ST. CHARLES, Mo. - SIUE women's soccer is marching on in the Ohio Valley Conference Championship. The fifth-seeded Cougars knocked off fourth-seeded Lindenwood 3-2 Sunday at Hunter Stadium.

The Cougars now will face top-seed UT Martin in the semifinal Thursday in Martin, Tennessee. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m.

The win avenges a loss to the Lions just two weeks ago on the same field and improves SIUE to 6-6-4 this season.

Lindenwood finishes its season 8-8-2.

The OVC Forward of the Year, Claire Nieroda put the Cougars on top in the fourth minute, scoring the rare Olimpico, curling a corner directly into the net. Nieroda's right-footed kick banged off the back post and into the goal for the 1-0 lead.

The goal was Nieroda's 10th of the season, making her only the third player to have at least 10 goals in a season in SIUE's Division I era.

SIUE doubled its lead just eight minutes ahead of halftime and did it with a set piece again. Zoe Bumiller took a free kick from nearly 40 yards out, playing a ball to the post where McKenna Wigfield put it in, for her second goal of the tournament.

The Cougars carried the lead into the break.

After halftime, Olivia Watt made it 3-0 Cougars with a 20-yard strike in the 56th minute. Nieroda provided the assist, playing a perfect ball to Watt in stride as SIUE broke out on a counter-attack.

The Lions first tally came in the 70th minute when Mackenzie Compton scored off the rebound after a long shot by Mattie Ohlsen hit the crossbar.

Lindenwood scored a second in the 82nd minute when Samantha Steele pounced on a rebound after a save from SIUE goalkeeper Sarah Bozeman. Bozeman finished with a season-high seven saves.

The Lions outshot the Cougars 23-11 overall. Both teams had nine shots on goal.
 

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#6 SOUTHERN INDIANA 2, #3 EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
CHARLESTON, Ill. - University of Southern Indiana Women's Soccer secured a 2-0 road win in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament quarterfinals against Eastern Illinois University on Sunday afternoon, advancing the Screaming Eagles to their second straight semifinal appearance.
 
The Screaming Eagles (5-9-6, 2-2-3 OVC) went back to Charleston, Illinois, and knocked out Eastern Illinois University (6-8-3, 4-3-0 OVC) in the quarterfinals as they did a year ago. After Sunday's battle between sixth-seeded USI and third-seeded Eastern Illinois, USI earned its third straight victory overall, and its fourth OVC Tournament win in the last two seasons.
 
USI Women's Soccer and Eastern Illinois battled to an even first half and went into halftime tied 0-0. Both teams took three shots, two on target, in the first 45 minutes. However, the Screaming Eagles took off in the second half, scoring both goals after halftime and posting eight shots, six on goal, after the break.
 
USI struck first in the 61st minute when senior forward Eva Boer placed the ball into the low-right corner to score her first goal of the season and give USI a 1-0 advantage. Graduate senior Payton Seymour assisted the goal with a cross, and freshman midfielder Shea Krakowski made the initial pass to set Seymour up.
 
Nearly 15 minutes later, Seymour doubled USI's lead to 2-0, finishing an over-the-top pass from junior defender Emma Schut, her first helper of the season. The goal gave Seymour three points on the afternoon. From there, the Screaming Eagles closed out the match, as Eastern Illinois had two shots in the final 10 minutes that went wide.
 
Overall, USI finished with 11 shots and eight on frame. Seymour led USI with three shots, two on goal, and was one of four Screaming Eagles with two or more shots in the contest. Freshman forward Morgan Wannemuehler had both of her attempts go on goal as well.
 
The Panthers were limited to six shots and two on goal, both of which were saved by USI sophomore goalkeeper Merrick Schwalbach.