MOREHEAD, Ky. | Hours before the Morehead State women's soccer team is expected to open exhibition play on Wednesday at Chicago State, the Ohio Valley Conference announced its 2026 preseason rankings and "Players to Watch" lists. The voting was done by the league's eight head coaches and team communication contacts.
Last fall, Morehead State posted a 3-13-2 overall record, a 1-6-2 Ohio Valley Conference mark and finished in ninth place in the final league standings. This year's squad features 26 players, including 17 returnees (featuring 11 letter winners and six returning starters) for head coach
Paul Cox's third season with MSU.
The Players to Watch list included two Eagles, senior defender/midfielder
Hannah Burke and sophomore defender
Faith Peper. It is the second straight year Burke was selected. She was named to the All-OVC Newcomer Team as a freshman and second-team All-OVC as a sophomore.
"Faith and Hannah are two of our three all-conference players on the roster (including junior forward
Ava Peck) and will be huge in our quest to win another OVC championship," Cox said.
One of two four-year team members, Burke had a team-best three assists last fall, in addition to playing in 16 games, starting 13 and finishing with four shots, including two on goal. Over her career, she has played 51 games, starting 43. Burke enters the year with seven career assists, which ranks one spot outside of the school's top 10. She was 10th in the conference in assists per game last year.
"I feel so proud to be nominated as a 'Player to Watch' for this upcoming season!" she said. "I want to achieve so much with this team and I believe this year will be a great one! This nomination however isn't solely (about) myself; it's also (about) my teammates and coaches who push me to (be) my best every day on and off the field. Going into my senior year, this nomination makes me more motivated for the season ahead. We have big goals for the year and I can't wait to get started!"
Peper was a 2025 All-OVC Newcomer selection after playing virtually every spot on the field except goalkeeper. As a freshman, she saw action in 18 games, starting 17, recording two goals on 15 shots, with eight coming on frame. She is the team's top returning player on offense.
Peper scored against Little Rock and Austin Peay, notching the game-winner against the Govs last August.
"I'm super excited and grateful to be named one of the OVC 'Players to Watch'!" Peper said. "It means a lot and is also a great tribute to all of my teammates and coaches' hard work as well. As for the upcoming season, we've been growing and improving a lot. I can't wait for this season and am hoping for a very successful one!"
With the departure of two schools, there will be eight teams participating in OVC women's soccer this year. One of those who left is Tennessee Tech, the defending regular season and tournament champion.
Lindenwood was tabbed as the team to beat, after posting a 10-5-5 overall record and a 5-2-2 OVC mark last fall. The Lions received nine first-place votes and 93 total points. Eastern Illinois (8-8-3/5-3-1 in 2025) was picked to finish second with five first-place votes and 87 total points. Southern Indiana (9-7-5/4-2-3) slides in at third with two first-place votes and 77 total points. UT Martin (3-7-9/3-3-3) with 55 points, SIU Edwardsville (3-12-5/2-4-3) with 52 points, Southeast Missouri (2-5-2/2-15-2) with 39 points, MSU with 31 points and Western Illinois (1-17-1/0-8-1) with 14 points round out the field.
Over the last four seasons, Morehead State was picked to finish fourth in 2024 and 2023, third in 2022 and ninth in 2021.
Nine returning All-OVC performers from 2025 automatically were included on the 'Watch List'. That group featured three from Eastern Illinois (junior defender Colleen Bauer, senior goalkeeper Ella Kratochvil and senior forward Alex Tetteh), three from Lindenwood (junior forward Mackenzie Compton, junior midfielder Tasneem Dizdarevic and senior defender Allison Schrumpf), two from UT Martin (senior forward Peyton Cook and redshirt senior goalkeeper Mac Titus) and one from Southern Indiana (junior defender Emma Schut).
The remainder of the 'Watch List" featured two players from each school. Senior forward Abby Reinl and senior midfielder Brookly Greene of Eastern Illinois, senior forward Anna Johnson and junior goalkeeper Caroline Ritter of Lindenwood, junior defender Laia Amat and sophomore midfielder Rachel Kretzer of Southeast Missouri, sophomore forward Tori Bockstadter and senior goalkeeper Sarah Bozeman of SIUE, junior midfielder Ava Hess and graduate student forward Payton Seymour of Southern Indiana, junior midfielder Unni Wolf and junior forward Millie Perry of UT Martin, and junior defender Hope Welsh and junior defender Rita Moran of Western Illinois join Peper and Burke.
Morehead State faces off against Chicago State this afternoon at 2 p.m. ET. The Eagles conclude the preseason with a Sunday road game at Ohio. Kickoff is 4 p.m. The regular season begins on Thursday, Aug. 13, with MSU facing Marshall at 7 p.m. in Huntington, W.Va. The Blue and Gold's home opener is Sunday, Aug. 16 versus Brescia (Ky.) at 1 p.m.
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