MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Morehead State Soccer Eagles found themselves on the winning side of another home contest Sunday afternoon, earning their fourth consecutive home shutout with a 2-0 victory over Northern Kentucky.
MSU now owns a 4-game home unbeaten streak and has now shut out its opponents for the last 368 minutes and 21 seconds.
"Massive win for us, especially after Thursday," said Head Coach
Paul Cox. "I didn't recognize our team in the first half (On Thursday's game against EKU), but today, that's how you play. We played really well, kept the ball really well. Had a great shot on the first one (Lee) and Jade (Walton), what a hit to make it two-nil."
MSU's victory marked the first time in program history that the Eagles have defeated the Norse. Entering today, NKU was the only opponent MSU had played at least nine times without winning a game.
Northern Kentucky had previously scored eight straight goals against Morehead State without allowing a single goal, outscoring MSU 19-4 overall (12-1 in the last five meeitngs). MSU improved to 3-3 on the season and 3-0 at home. Northern Kentucky fell to 4-1 on the season, being shut out for the first time this year.
The victory also marked the first time the Eagles have scored multiple goals against the Norse and their first goal against Northern Kentucky since 2017.
It was another hot, muggy day in Morehead, Kentucky, with a game-time temperature of almost 90 degrees.
The Eagles kicked off the game in attack mode, possessing the ball for 70% of the first 25 minutes and 57% of the entire first half.
Morehead State sophomore Charlotte Lee once again reached into her bag of tricks, scoring in the 18th minute off her own corner kick to put the Eagles ahead 1-0. Lee's corner found its way into the box, bounced off a defender and snuck into the top of the net for the score.
"It was a good positive win," Lee said. "The win meant a lot for us coming off a loss on Thursday. I think it was mentality, I'll be honest, mentality was on top today."
Lee was then asked how it feels to score another goal. Her response was pure class, giving all credit to her team.
"It's always a good feeling, helping out the team, getting goals and assists from corners. Anything to help out the team to get goals and get wins."
"Her delivery is unbelievable. Maybe not 'Bend It Like Beckham,' but 'Curl It Like Charlotte' is a new movie coming out," Cox said with a laugh.
MSU controlled the tempo for the remainder of the first half, taking its 1-0 lead into halftime.
Coming out of the break, Northern Kentucky was quick to jump on the attack. The Norse brought the possession numbers nearly back to even while limiting the Eagles to just two shots in the second half.
One of those two shots was an absolute strike from sophomore Jade Walton, who took a pass from Lee and Keara Chaffee just outside the box and slammed it into the top-left corner of the net, 56 minutes and 48 seconds into the contest to give MSU a 2-0 lead.
Lee's goal and assist is now the seventh point she's recorded on the season, which currently ties her for second in the Ohio Valley Conference. Out of her two goals and three assists, three of the five have come off a corner kick.
NKU continued the aggressive pursuit, recording a total of 15 shots in the second half alone, none of which ultimately found the back of the net. MSU particularly dodged a goal being allowed late in the second half when the Norse lined up for an indirect free kick just 5 yards away from the net, but the Eagle defensive line blocked the point-blank attempt.
Goakeeper Allie Lammers finished today's contest with nine saves, her second straight match with nine. Lammers now ranks second in the OVC in saves (28) and tied for first in shutouts (3).
Cox agreed the defenders were incredible today.
"I thought the defenders, the back three, were class today, really, really good," said Cox. "Hannah Carter never asks to come out, but she was at her end and had to come out. Molly (Tapak) locked it down the last five minutes. I'm very happy, and very proud of them. Between Allie (Lammers) and the back three, they were phenomenal," he said.
Northern Kentucky led in shots (19-8) and corner kicks (10-4).
Cox was asked about strategy and changes that the team made following the 1-0 loss to Eastern Kentucky on Thursday.
"We looked at the heat, knew we had the two water breaks each half. We looked at that as an opportunity, each 15 minutes, we had an opportunity to get back in and collect ourselves," he said. "For the first 15 minutes, let's get a positive, get to the break nil-nil, which we did. Then we said next one, we need to test the keeper, which we did, winning the second one one-nil. Then can we get to halftime with a clean sheet. It was the same in the second half. 'Can we get to each 15 minutes, winning it?'."
Cox finally wanted to commend his assistant, Brett Ekperuoh.
"I want to sing Brett's praises. He's taken over set pieces this year. We've been elite both sides of the ball," Cox said. "We dealt with their monster long thrower today. He set us up perfectly to deal with it. We've also scored from a set piece for the fourth time today. He's a different class."
The Eagles will be back in action on Thursday, welcoming Mercyhurst to their home turf at 11 a.m. The match is in the morning to also accomodate fans wishing to attend MSU football's Thursday night game at 6 p.m. This will be second of four straight home games, the longest home stand in nine seasons and second longest in program history.
Thursday is Faculty Appreciation Day, celebrating the faculty and staff who make the MSU campus community exceptional. All faculty and staff will receive free admission to Thursday's contest.
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