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MOREHEAD, Ky. – Sophomore forward
Sam Toepfer netted her fifth goal of the season as Morehead State advanced past Eastern Illinois 2-1 Friday night in Ohio Valley Conference Soccer Tournament semifinals at Jayne Stadium.
The Eagles qualified for the OVC title match for the second time in three years and will face third-seeded Austin Peay, 3-1 upset winners over #2 SEMO in Friday night's other semifinal. The championship game will be played Sunday at Jayne Stadium at 1 p.m. with an NCAA berth on the line.
After a scoreless first half, MSU broke open the lead just two minutes into the second stanza when Toepfer settled a
Giuleana Lopez cross that ricocheted off of the crossbar right at her feet. Toepfer blasted it towards the net and Panther goalkeeper Jessica Taldone couldn’t make the save.
With the Eagles leading 1-0 and basically in control of the game, EIU battled back to even the score at one when a miscommunication between two Eagle defenders and senior goalkeeper
Lily Meisner led to a Sarah Rusk goal in the 85th minute. Rusk gathered a ball that was sent in over the top of the Eagle defense from teammate Erika Prazma and made it count as she chipped the shot over Meisner and into the goal.
With overtime looming, the Eagles put pressure on the Panther defense when junior Deven Jordan took a ball deep into EIU territory and crossed it from the far left wing towards the goal. A Panther defender went to clear the ball, however miss hit her clearing attempt scoring it in her own net and the Eagles took the lead for good.
MSU dominated EIU in shots 17-6 and also held an edge in corner kicks 4-2. EIU and MSU were both slapped with nine fouls. The Eagle defense anchored by senior defender
Micaela Hornstein and junior midfielder
Stephanie Gildehaus played well, busting up many of the Panther scoring oppurtunities.
Junior forward
Jillian Birchmeier led the way for MSU as she led the team in shots with six while Lopez and Jordan had three each. Leading the way for EIU was Rusk who rifled two shots.
Meisner notched one save in the effort, and her counterpart Taldone stopped five MSU balls.
Morehead State improves to 12-6-1 overall extending their winning streak to six games and their unbeaten streak to 10 games.
