MOREHEAD, Ky. – Following a heavyweight-like physical battle that ended in a heart-breaking 2-1 defeat against Murray State on Friday at home, the Morehead State Soccer team sets its sights on a road matchup against Ohio Valley Conference counterpart Eastern Illinois on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. at Lakeside Field.
 
"We played one heck of a competitive match that had all the emotions on Friday," said MSU head coach Warren Lipka. "If you would've told me three week ago that we'd be playing at the level we are now I may have questioned it but this team's growth has been great to see. Our high level of competitiveness along with our growth technically has to continue because we have a lot of conference matches left against some quality teams which begins at EIU on Sunday."
 
The Eagles enter the match having had a three-game winning streak snapped in Friday's last-minute loss. For the 2019 season, MSU's overall record stands at 4-7-1 while having earned seven points in the OVC standings with a 2-1-1 mark.
 
As of late, Morehead State's success has relied heavily on its defense to lead which has worked well having pitched shutouts against league rivals Jacksonville State and Belmont while also shutting down Purdue Fort Wayne as part of its three-straight wins. In Friday's match against the Racers, MSU's defense allowed just one goal that was not on a penalty kick but saw 24 shots fired against them.
 
Heading up the middle of the Morehead State defensive formation is the duo of sophomore Nicole Palmer and senior Ellie Weber. The middle-back pairing has started in 21-of-23 matches that MSU has played since 2013.
 
Palmer, a native of Philadelphia, has also served as an important contributor offensively for her team on set pieces as she has scored two match-winning goals. The first winner came on a free-kick from 30-plus yards way in a 2-1 win over Akron (9/1) and was later upstaged herself with a clutch goal against Belmont (9/27) with four seconds remaining after a corner kick deflection was cashed in to setup a 1-0 win.
 
Fortunately for the Eagles, while their defense weathered a strong Racers' attack, true freshman Kayla Landman showed the poise of a grizzled veteran in the goal as she stymied the visitors shot barrage with 14 saves which includes a penalty-kick stop. Landman's single-match stop total of 14 is the most for a Morehead State goalkeeper since Sept. 17, 2006, when Leslie King piled up a school-record 18 saves against Grand Valley State (Mich.).
 
Landman, who split time with fellow rookie keeper Grace Gaffney before an injury setback to at Jacksonville State ended Gaffney's season, was responsible for back-to-back clean sheets against Belmont and Purdue Fort Wayne (9/29) which helped earn her the league's Goalkeeper of the Week award on Tuesday. For the season, Landman has 49 total saves in six starts and eight appearances that total 626:56 in goal.
 
In the attacking third of the field, the Eagles have mixed have talented freshmen with veteran upperclassmen. The most common combination has included juniors Katie Quinn, Caitlyn Burdine, and Holly Logsdon along with sophomore Abby VanHoeve and freshmen Gabby Nastasi and Eva Kiper.
 
Leading the scoring from this group is Nastasi who had netted two goals which ties Palmer for the team lead. Scoring single goals from the group are wings Burdine and Kiper.  VanHoeve paces the team in assist with two.
 
Also playing a key role in Morehead State's attack is senior Ashley Ritchie. The New Haven, Ky., native continues to work herself back to full strength after a broken vertebra caused her to miss the entire 2018 season and a torn Achilles this spring caused her to sit the first four matches of this season.
 
In Friday's match, Ritchie made her first start since the 2017 season finale and played a season-best 48 minutes. As the match approached its end with the Eagles trailing by a goal, the senior found herself battling for a corner kick on the front post of the goal before finding an opening to head the ball past the keeper and tie the match in the 86^th minute. The goal was Ritchie's 11^th of her career and first since Sept. 24, 2017 against UT Martin.
 
Eastern Illinois plays host after snapping a three-match losing streak with a 3-1 win over Jacksonville State at home on Friday. In 2019, the Panthers are 2-7-1 overall and 1-3-1 in league play.
 
Offensively, Nicoletta Anuci and Lexi Ketterhagen pace EIU with both having two goals and once assist each. Anuci is tied with Sarah DeWolf for the team's leader in shots taken.
 
Goalkeeper Sara Teteak has started in all 10 matches for the Panthers and recorded a conference-best 69 saves while allowing 19 goals.
 
In 2018, Eastern Illinois came away with a 1-0 victory over Morehead State at Jayne Stadium. EIU's Ketterhagen deposited the match-winning goal in the 85^th minute to help her team get the win and give Teteak the clean sheet victory after stopping eight shots by the Eagles.
 
The Panthers lead the all-time series against Morehead State with a 13-9-3 record.
 
Eastern Illinois is led by second-year head coach Jake Plant who is 8-15-7 overall.
 
Sunday's OVC showdown between the Eagles and Panthers will be streamed on ESPN+. Live statistics can be accessed on MSUEagles.com