MOREHEAD, Ky. – In just a short time, the Morehead State women's soccer team has developed a heated rivalry with its next opponent, Southern Indiana. The Eagles will travel to face USI on Thursday at 8:05 p.m. ET at Strassweg Field in Evansville, Ind.
In 2024, both teams won a bitterly contested match on the other's home field. No. 5-seeded MSU defeated the No. 4-seeded Screaming Eagles in the 2024 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament second round after Southern Indiana upended the Blue and Gold 1-0 on October 13, dealing the Eagles a huge blow in their attempt to earn a first-round bye in the league tournament.
MSU coach
Paul Cox, for one, remembers those two matches well.
"If we play our game, we will be just fine," he said. "They'll want revenge for last year, but we are ready to compete for three points!"
Morehead State (3-7-0/1-0-0) won its OVC opener over Western Illinois this past Sunday at home 1-0. The Eagles are looking to carry over that success and continue a streak of starting the conference season 2-0 for the fourth straight campaign.
To do that, MSU will have to pick up its first road win of the year. The team has dropped its last five games away from home, including last year's NCAA Tournament outing at Wake Forest, a streak that is its longest since an 0-11 mark that ran from October 6, 2023, to September 19, 2021.
This season, the Blue and Gold has gone on two three-game skids with a win sandwiched on either end. The club is 0-4 in road outings and 3-3 at home.
It has been outscored 22-6, both the lowest scoring output and the last time the team allowed 22 goals through 10 games since 2018, when the team was also outscored 22-6. However, the trend is starting to change. The Eagles have produced a goal in four of their last five contests.
In team statistics, Morehead State is averaging 0.6 goals per game, 10.3 shots per game, 3.8 shots on goal per game, 3.0 corner kicks per game, 8.4 fouls per game, 0.8 offside violations per game, 6.0 saves per game and 0.8 cards per game. Its opponents average 2.2 gpg, 16.7 shots per game, 8.0 shots on goal per game, 5.5 ckpg, 9.6 fpg, 1.8 offside violations per game, 3.3 saves per game and 0.8 cpg.
Individually, senior midfielder
Kennedy Baquero remains the lone player with two goals. She also has one assist, five points and seven shots. Freshman forward
Jade Walton has one goal, one assist, three points and 13 shots. Graduate assistant midfielder
Karissa Vela and freshmen defenders
Faith Peper and
Addison Petry each have one goal. Sophomore forward
Carlie Thurmond and junior defender/midfielder
Hannah Burke have two assists apiece. Vela leads the squad with 14 shots, followed by Walton with 13, sophomore forward
Ava Peck with 12 and Thurmond with 10.
In the net, sophomore
Claire Cress has a 3-7-0 record, with a 2.11 goals-against average, 55 saves, a .733 save percentage and three shutouts.
Southern Indiana (3-5-2/0-0-1) has found its groove of late. After starting the year 0-5, the Screaming Eagles are undefeated in their last five games. USI is coming off a 0-0 tie at UT Martin in its OVC opener on Saturday. Prior to that, it defeated Fort Wayne 6-1 at home, tied Bellarmine 0-0 on the road, and toppled both Valparaiso and Southern Illinois 2-0 at home. The Screaming Eagles have outscored their last five opponents 10-1, with four shutouts during that stretch.
On the season, Southern Indiana is 3-2 at home, with wins in its last three outings.
In team statistics, USI averages 1.4 gpg, 12.4 shots per game, 4.7 shots on goal per game, 6.1 ckpg, 7.4 fpg, 1.7 offside violations per game, 3.2 saves per game and 0.5 cpg. Its opponents average 1.9 gpg, 13.3 shots per game, 5.1 shots on goal per game, 4.5 ckpg, 7.7 fpg, 0.8 offside violations per game, 3.3 saves per game and 1.2 cpg.
The Screaming Eagles have collected six Player of the Week honors this season, with redshirt junior Anna Markland earning three Goalkeeper of the Week awards, including this week.
Five team members have started all 10 games this season, with senior forward Emerson Grafton and sophomore forward Eva Boer among that group. Grafton leads the way in scoring with three goals, one assist and seven points, and has taken 24 shots. Boer is next with two goals, one assist, five points and 15 shots. Sophomore forward Josie Pochocki has two goals, one assist, five point and six shots; while senior forward Peyton Murphy adds one goal, three assists, five points and 12 shots. Graduate student midfielder Maggie Duggan is the only other Screaming Eagle with a double-figure shot total at 14. She also has started all 10 games.
In the net, Markland has a 3-4-2 record, with a 1.59 gaa, 26 saves, a .650 save percentage and four shutouts. She has started all but one game this fall.
Eric Schoenstein is in his 10th year as the team's head coach. He has a 82-66-32 record at the school.
MSU and USI have a four-game series history with each team winning twice. In addition to last year's results (Morehead State winning 2-1 in the OVC Tournament in Evansville, Ind., and Southern Indiana capturing a 1-0 decision in Morehead), the sides also faced off in both 2023 and 2022. The Eagles came away with a 1-0 victory at home in the first-ever meeting, while USI won 2-1 at home two years ago.
In last year's first outing, Morehead State had 15 shots, 11 corner kicks, 11 fouls and one offside flag. USI tallied 10 shots, two corner kicks, 10 fouls and six offside calls. Boer scored first, with Murphy collecting an assist. The Eagles rallied with
Hedda Ornberg and then
Anna Lohrer each scoring, with
Erin Fite tallying an assist on both goals.
Lilly Bailey had four saves for the Blue and Gold, with Markland tallying seven for the visitors. Ornberg and senior midfielder
Kamryn Baquero each had a pair of shots to lead the hosts.
In the OVC Tournament match, MSU held a 10-8 advantage in shots and 8-6 edge in corner kicks. USI more fouls (19-8) and offside flags (2-1). Both teams had one card. Pilar Torres scored the game's lone goal, with Boer and Grafton collecting assists. Bailey corralled five saves, while Markland had two saves. Baquero and
Gracen Houck topped the Blue and Gold in shots with two apiece.
In both games, each team had one card.
The game will be broadcast on ESPN+. It can be found at the link:
https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/eventCalendarId/401781278?gameId=738639&sourceLang=en&om-navmethod=espn%3Aglobalsearch%3Aresults.
Live stats are also available at the link:
https://usiscreamingeagles.com/sidearmstats/wsoc/summary.
Morehead State returns home to host defending OVC Tournament champ Lindenwood on Sunday at 1 p.m.
