MOREHEAD – Sophomore forward
Hedda Ornberg scored in the 19th minute and that lone goal held up as Morehead State came away with a victory over Southeast Missouri on Sunday at Houck Field in Cape Girardeau, Mo., on the Redhawks' Senior Day.
The 1-0 victory guarantees the Eagles a spot in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament in two weeks. MSU is still in the running to earn a top-four seed and either a bye or the right to host a first-round game. The worst-case scenario is a sixth-place finish.
With UT Martin defeating Eastern Illinois and Southern Indiana tying SIUE also on Sunday, Morehead State (7-6-4/4-1-3) moves back into fourth place with 13 points, one ahead of USI and two up on EIU.
"We had a solid game plan and we executed it well. We knew their strengths and we nullified it," said MSU head coach Paul Cox. "We should've and could've scored more, but that's an area for us to improve in. We used a lot of players today and it was a proper team performance. The group is dialed in and we are looking forward to being back home next week. Four points on the road over two games is good work in conference play."
Sunday was the Eagles' final road game of the regular season and the club improved to 5-3-3 away from home this fall while also extending its unbeaten streak on the road to three games, which equals its season high. Additionally, it is MSU's most true away victories in a single campaign since going 6-6-1 in 2013, and guarantees it will have at least its first .500 record on the road since that same year. The Blue and Gold's last winning campaign in true road contests came in 2010 (6-4-1).
Ornberg scored at 18:22, with assists from sophomore defender
Hannah Burke and senior forward
Erin Fite. With nine career assists, Fite takes over ninth place by herself in the school record book.
"It was a great cross from
Hannah Burke on the right side of the field," Ornberg said. "I was open back post and could pass it into the goal on one touch. I was on the box close to goal (at the 6-yard mark)."
Morehead State only got off one more shot the rest of the half as Southeast Missouri (1-10-3/1-3-3) held a slim 5-4 lead in the category at the break.
The hosts only had two shots on goal, one 47 seconds into the game and the other 21 seconds after intermission.
The two sides accounted for just five shots in the final 45 minutes.
The shutout is MSU's fifth this season and the third for freshman goaltender
Lilly Bailey. It also inches the team closer in its quest to set a school record for fewest goals allowed in a year. The Eagles have allowed 17 this fall, with the 2022 team's mark of 21 as the all-time best (not including the Covid-shortened 2021 spring campaign).
Southeast Missouri finished with an eight to six edge in shots, ending Morehead State's streak of nine consecutive games with double figures in the category.
MSU did tally more corner kicks (6-2), had one more foul (11-10) and a 4-1 difference in offside flags.
Ornberg and Fite combined for all six shots, each taking three. SEMO's Cayla Koerner led all players with four.
Reigning OVC Goalkeeper of the Week Sophia Elfrink finished with three saves for the hosts, while Bailey recorded two.
Graduate student defender
Anna Lohrer picked up her fourth yellow card of the season.
MSU held the possession for 52 percent of the afternoon. It had the ball in the Redhawk defensive end for 61 percent of that time. Southeast Missouri spent 56 percent of its possession on the attack.
With the Eagle victory, Southeast Missouri's three-game unbeaten streak was snapped and sent the squad to 1-5-2 at home this fall. It was the ninth time this season the club suffered a shutout.
SEMO continues to lead the all-time series 16-9-7, but the Blue and Gold is now 3-0-1 versus the Redhawks in the last three seasons. Sunday was the Eagles' first victory over Southeast Missouri in Cape Girardeau since November 2011.
Morehead State's final regular-season match will be Sunday, when the Eagles host SIUE on Senior Day at 1 p.m. Both teams will be playing for seeding in the OVC Tournament, with the Cougars in danger of not qualifying for the event. MSU will honor graduate student defenders
Anna Lohrer and Maddie Feldhaus, graduate student goalkeeper
Reegan Garrity, and senior forward
Erin Fite in a pre-game ceremony.
