HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- Things looked bleak early for the Morehead State soccer team as it surrendered a goal and then lost its starting keeper to an injury within the first 20 minutes of its game against Marshall, but the Eagles battled back and left the Hoops Family Field in Huntington, W.Va., with a 1-1 tie in the season opener for both teams.
It was the debut for both head coaches and Morehead State's Paul Cox was pleased his squad was able to come away with a tie.
Watch coach Cox's comments here.
Cox became the fifth consecutive Eagle soccer coach to earn either a win or a tie in his debut. Only the program's initial coach, Leslie Faber, was unable to avoid defeat.
MSU controlled the action for most of the first 10 minutes of the first half, before Marshall was able to convert on its second opportunity of the evening as Bailey Fisher found Ebony Leckey for the game's first score. Seven minutes later, MSU starting goalkeeper
Lilly Bailey leapt in the air to catch a ball on a cross and fell hard to the turf. She was replaced by freshman
Claire Cress, who finished the last 72:06 with a clean sheet.
With less than five minutes to play in the half, freshman midfielder
Ava Peck passed the ball from the right side across the goal mouth and found freshman forward
Carlie Thurmond, who kicked the ball into an open net at the 40:26 mark.
The beginning of the second half was a mirror opposite of the first as the hosts controlled the action, but neither team could break the tie.
MSU had an opportunity to pull ahead after earning a free kick from 35-yards out with slightly more than 11 minutes left in the contest, but junior defender
Gracen Houck's shot was caught by Marshall keeper Alexis Wolgemuth.
The first yellow card of the season was issued to Peck with 5:40 left in the game.
The result snapped a two-game skid for the Eagles against the Thundering Herd and was a measure of redemption for the team that dropped a 3-0 home decision with Marshall to open the 2023 campaign. MU entered holding an 8-1-2 series edge and had won every meeting in Huntington except a tie in 2011. The Thundering Herd have a 0-5-2 advantage on their home field versus the Blue and Gold.
MSU held a 9-8 edge in shots, a 4-3 lead in corners and committed four fewer fouls (8 to 12). Marshall was flagged five times for being offside to just twice for the Eagles. The hosts held the edge in possession 58 percent to 42 percent, but Morehead State had the ball in the Thundering Herd's defensive zone for 55 percent of the game.
Redshirt sophomore forward
Jade Perrin paced the Eagles in shots with four. Leckey and Kajsa Ekstrom were Marshall's top shooters with two attempts apiece.
Both Cress and Bailey finished the night with one save. Wolgemuth went the distance for the hosts and made four saves.
See Cress talk about the game here.
The Eagles finished 2023 with a 5-5-1 record on the road but have now gone winless in their last two contests away from home.
MSU stays on the road for its next two games, starting with a match up against Kentucky on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. The Blue and Gold opens its home slate on Sunday, Aug. 25, against Detroit Mercy.
