MOREHEAD | Morehead State soccer will open its home season on Sunday as it hosts Detroit Mercy at the MSU Soccer Field at 1 p.m.
The Eagles finished 2023 with a 4-1-4 record on their own field but went 1-1 at home during this fall's exhibition campaign. They currently sport an 8-game undefeated streak in regular-season contests at the MSU Soccer Field, including winning their last three. Over that latter stretch, the Blue and Gold outscored its opponents 5-1.
"(We're) excited to play at home for the first time this season," MSU head coach Paul Cox said. "They're a strong team that are better than their record suggests. They have brought in a number of players from the portal, and they are a well-organized and gritty team, who are going to make it very tough for us."
MSU is coming off its first win of the season, a 2-1 victory over Eastern Kentucky on Thursday. In the EKU game, Morehead State (1-1-1) put together its biggest offensive outburst of the season and registered its most goals since defeating SIUE 2-0 in the finale of the 2023 regular season.
Freshman forward
Carlie Thurmond (two goals, four points, seven shots) has quickly asserted herself as a major scoring threat. She is tied for second in the Ohio Valley Conference and tied for 126th in Division I in goals per game (0.67). Thurmond is just the second Eagle to have two goals through three games in the last eight years and the first freshman to do so since Ashley Ritchie accomplished the feat in 2016.
All three of MSU's goals this season have come from newcomers (junior midfielder
Kennedy Baquero has the other one).
However, the team's returning players have also had a strong impact. Graduate student defender and sophomore midfielder
Mary Trudeau are the lone Eagles to have played every minute of every game to date.
Senior forward
Erin Fite made her first regular-season appearance against EKU and recorded two shots and an assist, moving one step closer in the latter category to a spot in the MSU career top 10. She is two assists shy of tying for ninth.
Freshman goalkeeper
Claire Cress has joined Lohrer to anchor the defense. She has a 1-1-1 record, a 1.07 goals against average and 2.67 saves per game.
As a team, MSU boasts 1.00 goals per game, has taken 31 shots, 10 corner kicks, committed 30 fouls and been flagged for being offside five times. Eagle opponents have scored 1.33 gpg, and recorded 42 shots, 16 corner kicks, 24 fouls and 16 offside calls.
This fall, Detroit Mercy (0-3-0) is 0-2 away from home after dropping a 2-0 decision at Kentucky on Thursday. Including 2023, UDM sports an 8-game road skid. The Titans are scoring 1.0 gpg and averaging 4.7 shots per game, have taken five corner kicks, committed 43 fouls and been flagged offside five times. Its opponents are sporting marks of 3.33 gpg, 25.3 spg, 10.33 corner kicks per game, 11.67 fouls per game and 3.33 offsides calls per game.
Before Kentucky, the Titans dropped a 5-2 home decision to Utah Valley and a 3-1 result at Bowling Green.
Three players have scored one goal apiece, junior midfielder Abby Lodato, freshman midfielder Amelia Streberger and redshirt senior forward Justice Tillotson. Graduate student defender Hailey Matthews has the team's lone assist. Lodato leads the squad with three shots, while Streberger has two.
Graduate student Marisa Silver and senior Chantelle Symes have split the time in goal exactly in half. Silver has a 4.67 gaa, an 0-2-0 record and has made 11 saves. Symes has a 2.00 gpg, an 0-1-0 record and has registered five saves.
The two teams have only met once, last August in Detroit, won by the Eagles 5-2. It was MSU's largest scoring game of the season and its most goals in a contest since a 5-3 win over Francis Marion in 2015.
In that recent outing,
Kate Larbes scored twice. Sophomore forward
Hedda Ornberg,
Nicole Fiantaco and
Colleen Swift had the other Eagle goals. Fiantaco,
Michelle Hochstadt,
Sejla Podzic,
Hadley Cytron and
Natalie Ledin each had assists.
MSU led 3-2 at the half and added two goals in the final period. UDM had the edge in shots 17-15 and corners 7-4. The Eagles had eight saves and 12 fouls. The Titans recorded five saves and seven fouls. Detroit also drew both offside calls. A total of five cards were presented, including a red to the hosts.
Graduate student forward Erica Toupin had an unassisted goal for UDM. MSU keeper
Erin Gibbs gave the Titans their second score with an own goal. Detroit Mercy sophomore Eva Hill went the distance in goal and surrendered the defeat.
The game will be broadcast on ESPN + and can be seen at the link
https://bit.ly/3Xj2iyi. Fans can also follow the statistical play-by-play through StatBroadcast at the link
https://bit.ly/4730VGX.
It also will be "New Student Day Gear Giveaway".
MSU will go on the road for its next two games, Thursday at Bellarmine and then the following Thursday at Wright State. Both contests are slated for a 7 p.m. kickoff. The Eagles next home game is on Sunday, Sept. 8 against Northern Kentucky at 1 p.m.
