Soccer Has Bonding Excursion Prior to Chicago State Exhibition

MOREHEAD, Ky. | Morehead State women's soccer coach Paul Cox and the Eagle team are spending some bonding time in the Windy City this week as the squad prepares for its exhibition opener against Chicago State on Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET at the Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep Field two miles south of the university in the Roseland neighborhood of Chicagoland.

It will be the first of two scrimmages this fall for the Blue and Gold, with the second coming on Sunday at Ohio. It marks the first time in Coach Cox's tenure that both preseason games will be on the road. Wednesday marks the earliest exhibition game in program history. Both 2024 and 2025 featured exhibition openers on August 7, which tied for the previous initial start.

"(We're) hoping to get everyone some valuable playing time and to play against different opposition to ourselves," Cox said on his objectives in Wednesday's match with the Cougars.

Last fall, Morehead State posted a 3-13-2 overall record, a 1-6-2 Ohio Valley Conference mark and finished in ninth place. This year's squad features 26 players, including 17 returnees (11 letter winners, six starters). Cox is entering his third season at the helm with a record of 12-21-8.

As a team in 2025, the Eagles averaged 0.44 goals and assists per game, 10.9 shots per game, 2.72 corner kicks per game, 8.17 fouls per game, 1.06 offside flags per game, 5.22 saves per game and 0.67 cards per game. Its opponents tallied 2.06 gpg, 2.0 apg, 15.1 shots per game, 5.83 ckpg, 8.67 fpg, 1.56 offside calls per game, 4.06 saves per game and 0.83 cpg.

MSU returns 50 percent of its goal scorers and 62.5 percent of its assists from 2025. However, the biggest difference between last year and this fall will be in net. All 1,620 minutes of playing time by the goalkeepers will need to be replaced.

The Eagles' key returnees are sophomore defender Faith Peper (18 games, two goals, 15 shots last year), senior defender/midfielder Hannah Burke (16 games, three assists, four shots last year), sophomore forward Jade Walton (18 games, one goal, one assist, 37 shots last year), junior forward Ava Peck (18 games, 18 shots last year), senior midfielder Hannah Carter (18 games, nine shots last year) and senior midfielder Molly Tapak (16 games, seven shots last year).

Both Peper and Burke were named as OVC "Players to Watch" this season. Peper was an OVC All-Newcomer selection in 2025.

Several newcomers are expected to make immediate impacts. That group includes: redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Allie Lammers (13 games, 1.00 goals-against average, 46 saves, 0.793 save percentage, five shutouts, 6-4-2 record last year at Evansville), freshman goalkeeper Amira Hendrick (0.4 GAA, 3.8 saves per game and eight shutouts last year at Sacred Heart Academy in Louisville, Ky.), junior forward Ashton Lynam (15 games, one goal, six shots last year at Western Kentucky), freshman forward Ashlyn Francis (nine goals, five assists in 2024 at Castle High School in Newburgh, Ind.), sophomore defender Kennedy Harmon (12 games, two shots last year at High Point), freshman defender Aniya Harriott (25 games, one goal, one assist last year at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), sophomore midfielder Aynslea Ulschmid (16 games, one goal, 21 shots last year at Northern Iowa), freshman midfielder Kendall Anderson (21 games, 17 goals, 12 assists last year at Hurricane High School in Hurricane, W.Va.) and freshman midfielder Gaia Fubelli (a Developmental Player League U16 National Champion with the FRAM Soccer Club in 2024).

Three other players redshirted last fall and missed most, if not all, of last season: junior forward Keara Chaffee, junior midfielder Gwen Ladd and freshman goalkeeper Hannah Sullivan.

This past spring, the team finished 2-2-1, collecting victories over Charleton, W.Va. (5-0) and Pikeville (7-0), while tying Cincinnati (0-0), and falling to Bellarmine (3-0) and Miami, Ohio (2-1).

Last year, MSU defeated Brescia (Ky.) in the first exhibition contest at home (2-0), before falling to Cincinnati (2-1) on the road. Consequently, the Blue and Gold finished 1-1 in preseason play.

In the 2025 regular season, Morehead State posted a 0-7-1 road record.

The Eagles hope to better those results this year as it faces off against CSU on Wednesday. The Cougars finished finished 5-9-5 overall and 3-6-2 in the Northeast Conference last year, which tied for eighth place in the league standings. The five wins were a school record. In this year's NEC preseason poll, they were picked ninth of 11 teams. Last year's club finished 3-3-2 at home.

Last year, Chicago State averaged 1.0 gaa, 0.68 apg, 11.32 shots per game, 3.11 ckpg, 9.89 fpg, 1.79 offside flags per game, 5.47 saves per game and 0.84 cpg. Its opponents tallied 1.74 gpg, 0.95 apg, 15.1 shots per game, 4.21 ckpg, 10.63 fpg, 2.63 offside calls per game, 4.26 saves per game and 0.90 cpg.

In 2025, the Cougars played several foes familiar to the Eagles, including SIU Edwardsville (2-2 tie at home), Miami-Ohio (3-0 loss on the road), Wright State (1-0 loss on the road) and Mercyhurst (1-0 loss at home).

Chicago State graduated four players in 2025: forward Saige Thor, defender Veronika Avila, forward Jacqueline Kambere and defender Teyha Guiden. The quartet combined to post the winningest four-year stretch in program history. The group scored five goals, had three assists and took 42 shots in its final campaign.

Sophomore goalkeeper Aviana Gutierrez highlights the 12 returnees (four of which were starters), having earned All-NEC Rookie Team honors last fall. She played every minute in the net and finished with a 1.74 goals-against average, 105 saves, a .761 save percentage, three shutouts and a 5-9-5 record.

Offensively, only one of the Cougars' top seven scorers return, junior forward Maya Dixon (four goals, 31 shots). Sophomore defender Morgan Perry (one assist, four shots) is the only other player on the roster who recorded a point last fall.

Kevin Larry is the head coach. He is entering his second season leading the program.

It will be the first time the two teams have faced.

Morehead State will play one more exhibition game on Sunday at Ohio at 4 p.m., before opening the regular season on the road at Marshall on Thursday, Aug. 13 at 7 p.m. The Eagles' home opener will be on Sunday, Aug. 16 against Brescia (Ky.) at 1 p.m.