MOREHEAD – The fifth-seeded Morehead State women's soccer team will look to capture back-to-back Ohio Valley Conference Tournament titles when it takes Southern Indiana's Strassweg Field in Evansville, Ind., on Thursday to face eighth-seeded UT Martin. Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m. ET. It will be the first neutral-site contest for either club this season.
"(UT) Martin are a physical team, who have a distinctive style, and have key players that can really hurt teams," MSU coach Paul Cox said. "We have to make sure that we stick to our principles and style, and we will take care of business."
Morehead State (7-6-5/4-3-2) captured the 2023 championship after defeating both Southeast Missouri and top-seeded and host Tennessee Tech 1-0. The latter contest went to double overtime.
The Eagles enter Thursday's match on a three-game unbeaten streak, having tied Lindenwood 1-1 on the road on October 17, then defeated Southeast Missouri 1-0 on the road on October 20, before tying SIUE 1-1 at home in the season finale on October 27.
The Eagles also have a three-game road unbeaten streak, which includes a 1-0 win at UT Martin on October 6.
MSU owns a 5-3-3 record away from home this fall. It is MSU's most true away victories in a single campaign since going 6-6-1 in 2013. It is guaranteed to have 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)
This is the fourth consecutive OVC Tournament for Morehead State, which enters this year's field after placing fifth in the conference standings with 14 points. It is the team's lowest league ranking entering the post-season since it was seeded sixth in 2021.
Morehead State has won at least one conference tournament match in each of the last two years and 10 times overall. The Eagles have qualified for 17 league tournaments and own a 15-12-1 record.
MSU is the fifth seed for the fifth time. It is the team's most common seed and is 3-4 in those games. Thursday will be the first time the Eagles have played an OVC Tournament contest at Southern Indiana.
The team is chasing the school record for fewest goals allowed in a season at 21, which it achieved in 2022. It currently has surrendered 18.
The Eagles enter the postseason averaging 1.11 goals per game, 12.2 shots per game, 4.11 corner kicks per game, 8.83 fouls per game, 2.39 offside flags per game and 4.11 saves per game. Their opponents' own averages of 1.00 gpg, 12.5 shots per game, 4.17 ckpg, 8.5 fpg, 2.67 offside violations per game and 4.22 saves per game.
Individually, sophomore forward
Hedda Ornberg leads the squad with seven goals, two assists, 16 points and 38 shots. Freshman forward
Ava Peck adds three goals, two assists, eight points and 19 shots. Freshman forward
Carlie Thurmond also contributes three goals, two assists and eight points, as well as 16 shots. Junior midfielder
Kennedy Baquero rounds out the top performers with three goals, one assist, seven points and 33 shots.
Freshman goalkeeper
Lilly Bailey tops the team with a 4-4-4 record, a 1.03 goals against average, 49 saves, a .803 save percentage and three shutouts. Bailey continues her assault for a spot in the school's single-season record book for goals against average. The best-ever mark is 0.75. A 1.38 ties for ninth.
This week, Ornberg was named to the All-OVC First Team, while graduate student defender
Anna Lohrer and sophomore defender
Hannah Burke were each selected to the Second Team. Peck and Baquero were All-Newcomer Team honorees.
UT Martin (4-10-3/3-6-0) finished the season with a 2-0 loss at home to Southeast Missouri on Sunday. Prior to that, the Skyhawks beat Eastern Illinois 1-0 on the road on October 20 and Western Illinois 2-0 on the road on October 17.
UTM is 3-5-2 away from home this fall. The Skyhawks have won their last two road outings but fell to Litle Rock 1-0 on October 3.
UT Martin has qualified for the OVC Tournament in each of the last eight years. It has an all-time mark of 11-17-2 and has won two titles (2012 and 2011). The team dropped its 2023 league tournament contest as the fifth seed to eighth-seeded Litle Rock 1-0 in Evansville. The previous season, third seeded UTM defeated Little Rock 1-0 in the opening round in Morehead and then tied the Eagles 1-1 in the second round, before MSU advanced on penalty kicks, 4-3.
The Skyhawks are averaging 0.82 gpg, 13.4 shots per game, 5.94 ckpg, 9.29 fpg, 1.35 offside flags per game and 6.06 saves per game. Their opponents sport averages of 1.65 gpg, 16.8 shots per game, 5.71 ckpg, 7.41 fpg, 1.06 offside flags per game and 5.29 saves per game.
Senior midfielder Izzy Patterson tops the club with four goals, four assists, 12 points and 54 shots. Senior forward Makayla Robinson is next with four goals, one assist, nine points and 32 shots; followed by freshman midfielder Unni Wolfe with two goals, one assist, five points and 16 shots. Sophomore forward/midfielder Peyton Cook and senior midfielder Brooke Kala both have one goal, one assist and three points. Cook has taken 46 shots. Kala has taken 15.
Senior goalkeeper Mac Titus has a 4-10-3 record with a 1.62 gaa, 89 saves, a .781 save percentage and three shutouts.
Seven players have started every game this season, including Patterson, Robinson, Cook, Titus, junior defender Shayla Addington and senior defender Parker Gelinas.
Patterson was named to the All-OVC First Team and Gelinas was selected for the Second Team.
Mike Varga is the Skyhawks' head coach. He is in his second season at UTM and 29th year overall. He is 9-18-9 at UTM.
MSU defeated UTM on the road 1-0 on October 6. Junior midfielder
Kamryn Baquero scored the lone goal unassisted in the 39th minute. It was her only goal of the season. The Skyhawks held advantages in shots (22 to 18) and corner kicks (6 to 3), and received both yellow cards that were issued. The two sides tied with three offside calls apiece, while the Blue and Gold had more fouls (9 to 8) and saves (12 to 8). Bailey finished the game with a career-high 10 saves.
UT Martin holds a slight series lead 16-14-3. MSU is 4-1-1 in the last five meetings, including winning 2-0 at home in 2023 and 3-1 in the 2022 regular-season contest in Martin. The teams also squared off twice in 2021, both times in Morehead, with the Skyhawks winning 1-0 in the October contest and MSU claiming a 1-0 victory in March of the 2020 Covid-adjusted season.
The two teams are 2-2 in all-time neutral-site meetings. UTM leads 9-7-3 in all contests away from Morehead.
MSU is 3-2-1 against the Skyhawks in the OVC Tournament, the six games are the most times it has faced any league opponent. UT Martin is one of three teams MSU has beaten three times. The Eagles are 2-0-1 in the last three meetings, with the Blue and Gold winning the two outings prior to 2022, 4-2 in 2015 in Murray, Ky., and 1-0 in 2013 in Martin, Tenn. UTM won 2-1 in 2011 and 2-0 in 2007. MSU also won 1-0 in 2008.
The match can be viewed on ESPN+ at
https://shorturl.at/oe5tp, with live stats also available at
https://shorturl.at/Ggk7D.
Thursday's winner will stay in Evansville and advance to the second round where it will face No. 4 seed Southern Indiana on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET. Whomever comes out on top of that contest will travel to Cookeville, Tenn., to face regular-season champion and top-seeded Tennessee Tech on Thursday, Nov. 7, at 1 p.m. ET. The championship match will be played on Sunday, Nov. 10 at 2 p.m. ET also in Cookeville. The NCAA Selection Show is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 11. The 64-team tournament will begin that week.
