was the earliest start date in MSU history.

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 4, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois jumped out of the gate early against Eastern Illinois on Thursday night beating the Panthers 4-0 in the season opener for both teams and first match-up between the in-state schools since 2019.
 
Dory Latenser put the Salukis on the board in the eight minute mark as she converted a turnover in the EIU end of the field into a scoring opportunity scoring to the lower left corner of the box.
 
SIU's second goal came in the 16th minute of action as a shot took an unfortunate Panther bounce off the crossbar and then post landing with a ricochet to the foot of Sophia Schlicken who knocked it home.
 
SIU's final two goals came from Aylie Hancock in the 22nd minute and Olivia Anderson in the 65th minute.
 
EIU finished the match with five shots in the match with freshman Haylee Rios placing the lone Panthers shot on goal.

LINDENWOOD 2, ILLINOIS STATE 1
NORMAL, Ill. - The Lindenwood women's soccer team opened the 2025 campaign with a 2-1 victory over Illinois State in Normal on Thursday evening. After not recording a single shot in the first half, the Lions posted seven shots with four shots on goal in the second half, finding the back of the net twice.

The Redbirds were on the front foot early on, taking three shots with two on goal in the game's first 15 minutes compared to zero for the Lions. However, ISU was unable to find an early go-ahead score thanks to some great goalkeeping from Caroline Ritter, including a fantastic leaping save on a ball to the top left corner in the game's 14th minute.

The teams settled into a stalemate for the remainder of the half, with neither side recording any other shots in the final 30 minutes before the break.

The stalemate would be broken in the third minute of the second half, as Mackenzie Compton drew a penalty in the box, allowing Tasneem Dizdarevic to score the season's opening goal on a shot to the bottom left corner from the spot.

The Lions kept the pressure on, getting off four more shots in the next five minutes of game action. However, none of those chances found the back of the net, and Illinois State equalized in the 53rd minute when Chloe St. Cline managed to poke a ball over Ritter and across the goal line.

The Lions responded 10 minutes later on a perfectly placed shot by Anna Johnson from just inside the box, which found its way past multiple Redbird defenders and the goalkeeper to tuck itself inside the right post and put LU in front 2-1. Johnson was assisted by Ava Blum. 

With less than 20 minutes remaining, ISU's Rhylan Law delivered a quality strike from outside the box, but Caroline Ritter was again up to the challenge, fully extending to push the ball over the crossbar and preserve the Lindenwood lead.

It proved to be the game-saving play, as the Redbirds failed to find another shot on goal, and the Lions came away with a 2-1 win to open the season.

The victory brings Lindenwood's all-time record against Illinois State to 1-1 and improves Dave Musso's record in season-openers to 5-2-1.

EVANSVILLE 4, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri Women's Soccer (0-1-0) scored three goals in the season opener but fell to Evansville (1-0-0) by a final score of 4-3 at Houck Field on Thursday night. 
 
The first half kicked off with Evansville's Elke Travis making early saves against Southeast Missouri State's offensive efforts, but it was the Redhawks who took an early lead with a goal by junior midfielder Justi Nelson in the eighth minute. 
 
Evansville's Taylor Johnson persistently tested the home team's defense with multiple shots on goal, ultimately leading to Taylor Wehrer's equalizing goal in the 32nd minute. 
 
SEMO regained the lead in the 40th minute off a goal from freshman Amelia Lawrence, but UE's Isabel Valdez quickly responded with a tying goal in the 41st minute, concluding the first half with a 2-2 scoreline.
 
Evansville regained the lead early in the second half with a goal by Emmy Brenner in the 52nd minute, assisted by Johnson, pushing the visitors ahead 3-2. 
 
The Redhawks would tie it in the 77th minute off Nelson's second goal of the night to make it 3-3. For Nelson, the goal doubled her goal total from a season ago. 
 
Evansville regained the lead when Johnson scored in the 84th minute, with an assist from Brooklyn Robinson, making it 4-3. Evansville would hold on to secure the victory on Thursday night. 
 
The Redhawks finished the match with 10 total shots, including six on target. Nelson led the way with three total shots, followed by Hayley Hogenmiller (2), and Amelia Lawrence (2). 
 
Eight Redhawks made their SEMO debut on Thursday night including Hogenmmiller, Lawrence, Riley Henderson, Alyssa Schulte, Emma Cloud, Maya Domian, Rachel Kretzer, and Zerina Markovic.

