MOREHEAD, Ky. – Although the two teams did not play last year for the just the third time since 2002, one-time Ohio Valley Conference foe Austin Peay will make a trip to Morehead to square off against the Morehead State women's soccer team on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the MSU Soccer Field. It will be the only time this season MSU will play back-to-back home games.
Both squads are coming off a Thursday shutout defeat and are hungry to right their ship and get on the winning side of the ledger.
"We don't know a great deal about Peay other than their first game," said MSU head coach
Paul Cox. "They are similar to us in terms (of the fact that) they've brought a lot of new players in. It's gonna be a really hot one and we are looking to bounce back."
Temperatures are expected to reach above 90 degrees, so like the Eagles' last two outings, water breaks at the midpoint of each half are likely to occur.
Morehead State (0-1) is coming off a disappointing outing against Marshall. The Blue and Gold fell at home 3-0 and only took five shots, all of which came in the second half. Freshman midfielder
Charlotte Lee led the club with two.
Sophomore goalkeeper
Claire Cress was the standout performer. Despite allowing three goals (one on a penalty kick), she collected a career-high nine saves, including stopping a pair of point-blank attempts late in the first half.
Overall, Marshall outshot the hosts 19-5 and had twice as many corner kicks (six to three). MSU was whistled for fouls 11 times to just seven times for the Thundering Herd. Both teams received one yellow card and neither was flagged for being offside. Morehead State finished with nine saves, compared to two for the visitors.
The result dropped the Eagles' home mark in the last two seasons to just 2-4-2. The team's last win on its own field came on Sunday, Sept. 22, 5-1 over Eastern Illinois. The Blue and Gold currently owns an 0-3-1 mark at home since that contest.
MSU is again expected to be shorthanded, with as many as three players sitting out Sunday's game.
The Eagles will be looking to avoid their first 0-2 start since the 2021 spring campaign, and their first two winless season-opening outings at home since that same season. In 2023, Morehead State began the year 1-4-3, before rallying to finish 9-6-5 and win the OVC tournament title.
MSU ended 2024 with a 9-8-6 record, its third straight year with at least a .500 overall mark. The club also finished that campaign 4-3-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference, taking fifth place. The Eagles advanced all the way through the OVC Tournament, before falling in the finals to Lindenwood. Since the Lions were ineligible for the NCAA Tournament, MSU made its second consecutive appearance in the field of 64, where it fell to second-seeded and third-ranked Wake Forest 4-0.
The 2024 club averaged 1.09 goals per game, while allowing 1.13 gpg. The team also collected 1.09 assists per game. It took 276 shots, compared to 334 for its opponents, and had 95 corner kicks, while its adversaries had 116. The club made 107 saves in the net, while its foes stopped 98 shots. MSU was whistled 201 times, flagged for being offside on 52 occasions and were given 26 yellow cards. Its opponents had 182 fouls, 67 offside calls and 20 total cards.
Only six letter winners and nine total players return this fall, with 16 true newcomers and one redshirt joining the mix. Just three starters are back and the team only has three seniors.
The Eagles were picked to finish fourth in the OVC preseason poll, while junior defender/midfielder
Hannah Burke and sophomore forward
Ava Peck were both named as "Players to Watch".
Burke is one of two individuals on the roster entering her third year with the team. She was an OVC All-Newcomer selection in 2023 and a Second-Team All-OVC pick in 2024. Last fall, Burke played 23 games, starting 18; and tallied one goal, two assists, four points and 12 shots. Peck finished with 23 games played, 14 starts, three goals, two assists, eight points, 22 shots and two game-winning goals. Peck also led the team in scoring in the spring season with four goals and three assists.
Senior midfielder
Kennedy Baquero earned OVC All-Newcomer accolades in 2024 after recording three goals, one assist, seven points and 40 shots in 23 games (all of which she started). Senior midfielder
Kamryn Baquero is the other returning starter. In 2024, she tallied one goal, one assist, three points and 12 shots in 22 games with 16 starts. Sophomore forwards
BB Bonzheim,
Carlie Thurmond and
Carly Gilbert; sophomore midfielder
Elena Scianna and Cress also return. Redshirt sophomore midfielder
Gwen Ladd sat out last year but played in 2023.
