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MOREHEAD, Ky. -- The Morehead State Soccer team aims for a "massive" win in Macomb, Ill., facing Western Illinois on Sunday, Oct. 25, at John MacKenzie Alumni Field.
The Eagles' final road game of the season is set for 2:00 p.m. ET, with the match being streamed on ESPN+.
"Massive game after what happened against EIU," said Head Coach
Paul Cox. "We've put in the work and are ready to put in a big performance. It's all about peaking at the right time and I've been encouraged the last two games with our work rates and chances created."
MSU is solidly in the hunt to host an opening-round Ohio Valley Conference Tournament game. With two of the bottom three teams in the standings remaining on the schedule, a pair of wins, coupled with a loss or tie by Southern Indiana, could move the Blue and Gold into sixth place and secure a home game against the seventh-place team in November's league tournament.
THE SERIES
Record vs. Western Illinois: 2-1-1
First Meeting: 9/21/2001 WIU won 4-2
Last Meeting: 9/21/2025 MSU won 1-0
Eagles' Record in Morehead, KY: 1-0-1
Eagles' Record in Macomb, IL: 1-0
Neutral Record: 0-1
Morehead State enters tomorrow's contest with a 5-10-1 (0-4-1) record, still in search of its first conference victory.
The Eagles outshot Eastern Illiois 8-3 in the first half.
Jade Walton put the first shot on goal for MSU in the 10th minute, but it was saved by Ella Kratochvil.
In the 16th minute, Abby Reinl dibbled the ball up 2/3 of the field, cut through the MSU defense, and fired a shot just inside the box, but
Amira Hendrick recorded another save.
The game stayed knotted up at zero heading into halftime.
In the second half, the game was flipped on its axil, and Eastern Illinois pushed the tempo most of the second half.
Eastern Illinois attempted five shots in the first nine minutes, none of which were on target.
Walton had two more chances, once in the 46th minute and one in the 50th minute, both of which were saved by Kratochvil.
EIU and MSU traded shots throughout the remainder of the game, with the final two Morehead State shots coming from Walton, and
Faith Peper, both of which were saved by Kratochvil.
Alex Tetteh broke free in the 86th minute, challenging Hendrick into a one-on-one situation. Tetteh's shot went left and the game stayed knotted up at zero.
With 37 seconds remaining in the contest, Tetteh sent a cross through the box toward the right side of the field, where Cora Erickson capitalized on the opportunity, scoring a late goal to secure a 1-0 victory for Eastern Illinois.
The Leathernecks hold a 2-14 (1-4) record under Ross Henderson.
Western Illinois is averaging 0.50 goals per game on 5.5 shots per contest, while allowing 2.88 goals per game on 19.4 shots.
Morehead State is averaging 0.94 goals per game on 11.7 shots, while 1.44 goals per game on 14.4 shots per contest.
NOTABLE:
- Jade Walton recorded five shots on goal against Eastern Illinois, marking the first time a Morehead State Eagle has reached that mark since Dani Wilson did so against SIUE on Oct. 26, 2018.
- Walton is second in the OVC for shots on goal (18).
- Hannah Burke is now 4th in minutes played in Morehead State history, recording 4,174 minutes played across her four seasons at MSU.
- Ashton Lynam has scored the last three goals for Morehead State, becoming the first Eagle to do so since Hedda Ornberg scored in four straight games in Oct.-Nov. of 2024.
- Amira Hendrick became the first Eagle goalkeeper to earn a shutout in her first collegiate start (with a 0-0 tie at UT Martin on Thursday) since Erin Gibbs did so against Southern Indiana in a 1-0 home victory on Sept. 18, 2022.
- Natalie Lentine was named OVC Offensive Player of the Week following her first career goal (against Mercyhurst) and first career assist (against Chattanooga) on September 8th.
- Morehead State scored in 10 of the first 11 games, marking the first time in which its accomplished that since 2015, when the Eagles also scored in 10 of the first 11 games.
- Burke notched her ninth career assist as an Eagle on Sept. 3, against Merchyhurst, putting her in sole possession of ninth place in program history.
- The Eagles have scored 15 goals this season from 10 different goal scorers.
- Eight of the Eagles 10 who have score this season have scored their first collegiate goal.
- Charlotte Lee's seven points in the first six games of the season was the first time a Morehead State Eagle has accomplished that feat since Ashley Ritchie in the first six games, 10 years ago in 2016.
- Allie Lammers' 18 combined saves against Eastern and Northern Kentucky are the most saves in a two-game span since Kayla Landman recorded 21 (14 and 7) against Purdue Fort Wayne and Murray State on 9/29/2019 and 10/4/2019.
- MSU scored in each of its first four games of the season, the first time it has accomplished the feat since 2015.
- Lee recorded four points through the first three games, becoming the first Eagle to do so since Hedda Ornberg did it from October 20-November 3 in 2024.
- The Eagles held Brescia (Ky.) without a shot in their 2-0 victory on Aug. 16, marking the first time MSU has held an opponent without a shot for an entire game since defeating North Alabama, 2-0, in the 2021 season/home opener.
