MOREHEAD – Morehead State soccer stopped its two-game slide after earning a 2-2 road tie against Mercyhurst on Sunday afternoon at the Saxon Stadium in Erie, Pa.
The Eagles scored first and last but allowed a pair of goals in the middle of the contest.
"(It) feels like a loss," said MSU head coach Paul Cox. "To concede (a goal) 17 (sic) seconds after taking the lead was tough to take. However, we created a lot of chances in the second half, which we will look to build on going into conference week."
Despite the disappointment of some, MSU posted some positive highlights. It matched its highest-scoring game of the fall and featured the most total goals in a regular-season contest this year. It also ended the team's scoreless streak at 272 minutes and 32 seconds.
It was the home opener for Mercyhurst (0-7-1) which gained its first tie after dropping the first seven road games as a Division I program. The result also ended a string of defeats that began at the end of the 2023 season and had reached nine straight.
Mercyhurst has had much greater success at home. Sunday's tie extended an unbeaten streak at Saxon Stadium to 12 games (11-0-1), a stretch that goes back to the end of the 2022 campaign. The Lakers' two goals tied their season high tally, which they set in the season-opener against Duquesne.
Morehead State (3-3-2) started strong but needed a second-half push to earn the tie. Like it had in its past two games, MSU generated most of its attack in the second half. The Eagles held a 19-14 edge in shots, with 13 of those coming in the final 45 minutes.
The tie raised the MSU squad's record to 2-2-2 on the road this season and avoided back-to-back defeats away from home for the first time in just over one year.
It was the Blue and Gold's first trip to the Keystone State since Sept. 9, 2018, with its record now at 0-3-4 against opponents from Pennsylvania. It also was the first game against a provisional Division I opponent since Oct. 15, 2023, when it beat Lindenwood 2-0 at home. The Eagles are now 4-5-3 in those contests.
Freshman forward
Carlie Thurmond got Morehead State on the board first in the 39th minute. Graduate student defender
Anna Lohrer played the ball forward to freshman forward
Carly Gilbert in the midfield, who trapped it and passed it to Thurmond on the right side. Thurmond collected the ball 35 yards out, took one dribble and from the football field's 10-yard line blasted it 30 yards across the field, over the head of goalkeeper Chelsea Radicia and inside the left post. Lohrer and Gilbert received an assist.
Eleven seconds later, a defensive breakdown left Mercyhurst's Emily Mijares open in front of the net. She took one dribble to get past MSU freshman goalkeeper
Lilly Bailey and tapped the ball over the line. Teagan Mehalko started the sequence, first dropping the ball off to Julia Ligtvoet, and then getting it right back. She then dribbled to within 25 yards of the goal, before finding Mijares. Both Mehalko and Ligtvoet earned an assist on the play.
Both teams had at least one additional quality scoring chance in the first half but were unable to break the tie.
Eleven minutes and 46 seconds into the second half, the Lakers took their first lead. Anamari Bosnjak took a free kick 52 yards away from the goal. The ball sailed all the way into the box, where Chloe Kalina headed in over Bailey from 12 yards out just to the right of the center of the field.
The final goal started from a goal kick that Bailey nailed 50 yards through the air. It was collected by Thurmond, who passed immediately to senior forward
Erin Fite on the right sideline. Fite's one-touch pass got to freshman forward
Ava Peck, who with the ball stopped, tried to juke her defender with quick footwork, before eventually dribbling down the sideline and from the corner, launched the ball along the end line where it curled into the upper-left hand corner of the net at the 67:31 mark. Both Fite and Thurmond were credited with assists.
Sophomore midfielder
Mary Trudeau felt like the team missed an opportunity to get the victory.
"We came out too casual in the first half and lost focus after
Carlie Thurmond scored," she said. "But the second half, we dominated from the start offensively, and then they scored off a set piece. But we didn't put our heads down and soon got the second goal. We had more attacking success than the previous two games, so we just need to lock in on defense and we'll be good."
MSU kept the ball in the Lakers' defensive side of the field much of the second half and had several quality chances within the final 10 minutes, including a wide-open attempt by sophomore forward
Hedda Ornberg that rolled just outside of the left post and then a point-blank shot in front of the net by Thurmond that went over the goal on the game's final play.
The visitors had more shots at 19-14 (although the shots on target difference was just seven to six) and more corner kicks at five to zero. The hosts had slightly more fouls (10 to nine) and saves (five to four). Both teams finished with three offside calls. The Eagles had all three yellow cards. Morehead State also had possession for 53 percent of the afternoon and kept the ball in the Laker defensive zone for 68 percent of the time it had the ball.
Trudeau led the Blue and Gold with four shots. Junior midfielder
Kennedy Baquero, junior midfielder
Kamryn Baquero and Thurmond each finished with three.
Madison Sievering topped Mercyhurst with four shots, while Camille Bultel and Karah Van Horn each registered three.
Bailey went the distance for the first time as an Eagle and finished with four saves. Radicia also played all 90 minutes and made five saves.
Morehead State has one non-conference contest remaining this season. Radford comes to town for the first of a two-game home stand on Thursday, Sept. 19, at 4 p.m. Then the Eagles will host Eastern Illinois on Sunday, Sept. 22, at 1 p.m., to open Ohio Valley Conference play. Five of the team's final 10 outings will be at the MSU Soccer Field.