Freshman defender
Faith Peper, redshirt sophomore goalkeeper
Sofia Rodriguez, freshman goalkeeper
Hannah Sullivan, freshman forward
Jade Walton, freshman midfielder
Natalie Lentine, graduate student midfielder
Karissa Vela, freshman defender
Olivia Lowe, junior defender/midfielder
Molly Tapak, junior midfielder/forward
Keara Chaffee, freshman defender/midfielder
Hailey Repreza, freshman midfielder
Charlotte Lee, freshman forward
Joni Bandi, junior midfielder
Hannah Carter, freshman forward
Lily Burt, freshman midfielder
Alyssa Brians and freshman defender/midfielder
Addison Petry make up the recruiting class. Bandi will sit out the season while recovering from a surgery in March.
Austin Peay (0-1) is entering the match having dropped its opener to No. 17 Vanderbilt 7-0 in Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday. The Governors split their exhibition schedule, falling to Kentucky 2-0 in Lexington, Ky., but defeating Belmont at home 1-0.
In the Vanderbilt outing, the Commodores held a 35-3 advantage in shots and 6-1 edge in corner kicks. Vandy also finished with 13 fouls, six offside calls, two saves and zero cards. APSU had nine fouls, no offside penalties, 11 saves and zero cards.
Three different players had the three shots for the Govs. Two goalkeepers shared time in the net. Junior Lauryn Berry made seven saves and surrendered five goals to get the loss. Freshman Megan Waskiewicz finished the night with four saves and allowed two goals.
Last year, Austin Peay finished 7-6-6 overall and 5-3-3 in the Atlantic Sun Conference. The Govs averaged 1.32 goals per game and 11.9 shots per game, took 116 corner kicks, were whistled for 206 fouls, flagged offside 25 times, carded on just seven occasions and accumulated 90 saves in the net. Their opponents notched 1.26 gpg, 13.3 shots per game; and recorded 82 corner kicks, 164 fouls, 22 offside calls, 15 cards and 79 saves.
APSU went 3-2-3 on the road last year, including 3-2-2 in true away contests. It is currently riding a two-game winless streak. The last victory outside of Clarksville, Tenn., came at West Georgia (2-0) last October 20.
The team returns 13 players, including five starters, and welcomes 12 newcomers. The Govs were picked sixth in the Atlantic Sun preseason poll. They did not have a representative on the preseason All-ASUN team.
Only four of the top 10 scorers are back from last year. Senior forward Ellie Dreas had six goals, two assists, 14 points and 21 shots in 2024. Sophomore midfielder Kiley Reese chipped in two goals, two assists, six points and 11 shots; with senior midfielder Kasidy Schenk contributing two goals, one assist, five points and eight shots; and sophomore forward Paige Chrustowski adding one goal, two points and five shots.
Berry started 13 games in goal last year and finished with a 4-5-4 record, a 1.29 goals against average, 72 saves, an 0.809 save percentage and four shutouts.
Head coach Kim McGowan is in her fourth season and owns a 15-27-17 record at the school.
MSU leads the all-time series 14-7-2 and is 9-2-1 against the Governors at home. The teams last met on Sept. 3, 2023, in Clarksville, Tenn., with Austin Peay claiming a 2-1 victory. The foes met twice in Morehead in 2021, with the Eagles winning both, 1-0 on Oct. 7 and 3-2 in double overtime in the Covid-19 spring campaign (April 2).
Morehead State has won the last three meetings at home. Austin Peay's most recent victory at MSU was in 2016, when it claimed a 1-0 advantage. Overall, the Eagles have outscored the Govs 37-29. The Blue and Gold went 11-2-1 in the series between 2004 and 2015. APSU has had more success of late, posting a 4-3 mark in the last 10 years. The Govs started their program in 2002.
The last time the two teams met, Morehead State outshot the hosts 18-11, including 10-5 in attempts on goal, and had a 10-2 edge in corner kicks. Austin Peay had more fouls (15-6), saves (9-3), offside violations (4-2) and cards (2-0), and still claimed the victory.
APSU scored twice in the first 35 minutes, with
Hedda Ornberg registering the lone MSU tally off an
Erin Fite pass just one minute and 35 seconds after the second Austin Peay goal. That score came from current Gov Ellie Dreas.
Sunday's promotion is "New Student Day". There will be yard games, Kona Ice and a raffle to take home a "Morehead State School Supplies Bundle."
For ticket information, click the link:
https://www.etix.com/ticket/v/16917.
Live stats are available at:
https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=596335.
To view an ESPN+ broadcast of the game, click the link:
https://www.espn.com/espnplus/player/_/id/0379f6ad-cd5e-495a-b48d-19f30ed87a09.
After a week off, Morehead State will go on the road for the first time, when the team will face Chattanooga on Sunday, Aug. 24 at 1 p.m. The Eagles' next home game is Thursday, Aug. 28 against Eastern Kentucky. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.
