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HomeSportsAustin Peay State University Soccer falls at Murray State

Austin Peay State University Soccer falls at Murray State

Austin Peay State University Sports Information

APSU Soccer - Austin Peay State UniversityClarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University (APSU) women’s soccer team fell to rival Murray State, 2-1, in a hotly contested match, Friday, at Morgan Brothers Soccer Field.

The Govs (8-6-1, 3-4-1 OVC) unfortunately saw their program-record unbeaten streaks at home (16 in conference, 23 overall) come to an end as the Racers (9-3-1, 5-2 OVC) all but assured themselves a place in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

Austin Peay Women's Soccer fights hard against Murray but loses at home 2-1 Friday night. (APSU Sports Information)
Austin Peay Women’s Soccer fights hard against Murray but loses at home 2-1 Friday night. (APSU Sports Information)

The first few minutes were frantic and the pace was at breakneck speed as each team tried to get a hold of the game.

In the 13th minute, a Murray State player sent a ball into the box that was cleared into the path of Rebecca Kubin, who took a couple of touches to get by the Gov defense in the box and finished low to open the scoring for the Racers.

The Govs nearly found an equalizer shortly after.

2018 APSU Soccer - Claire LaroseA Racer defender took a little too much time on the ball, with Claire Larose stealing it which put her through on goal. Larose rounded Murray goalkeeper Alex Steigerwald, who appeared to get the slightest of touches on the ball which made Larose’s angle a little worse and her effort hit the post and stayed out.

The Austin Peay State University Govs kept pressing and it looked like an equalizer was coming, but McKenzie Dixon and Renee Semaan each had goal bound headers off corners blocked.

Murray State doubled their lead in the 30th minute when Lizzie Tilton dribbled down on the endline, held off an APSU defender and squared it to Kubin at the near post who finished to the far corner.

2018 APSU Soccer - Caroline WistromThe Govs received a gift of a goal in the 49th minute when Steigerwald played the ball straight to Caroline Wistrom, who shot into an open net from about 30 yards out to give the Govs a lifeline.

However, the Racers had the majority of the game’s chances after Wistrom’s goal. Peyton Powell, who came in the game as the goalie for the Govs in the second half, made two acrobatic saves to keep the Govs within striking distance.

For the first, a ball was crossed in and Murray State’s Abby Jones attacked it and her floated half-volley was tipped away by Powell.

Powell then went flying in the air to stop another shot and it looked to be going in, but Jennifer Smith cleared it off the line. The Racers also hit the post through Miyah Watford in the 75th minute.

Despite the second half resiliency defensively, the Racers held off the Govs and claimed this edition of the Heritage Bank Battle of the Border. The Racers tied up the overall score, 3-3, with the win.

The Govs face a tough road test on Sunday, traveling to league-leading UT Martin for a 2:00pm kickoff.

Austin Peay State University Notably

2018 APSU Soccer - Peyton PowellDespite the loss, the Govs remain in 6th in the OVC standings.

The program-record unbeaten streaks at home (16 conference, 23 overall) were snapped.

Peyton Powell recorded her career-high with six saves tonight.

Powell also saw her most action as a Gov, playing the entire second half and not allowing a goal.

The Govs drop to 4-13-2 all-time against the Racers.

Naomi Kolarova’s Thoughts

We knew they were going to be good. They had some really dangerous individual players and we tried to man-mark them. They slipped by us a couple of times, but I still thought we showed a lot of character going down two goals in the first half and then coming back in the second half fighting and making something happen. Our goal pretty much came from hard work and pressure.

“We didn’t create as many chances as we would have liked in the second half, but I thought we were a little better defensively, in terms of restricting their good chances. We contained their dangerous players a lot better in the second half. It was a close game against a really good team. We had a couple chances we could have put away in the first half as well so we have to take advantage of those in the future.”

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