#20 MISSISSIPPI STATE vs. UT MARTIN - CANCELLED
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Thursday night's season opener between the University of Tennessee at Martin soccer team and No. 20 Mississippi State has been canceled due to inclement weather in the Starkville area. The game between the two teams will not be rescheduled.

EAST TEXAS A&M 4, LITTLE ROCK 1
COMMERCE, Texas - Little Rock dropped its season opener at East Texas A&M, falling 4-1 despite an early goal from sophomore Maggie Turner.

The game started with both teams dueling for the ball; possession would change in the blink of an eye and it looked like neither team could take the edge. The Trojans, led by midfielders Emma Beattie and Candice Kilderry, started to take control of the ball on the Lion's half of the field, and in the 15th minute, Maggie Turner scored her first goal as a Trojan from the corner of the box with the assist from Amaya Arias. 

The Trojans continued to hammer the ball on the Lion's half, until a quick counterattack goal from the Lions equalized the game. Twenty minutes later, the Lions were awarded a penalty kick to go up at the half. 

The Lions then scored their third and fourth goals in the second half. The Trojans battled hard, continuing to counter well and control possession but could not come up with the win. Freshmen Emily Nahon, Mary Ratcliff, Lexi Duarte, Claudia Hewitt and Clair Silvestro all made their Trojan debut. 

Little Rock ended with 19 shots, three saves and one corner.

NEBRASKA 6, SOUTHERN INDIANA 0
LINCOLN, Neb. - University of Southern Indiana Women's Soccer opened its 2025 season on the road Thursday evening, falling 6-0 against the University of Nebraska in USI's first-ever regular-season matchup against a major conference opponent.
 
Southern Indiana posted six shots with four on goal in the season-opening contest. The majority of attacking chances came in the second half for the Screaming Eagles, who placed three shots on target in the second 45 minutes.
 
Redshirt junior midfielder Emma Thurston, junior defender Kamryn Bea, junior forward Grace Bamber, and freshman attacker Anna Depenbrock each notched a shot on goal for USI. Redshirt junior goalkeeper Anna Markland made four saves.
 
The Cornhuskers recorded their six tallies on 24 shot attempts and 11 on frame.
 
Nebraska struck early with a goal in the first 90 seconds. Despite the early brace from the Cornhuskers, USI settled in to continue to battle against Nebraska's pressure. However, Nebraska slipped through a second time to double its lead near the midway point of the opening half. Depenbrock's shot on goal came in the latter minutes of the first half for USI but was saved by Nebraska, keeping the score 2-0 going into halftime.
 
Out of the halftime break, Nebraska struck quickly again and scored a pair within the first five minutes of the second half. The Cornhuskers added their final two goals in the last 20 minutes.
 
For Southern Indiana, the Eagles generated some good buildup and decent looks late in the second half. Senior forward Emerson Grafton utilized her speed from out wide to push USI's offense forward into the attacking third on a couple of occasions, including one shot that was blocked in the final handful of minutes. USI had two of its shots on goal saved in the last 10 minutes.

LIPSCOMB 2, TENNESSEE TECH 0
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - A pair of Lipscomb second-half scores spoiled the Tennessee Tech season-opening party as the Bisons split the pipes twice in the second on the way to a 2-0 victory Thursday night at Tech Soccer Field.

In a match that was delayed over 90 minutes just moments before kickoff due to weather, the two clubs went on to play a scoreless first stanza, largely in part to Tech's defense holding off a series of Lipscomb threats. The Bisons (1-0-0) came close to finding the back of the net, but the Golden Eagles stood tall when it mattered most, and behind four Maggie Conrad saves in the first, the match stayed knotted at nil-nil.

Tech (0-1-0) attempted a pair of first-half attempts thanks to tries on-goal by Tori Soutuyo and Anna Baker.

In the early stages of the second, Lipscomb struck first to unwrap the scoring, courtesy of an unassisted score by Hailey Johnson in the 56th minute. The junior out of Charlotte, N.C. found possession at the top of the box before breaking free and letting loose along the left side for the first goal of the season.

The Bisons doubled up the margin to go up 2-0 in the 78th minute after Annessa Shively capitalized on a redirection off a Golden Eagle that resulted in a score for the Lipscomb graduate student out of St. Louis, Mo.

The Bisons led the shot battle, 12-3. Johnson and Hailey Rhodes each paced the contest with three attempts a piece. Melina Hamm took Tech's lone shot in the second half.

Conrad ended up with five stops, while Lipscomb keeper Kaina Cesar denied three Golden Eagle bids for the clean sheet.