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MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Morehead State soccer team put an exclamation point onto the end of the regular season with a 7-2 rout of Austin Peay in the Eagles' regular season finale Sunday at Jayne Stadium.
With the win, the Eagles advance to the Ohio Valley Conference tournament on Nov. 3-6. The tournament will be held on the campus of regular season OVC champion Southeast Missouri in Cape Girardeau, Mo. MSU garnered the fifth seed and will battle against fourth-seeded Murray State in the first round on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET. The Eagles just defeated Murray State 1-0 on Friday night.
It is only the fourth time in program history that Morehead State has scored seven goals or more in a match. The Eagles have scored seven goals three times, and that mark ties the second highest offensive output in one contest by any MSU squad. The record for most goals scored in a match is nine, set against Charleston on Sept. 15, 2000.
Junior
Sam Toepfer tallied five points in the match, notching two goals and an assist, while senior
Jillian Birchmeier scored two goals to lead the Eagles in the match. Birchmeier now has 17 career goals, while Toefper has tallied seven goals in her career. MSU improved to 9-7-3 overall and 4-4-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference, while Austin Peay falls to 9-8-1 and 3-5-1 in conference play.
Barely five minutes into the match, Birchmeier put the Eagles on the board with her first goal. The senior from Findlay, Ohio, received a cross from defender
Sarah Phillip on the right flank and headed the ball past APSU goalkeeper Haylee Shoaff.
MSU added to their lead 16 minutes later as senior midfielder
Brittany Kiracofe recorded her team-leading sixth goal of the season in the 21st minute. On senior midfielder
Stephanie Gildehaus’ corner, Kiracofe elevated over everyone to head the ball into the net, moving the score to 2-0 in favor of the Eagles.
Eight minutes after Kiracofe’s goal, Austin Peay answered with a goal of its own. In the fray after a Governor corner kick, Morehead State was called for foul in the box and APSU was awarded with a penalty kick. Tatiana Ariza placed the ball into the bottom left corner, as senior goalkeeper
Katie Blevins dove to the right.
Freshman
Elizabeth Tresnak was the next Eagle to score, notching her third goal of the season off a Phillip corner kick in the 37th minute. Tresnak headed the ball in after it soared past a couple of players. The goal proved to be the game-winner for the Eagles, as Austin Peay only tallied one more goal in the contest.
Toepfer added her first goal of the season three minutes before the first half ended, sending MSU into the locker room with a 4-1 lead at half time.
Birchmeier and Toepfer each tallied their second goals of the season in the 53rd and 68th minutes of the match, while freshman
Macy Cobb registered her first career points in an Eagle jersey in the 74th minute, scoring her first goal of the season on a pass from Toepfer. Natalia Ariza recorded Austin Peay’s second and final goal of the match 30 seconds later to end the match at 7-2, in favor of MSU.
Morehead State doubled up the Govs in shots 16-8, with 10 of the Eagle shots on goal. Birchmeier and Kiracofe led all players with three shots each, with all three of Birchmeier’s shot on frame. MSU earned six corners to APSU’s five and both teams combined for 21 fouls. Blevins notched two saves on the day, while Shoaff had three.
This is the fifth straight season the Eagles have advanced to the OVC tournament and third time in program history that MSU has been seeded fifth in the tournament.
