MOREHEAD – Morehead State women's soccer returns from a one-week break, its third of the season, to host Southern Indiana at the MSU Soccer Field on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Eagles will be looking to maintain their top-tier position in the Ohio Valley Conference.
It is also Homecoming and Alumni Weekend.
Morehead State (6-5-3/3-2-0) remains on pace to challenge for its first 10-win regular season in 10 years and needs two more victories to guarantee itself a spot in the OVC Tournament. Additionally, through 14 games, the Eagles are ahead of last year's championship season in goals scored (17 vs. 15), goals allowed (15 vs. 19), wins (6 vs. 4) and road victories (4 vs. 2), while sitting tied in home triumphs (2 vs. 2).
"I watched USI a little during non-conference (play) as we had some common opponents but think they (have) change(d) a bit since then," MSU head coach Paul Cox said. "They have a good group and will be a good test for us. We are well rested from the Thursday bye and are raring to play again."
As it has all season, defense has led the way. The 15 goals it has allowed this season are on pace to break the school record for fewest in a year (21 set in 2022). That also correlates to its best-ever goals against average mark of 1.15 set that same season. The current mark is 1.07.
The offense has become more productive lately. The team has recorded double-digit shots in each of the last seven games.
MSU is 2-2-1 at home after dropping its last contest there, a 2-1 decision against Little Rock on September 29.
The Eagles snapped a co-season high two game skid with their 1-0 road win over UT Martin this past Sunday. Prior to that, the team's last overall victory came on September 26 (2-0) at Western Illinois and the most recent home win was on September 22 (5-1) versus Eastern Illinois.
Entering Sunday, MSU is averaging 1.21 goals per game, 13.1 shots per game, 3.79 corner kicks per game, 8.71 fouls per game, 2.5 offside calls per game and 4.21 saves per game. Its opponents boast totals of 1.07 gpg, 12.7 shots per game, 4.0 ckpg, 7.57 fpg, 3.0 offside calls per game and 4.5 saves per game.
Eagle defenders junior
Gracen Houck and freshman
Marinna Campos have two and one defensive saves, respectively, this season. MSU also has 20 yellow cards and the same two players, Houck and Campos, each have four.
Sophomore
Hedda Ornberg leads the way offensively. She has five goals, two assists, 12 points and 30 shots. Freshman forward
Ava Peck is next with three goals, two assists, eight points and 18 shots. Freshman forward
Carlie Thurmond nearly mirrors those numbers with three goals, two assists, eight points and 15 shots. Junior midfielder
Kennedy Baquero rounds out those with multiple goals by contributing three, along with one assist, seven points and 27 shots.
Freshman goalkeeper
Lilly Bailey has taken over full-time duties in the net and has played every minute of the last seven outings. She has a 1.17 gaa, 34 saves, a .791 save percentage, a 3-3-2 record and two shutouts. She is coming off a 10-save game in the team's win at UT Martin last Sunday.
Southern Indiana (2-8-4/1-2-2) dropped its last two games, this past Sunday (4-1) versus Tennessee Tech and Thursday, Oct. 3, at home against Lindenwood (2-0). Before that, it tied Eastern Illinois at home (1-1). Its last win was on Thursday, Sept. 26, (4-1) over UT Martin.
The Screaming Eagles are 0-5-2 on the road this fall. The winless streak dates to Oct. 5, 2023, when they defeated Western Illinois 1-0. It is a span of nine games. The club is 0-6-3 over that stretch.
USI is averaging 0.93 gaa, 10.7 shots per game, 5.29 ckpg, 10.36 fpg, 1.57 offside calls per game and five saves per game. Its opponents' statistics are 1.93 gpg, 14.1 shots per game, 4.93 ckpg, 9.07 fpg, 0.86 offside calls per game and 3.36 saves per game.
Junior midfielder Emerson Grafton tops the club with two goals, three assists, seven points and 13 shots. Junior forward Payton Seymour has two goals, two assists, six points and 16 shots. Sophomore midfielder Pilar Torres contributes five assists, five points and a team-best 18 shots. Two other players have two goals: freshman midfielder Emma Schut and redshirt freshman forward Eva Boer.
Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Anna Markland has been handling most of the goalkeeping duties. She has a 1-8-3 record, a 1.95 gaa, with 55 saves, a .705 save percentage and one shared shutout.
A total of 27 players have seen the field, with eight having participated in every game. Only junior defender Charli Grafton, junior defender Brynn Quick and senior midfielder Maggie Duggan have started all 14 contests.
Morehead State and Southern Indiana have only met twice, both times since the Screaming Eagles joined the OVC in 2022. Last October, USI claimed a 2-1 victory in Evansville, Ind., while in September of the previous year, the Blue and Gold won 1-0 at home.
In Morehead State's lone road game, MSU led in shots (9-1), attempts on goal (5-1), corner kicks (6-3), fouls (8-7) and saves (4-0). The Eagles had both offside calls, while the Screaming Eagles had all three yellow cards. The Blue and Gold had possession for 64 percent of the afternoon and had the ball in the hosts' defensive zone for 61 percent of the time. Ornberg had the Eagles' goal, while Torres recorded one for the Screaming Eagles. The other score was an own goal by former Morehead State goalkeeper
Erin Gibbs.
In MSU's 2022 home contest, it held an 11-8 edge in shots, including 7-3 on goal, while the Screaming Eagles took five corner kicks to Morehead State's three. USI had five fouls, three offside violations and six saves. MSU had 13 fouls, zero offside violations and three saves. Both teams had one yellow card. Former Eagle
Colleen Swift had the game's lone goal.
The contest will be broadcast by ESPN+ and can be viewed via the link
https://shorturl.at/oFYEF, with live stats available at the link
https://shorturl.at/Jdpuy.
The Eagles go on the road for their final two regular-season away contests, Thursday at Lindenwood at 8 p.m. ET, and next Sunday at Southeast Missouri at 2 p.m. ET. The last home outing will be on Sunday, Oct. 27 versus SIUE at 1 p.m. It will be MSU's Senior Day.
