MOREHEAD – The Morehead State soccer team bounced back from its recent struggles with a hugely significant 1-1 tie at Ohio Valley Conference leader Lindenwood on Thursday at Hunter Stadium in St. Charles, Mo.
It was a "good news, bad news" outcome for the Blue and Gold.
The good: The result inches the Eagles closer to a bid to the OVC Tournament and snapped a skid of three defeats in their last four outings. Morehead State (6-6-3/3-3-1) also improved its road record to 4-3-3.
The bad: Eastern Illinois defeated Tennessee Tech and Southern Indiana topped Little Rock, also on Thursday night, which means that both EIU and USI move in front of the Eagles in the OVC table as MSU falls to sixth place.
"It's a good point on the road, but it's frustrating at the same time. (If) we hold on to win, we are two points off the top (of the standings) and now we get leap-frogged by two teams," Morehead State coach Paul Cox said. "It's the most open OVC I've ever seen."
The tie also extended the Lions' unbeaten streak to seven games. Lindenwood (8-4-3/4-0-3) also improved to 5-1-1 at home. It pushed its unbeaten streak on its own field to five games. However, the Eagles' goal was just the second LU has allowed at home in the last seven outings.
The visitors got on the board first after fifth-year defender
Anna Lohrer headed the ball into the bottom-left corner of the net off a corner kick from junior defender
Gracen Houck at 51:39.
"(It was a) great corner kick from Gracen. We've been practicing set pieces all week and it's been a focus for us going forward to take more advantage of those opportunities. So, I'm glad I could put one in," said Lohrer.
The goal followed a sequence in which MSU had another chance to score. On the previous play, Lohrer headed another corner kick that was on its way over the line before a Lion defender dove and headed the ball over the bar.
It took exactly six minutes for Lindenwood to get the equalizer. A Jessica Dodd to Anna Johnson pass eventually reached Mackenzie Compton, who on a 1v1 dribbled down the right side, went to her right feigned one way to get freshman goalkeeper
Lilly Bailey to bite and then used her right foot to kick the ball into the bottom-left corner of the net.
The hosts nearly claimed the win in the 87th minute after Tasneem Dizdarevic booted a 50-yard free kick that hit the crossbar and sailed out of bounds.
MSU recorded 12 shots, reaching double digits for the ninth consecutive game. However, Lindenwood won that battle with 20 attempts, with 13 coming in the final 45 minutes. LU also had a 6-3 edge in corner kicks and offside calls (3 to 2). The Eagles had more shots on goal (6 to 5) and fouls (12 to 6), and the contest's only yellow card.
Morehead State spread out its attack, with eight different players registering at least one shot. Senior forward
Erin Fite, junior midfielder
Kennedy Baquero, sophomore forward Heda Ornberg and Lohrer each had two to pace the Blue and Gold.
"Overall, I thought our team played well. We showed a lot of fight and we're going to need that in tournament play," Lohrer said. "Obviously, we wanted to walk away with the win, but I think there's a lot of positives we can take away from this game and, of course, some stuff we can learn from, too."
Cox singled out the play of three Eagles.
"I thought
Anna Lohrer was fantastic tonight – a proper captain's performance – and
Erin Fite played two positions tonight that she hasn't played a lot of the year and was excellent. It was her performance of the season," he said. "I think
Marinna Campos has grown so much as a player over the last four games."
Compton led all players with seven shots. Johnson added four.
Seven Lions played all 90 minutes, with two others registering at least 80. For the first time this season, MSU was without sophomore midfielder
Mary Trudeau, who suffered an injury in Sunday's home game with Southern Indiana and is likely lost for the season.
Bailey made four saves for the Eagles, while Caroline Ritter had four for Lindenwood. The hosts also had a defensive team save.
Lindenwood had the edge in possession percentage (57 to 43), 75 percent of that time was spent in the MSU defensive end. Morehead State was on the offensive attack for 41 percent of its time with the ball.
The tie marked the first time the Eagles did not win a game in the series. It now leads 2-0-1. The Lions' goal was their first against Morehead State.
The Blue and Gold will complete its two-game road trip on Sunday at Southeast Missouri. It also will be the team's final away contest this fall. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET. The Eagles' final regular season outing will be at home versus SIUE on Sunday, Oct. 27, at 1 p.m.
