MOREHEAD, Ky. – Continuing its rotating pattern of home and away games, the Morehead State women's soccer team will entertain cross-state foe Bellarmine in what will be this season's final non-conference contest in Morehead. The two teams will tangle at the MSU Soccer Field at 7 p.m.
The Eagles dropped their last outing at Radford 2-1 on Sunday but were victorious in their most recent home game, a 1-0 decision against Miami-Ohio. After allowing 10 goals in two outings the previous week and 15 through the first five contests, Morehead State (2-5-0) surrendered just two last week.
MSU got some bad news this week as it learned that junior midfielder
Keara Chaffee will be out for the remainder of the season.
Thursday's outing will be the third meeting against Bellarmine in the last three years. The Knights are off to a tremendous start.
BU continues the trend of every Eagle opponent but one this fall with at least a .500 record entering the game against the Blue and Gold.
"Bellarmine have a new coach, are unbeaten and beat Indiana," said MSU head coach
Paul Cox. "(They are a) good, organized team. I think they will give us a good match in our preparation for OVC play next week."
MSU will need to find some offense. It was outshot 16-1 against Miami in winning its first weekday game of the season. Over the last week, the Blue and Gold was outshot 25-9 and had a 20-2 deficit in corner kicks.
In 2025, the Eagles have had more success at home, where they own a 2-2 record.
The team is averaging 0.57 goals per game, 7.8 shots per game, 3.29 shots on goal per game, 2.71 corner kicks per game, 9.29 fouls per game, 0.43 offside violations per game, 5.71 saves per game and 0.86 cards per game. Its opponents average 2.43 gpg, 17.29 shots per game, 7.86 shots on goal per game, 6.29 ckpg, 9.57 fpg, 1.71 offside violations per game, 2.71 saves per game and 0.86 cpg.
Individually, freshman forward
Jade Walton and senior midfielder
Kennedy Baquero now lead the team in scoring with one goal and one assist apiece. Walton has taken seven shots to four for Baquero. Graduate student midfielder
Karissa Vela and freshman defender
Faith Peper follow with one goal apiece. Vela is tied with Walton for the team lead in shots. Sophomore forward
Carlie Thurmond and junior midfielder/defender
Hannah Burke each have two assists. Thurmond and freshman midfielder
Charlotte Lee are tied for second on the team in shots with six.
Sophomore goalkeeper
Claire Cress collected her fourth career complete-game shutout against Miami. On the season, she has a 2.31 goals-against average, a 2-5 record, with two shutouts, plus 37 saves and a .712 save percentage.
Bellarmine (4-0-2) is on a six-game unbeaten streak, with its most recent results including a 0-0 tie against Southern Indiana at home on Sunday, a 2-1 win at Wright State last Thursday and a 2-1 home win over Indiana last Sunday. The Knights also have tied Northern Kentucky 1-1 and defeated Miami (Ohio) 2-0 to open the season.
The team is 2-0 away from home this year. Its last loss came in the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament quarterfinals against Lipscomb 2-1 in double overtime last fall. The Knights finished 1-9-1 on the road in 2024. Thursday's game is the first of four straight away contests for BU.
This season, it is averaging 3.0 gpg, 17.8 shots per game, 9.0 shots on goal per game, 6.17 ckpg, 9.0 fpg, 2.17 offside calls per game, 5.0 saves per game and 1.0 cpg. Its opponents are averaging 0.5 gpg, 12.7 shots per game, 5.5 shots on goal per game, 5.83 ckpg, 5.83 fpg, 2.33 offside calls per game, 6.0 saves per game and 0.67 cpg.
Sophomore forward McKenize Carle, a preseason All-Atlantic Sun Conference selection, leads the squad with three goals, three assists and nine points. She also adds 19 shots. Freshman forward Katie Paulakonis and sophomore midfielder/forward Campbell Tippey are next with three goals and six points. Paulakonis has taken nine shots to Tippey's eight. Senior forward Lucy von Stefenelli has two goals, one assist, five points and 20 shots. Redshirt senior defender Sidney Rigsby (also a preseason all-conference pick) adds two goals, four points and eight shots. Sophomore midfielder Brynn Severance has nine shots. Ten Knights have scored a goal and nine have an assist. In total, 16 players have registered at least one point.
In the net, redshirt freshman Anna Jenkins, a transfer from Marquette, has started five of the six games and owns a 0.60 gaa, with a 3-0-2 record, 29 saves, a .906 save percentage and two shutouts. Redshirt junior Shelby Smith started the other contest and is 1-0, with a 0.00 gaa. She made no saves but shared in the shutout.
Coach Steve Bornhoffer is in his first season with the club and has a 4-0-2 record. He previously served as an assistant coach at Northern Kentucky.
Bellarmine was picked to finish 10th in the ASUN preseason coaches' poll.
MSU leads the Knights 1-0-1 in the all-time series with all three meetings coming since 2023. Last year, the Blue and Gold won 1-0 in Louisville. In the previous campaign, the teams tied 1-1 in Morehead.
In the 2024 meeting, Bellarmine outshot the Eagles 16-11 and had four corner kicks to MSU's three. Both teams had eight fouls and three saves. MSU was flagged for being offside three times to twice for BU. A total of six cards were awarded, three for each team, although no player received more than one.
Hedda Ornberg scored the goal off an assist from sophomore forward
BB Bonzheim in the 37th minute. Ornberg and Thurmond had three shots apiece. Rachel Skyberg had a game-high four shots for the Knights. Cress made three saves in the Eagles' net. Cambria Kingman also had three saves for the hosts.
In 2023, Bellarmine also had an advantage in shots (10-8) and corner kicks (4-3). BU also led in fouls 11-9. MSU had both cards and drew the lone offside flag. Former Eagle Colleen Swift had an unassisted goal 57 seconds into the game to give Morehead State the lead. Alexa Orozco scored on a penalty kick in the 58th minute to tie the score. Nicole Fiantaco led the Blue and Gold with three shots. Emma Nicholson had a team-best three to pace the Knights. Erin Gibbs made seven saves for the hosts, while Kingman and Smith shared netminder duties for Bellarmine. Kingman allowed the goal and made one save. Smith had two saves. No current Eagle played in the 2023 contest.
Thursday, Morehead State will honor first responders and military personnel, and those individuals will be admitted for free. Fire trucks, police cruisers and EMS, as well as Sparky the Fire Dog, will be on hand for the game.
For ticket information, click the link:
https://www.etix.com/ticket/v/16917.
Live stats can be found at the link:
https://shorturl.at/oRGGY.
The game will be aired live on ESPN+ and available at the link:
https://shorturl.at/CV59g.
Morehead State will go on the road one final time for a non-conference tilt, when it travels to Cleveland State for a Sunday 1 p.m. matchup against the Vikings. CSU is coached by former Eagle assistant Mark Sappington. MSU will then take a week off before opening Ohio Valley Conference play on Sunday, Sept. 21, with Western Illinois at 1 p.m. That game will be Senior Day and Family Weekend at Morehead State.
