60.9 F
Clarksville
Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeSportsAPSU Lady Govs Soccer falls at Murray State 2-1

APSU Lady Govs Soccer falls at Murray State 2-1

Austin Peay is No. 6th Seed in upcoming OVC Tournament

Austin Peay State University Lady Govs - APSUMurray, KY – Austin Peay State University women’s soccer team dropped a 2-1 decision to Murray State, Sunday, in the regular season finale at Cutchin Field.

Austin Peay Women's Soccer. (Brittney Sparn-APSU Sports Information)
Austin Peay Women’s Soccer. (Brittney Sparn-APSU Sports Information)

The loss gives Austin Peay (10-5-2, 5-4-1 OVC) the No. 6 seed at this week’s Ohio Valley Conference Tournament, hosted by regular season champion UT Martin.

The Lady Govs will face Southeast Missouri in the No. 3-vs- No. 6 matchup, 7:00pm, Thursday, at Skyhawk Field in a match that will be shown live on the OVC Digital Network (www.ovcdigitalnetwork.com).

An aggressive Murray State (6-10-1, 3-7-0 OVC) squad got on the board early in the first half. Bronagh Kerins took a cross from Julie Mooney in the fourth minute, firing it past sophomore keeper Nikki Filippone from just outside the 18-yard box.

Emily KinkThe early deficit belied an aggressive first-half mindset by Austin Peay, which outshot the Racers 10-4 in the opening stanza. Junior Shelby Olszewski’s header in the 38th minute represented the Lady Govs best chance in the half.

The Lady Govs sustained that aggression early in the second half, forcing four saves out of Murray State keeper Savannah Haberman in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Two of those shots came from senior Tatiana Ariza in the 52nd minute.

The Racers would strike again in the 62nd minute. Tasha Merritt and Taylor Stevens helped free Lauren Frazier, who found the net to give Murray State a 2-0 lead with under half an hour remaining in the match.

Down by two goals, the Lady Govs doubled their efforts toward finding the back of the net. Olszewski, Ariza and senior Morgan Zigelsky each forced multiple saves from Haberman over the half’s final minutes before senior Emily Kink finally broke through for the Lady Govs with an 84th-minute laser to cut the deficit in half.

Nikki FilipponeFilippone made an astounding 10 saves in defeat, a season-high for her and the most by a Lady Gov since Haylee Shoaff’s 10-save effort on August 17th, 2012 against Arkansas. Haberman made 21 saves for the Racers, a single-game high in the OVC this season.

Looking ahead, Austin Peay is set to face a Southeast Missouri squad that the Lady Govs played to a 1-1 tie, September 29th. The winner faces second-seeded Morehead State in a 7:00pm, Friday, November 8th kick-off.

RELATED ARTICLES

Latest Articles