SCHEDULE (LIVE STATS, ESPN+)
MOREHEAD, Ky. – After an earned weekend off, Morehead State Soccer's quest for an Ohio Valley Conference Tournament title begins Thursday night. The No. 2 seeded Eagles meet No. 7 Southeast Missouri at 8 p.m. ET in the semifinals at Tennessee Tech.
The match will be live on ESPN+ with Graham Doty and Kelly Glenndenning providing the call.
Morehead State's 6-1-2 record earned it the double bye into the semifinals, while the Redhawks earned their way by defeating Eastern Illinois in the opening round and getting past SIUE 5-4 on penalty kicks last Sunday.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Season Records
Morehead State (7-5-5, 6-1-2 in OVC)
Southeast Missouri (7-5-6, 2-3-4 in OVC)
All-Time Series Record, last meeting
SEMO has a 15-7-7 upper-hand in the series. For the first time since 2013, Morehead State won the regular-season matchup against the Redhawks, 1-0, on Oct. 8 in Morehead.
In the OVC Tournament
Morehead State and SEMO have met four times in an OVC Tournament match with each winning twice. The last time the teams played each other in the semifinals was 2011, when MSU escaped with a 2-1 win at SEMO to advance to the championship match.
NOTABLE
- The Eagles head into the OVC Tournament having finished second with a 6-1-2 record, the best conference record and regular-season finish since 2013. Morehead State is also 7-5-5 overall, which is the best record since winning 11 matches in 2014.
- Morehead State finished the regular-season with a four-match winning streak, the longest success streak since 2013. The Eagles have also posted seven shutouts, which is the highest program total since the 2008 season.
- Morehead State defeated the eventual regular-season champion Tennessee Tech and also last year's tournament champion SIUE. In conference play, MSU only conceded three goals to opponent scorers (only four total, but one was an own goal). That figure is the best mark among the 10 league teams.
- All-time, Morehead State is 13-12-1 in tournament matches and won the OVC Tournament in 2008, 2010 and 2013. As a No. 2 seed, Morehead State's program owns a 3-1 record.
- Morehead State's style of the play led the Eagles to hold a lead in possession in every conference match. MSU led the OVC in goals against average against conference competition (0.44). The Eagles rank second in the conference in points (4.1/match), goals (12), goals per match (1.3), assists (13) and assists per match (1.4).
- Goalkeeper
Erin Gibbs was a part of seven shutouts, which ranks tied for second in program history with Lily Meisner's seven in 2010. Gibbs now has had a hand in 12 career shutouts in her two seasons, which ranks third in program history.
- Sixth-year midfielder
Colleen Swift has 14 career goals and five career assists. Her 33 career points is easily the most of any current Eagle.
- Freshman forward
Hedda Ornberg's four goals scored this season is the most by an Eagle true freshman since Ashley Ritchie netted eight in 2016.
- Fifth-year midfielder
Kate Larbes, along with Ornberg and Swift, leads the Eagles with four goals each. Larbes is the lone Eagle to score twice in a match and she accomplished her four goals by scoring twice in two separate matches.
- With 10 players who have scored at least one goal and 10 players with at least one assist, this is the first season since 2015 that the Eagles have had double digit players in goals and assists.
