MOREHEAD – Top seeded Tennessee Tech outplayed the fifth-seeded Morehead State women's soccer team for the better part of Thursday's 110-minute Ohio Valley Conference Tournament semifinal at the Tech Soccer Field in Cookeville, Tenn. The Golden Eagles out-shot the Blue and Gold 27-12 and held a 13-1 edge on corner kicks. However, neither team was able to score over the 90 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime.
Tied 0-0, the game went to penalty kicks. The Eagles were 0-2 in PK attempts this year, including having one stopped by Tennessee Tech goalkeeper Maggie Conrad in October, while TTU was 3-for-5.
However, on Thursday, you could throw out the stats.
Because Morehead State (9-6-6/4-3-2) made all three penalty kicks and the Golden Eagles went scoreless as the defending tournament champions advanced to Sunday's finals (0-0, 3-0 on PKs). It will be the Eagles' seventh appearance in the title game.
"We rode our luck at times in the 110 minutes," MSU coach
Paul Cox said. "But that's tournament soccer, survive and advance!!"
It is the second straight year the Blue and Gold ended TTU's season at home in the OVC Tournament. Last fall, Morehead State captured a 1-0 victory in double overtime of the championship contest.
Thursday's result pushed a pair of Eagles' unbeaten streaks (overall and road) to six games. MSU continues to build on its school-record away-game record of 7-3-4. It also extended the team's OVC Tournament unbeaten string to five contests.
The Eagles have allowed 19 goals this season and remain on track to break the school record for fewest surrendered in a season at 21, which they set in 2022.
The Blue and Gold is 16-12-2 all-time in the tournament and 5-4 as the No. 5 seed. It is the 17th year Morehead State has qualified for the field. MSU now is 5-5-2 in the event's semifinals.
Despite 110 minutes of shutout goalkeeping from freshman
Lilly Bailey, Cox decided to turn to freshman
Claire Cress in net for the penalty kicks. Cress last played nearly two months ago in the first half of the September 8 match with Northern Kentucky.
"We've been practicing penalties for two weeks now! We know our order, the walk, everything," he said. "The decision to change keepers is of course risky, but Claire demonstrated in training what a good penalty stopper she was. Lilly was also fantastic today and came up big on a lot of set pieces!"
Katie Toney opened the penalty kick section with a shot to the lower left that Cress dove and knocked away. Junior defender
Gracen Houck followed, and on her attempt, she converted with a shot to nearly the same spot as Toney.
In the second round, Cress came up big again as she stopped Claire Palya's shot to the lower right side. Sophomore forward
Hedda Ornberg, who earlier this year missed a penalty kick against Tech, converted with a shot straight on net, while Conrad went to her right.
"I wasn't nervous going in, and I felt ready. I didn't come here to lose," Cress remarked brazenly. "I knew where the shooters were going. I'm a BEAST and I'll do whatever it takes to win!!"
In the third round, Tennessee Tech's Tori Soutuyo continued her team's struggles as her shot hit the right post.
Junior midfielder
Kennedy Baquero followed and her shot to the low right went into the back of the next resulting in an exuberant celebration.
"I felt really confident when I walked up. When I was about to kick it, I took a deep breath," Baquero said. "I knew it was going in when I placed it where the keeper was not."
Tennessee Tech (6-8-6/6-2-1) controlled the action in the first half. It held a 12-3 advantage in shots and took all seven corner kicks. The Golden Eagles held onto the ball for 61 percent of the half and kept it in the MSU defensive zone for 72 percent of the opening 45 minutes.
Morehead State mounted more of an offensive attack in the second half as both teams took six shots.
With just under nine minutes remaining, TTU had one of its best scoring opportunities after a pair of shots off a corner kick, with the first one saved by Bailey and MSU eventually clearing the ball.
After 90 minutes, Tech held an 18-9 lead in shots (six to one on goal), plus a 9-1 edge in corners.
In the two extra sessions, MSU had some of its best scoring chances. Ornberg had an opportunity with six minutes to play in the first overtime. Senior forward/midfielder
Erin Fite had another chance about two and a half minutes later. Ornberg had a pair of opportunities to get a foot on the ball in the second extra session, but finished the afternoon without a goal, ending her four-game scoring streak.
With just under a minute remaining in the first overtime, TTU's Neve Renwick, the OVC Forward of the Year, had a point-blank shot in the middle of the field from 12 yards out that ricocheted off the left post. Renwick had another golden opportunity with seven minutes left in the second overtime, but her shot from eight yards out on the left side bounced off the upper-corner intersection where the crossbar and post meet.
The Eagles were able to close the gap in Tennessee Tech's lead in possession by the end of the contest. The hosts finished with a 59-41 percent edge. Morehead State had the ball in the TTU end for 43 percent of its time with ball. The Golden Eagles had the ball in MSU's defensive zone for 71 percent of their possession time.
Tech finished with 27 shots (seven on goal) and 13 corner kicks, both MSU-opponent season highs. TTU also had five offside flags to just two for the Blue and Gold.
MSU tallied 12 shots, with just one on goal, and had one corner kick. Morehead State had an 8-4 edge in fouls and 7-1 advantage in saves. Both teams had one yellow card.
Fite had a career-high six shots, with Baquero and Ornberg each recording two. Renwick unleashed eight shots to pace all players. Toney and Allison Lee each registered four.
Bailey finished with seven saves. Conrad had one. Bailey's record moved to 6-4-5, Conrad's went to 6-7-6.
"I think we played really well as a team. I thought everyone did their best and put their bodies on the line," Bailey summarized. "From my perspective, it was important to communicate with the backline, making sure they were staying connected and knew where their player was, so they could deal with the balls over the top from Tech. From a defensive standpoint, I think we did an excellent job and I'm very proud of everyone for the huge team effort."
Tennessee Tech's two-game win streak came to an end. The result sent the Golden Eagles to a 3-3-4 mark at home this fall.
TTU moved to 10-13-1 all-time in the tournament and a 5-6-1 record in the semifinals. MSU closed the gap in the all-time series to 14-12-5.
Lindenwood won the second game 1-0. MSU and Lindenwood will face off in the OVC title match on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET in Cookeville. The NCAA Selection Show is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 11, with the 64-team tournament beginning later that week.
