Game #13
Southeast Missouri State (6-3-3, 2-1-2 OVC)
vs Morehead State (3-5-5, 2-1-2 OVC)
Match Information
Date: Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023
Location: Morehead, Ky.
Venue: Jayne Stadium/Jacobs Field
First Kick: 12:00 p.m., CT
All-Time Series: SEMO leads the series 15-6-7
Last Meeting: 1-1 Tie | Cape Girardeau, Mo. | Oct. 9, 2022
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Live Video: ESPN+
 
Soccer Travels to Morehead State Sunday
 Southeast Missouri women's soccer (6-3-3, 2-1-2 OVC) will be on the road Sunday, Oct. 8, when they take on Morehead State (3-5-5, 2-1-2 OVC) to continue Ohio Valley Conference action. First kick is slated for 12 p.m., CT. from Jayne Stadium in Morehead, Ky. 
 
Series History
SEMO and Morehead State will meet for the 29^th time on Sunday afternoon in a matchup of two of the longest-active schools in the OVC. The Redhawks lead the overall series 15-6-7. 
 
Last time these two matched up came on Oct. 9, 2022, in a match that resulted in a 1-1 draw at Houck Field. 
 
OVC Table
After Thursday's round of matches, Southeast Missouri is currently tied for second place with Morehead State. MSU did not play on Thursday, while the Redhawks tied with Lttle Rock to earn a point. Both institutions sit at eight points heading into Sunday's showdown. 
 
Tennessee Tech is in first place with 11 points overall after tying SIUE on Thursday night, 0-0. 
 
Southern Indiana and SIUE make up the final two spots in the top four with UT Martin, Eastern Illinois, Lindenwood, Western Illinois, and Little Rock rounding out the rest of the table. 
 
Last Time Out
Southeast Missouri and Little Rock battled to a 1-1 draw on Thursday night in Cape Girardeau. 
 
Sophomore forward Cayla Koerner got the Redhawks on the board early in the first half. A misstep from Little Rock's defenders allowed Koerner to steal the ball deep in Trojans territory. 
 
Koerner ended up one-on-one with LR goalkeeper Peyton Urban and muscled it past her for the game's first goal. 
 
For Koerner, Thursday's goal was her fourth of the season and she is now tied for the OVC lead midway through the season. 
 
SEMO outshot the Trojans by a final mark of 10-8, including two shots-on-goal. Senior midfielder Faith Liljegren led the team in shots with three total.
 
Zoe Houston and Koerner finished with two a piece, while freshman Justi Nelson and Emily Baker finished with a shot each. 
 
Redshirt senior Megan Heisserer got on the shot chart with a shot in the first half. She played 15-minutes Thursday night. 
 
Sophomore goalkeeper Sophia Elfrink tallied five saves in the contest and played all 90-minutes of the match. Elfrink recorded all five saves in the first half. 
 
LR's Abbie Smith tied the match in the 80th minute off a free-kick assist by Mykena Turner. From near midfield, Turner launched the ball into the box and found the head of Smith to beat Elfrink just inside the right post to level the match. 
 
Six Redhawks played the full 90-minute shift, including Elfrink, as Emma Brune, Alayna Jakul, Maddie Paulson, Zoe Houston, and Natalie Jackson were on the field the entirety of Thursday's match.
 
Scouting Morehead State
The Eagles enter the game with eight points tied for third in the OVC with a record of 3-5-5 (2-1-2 in conference play). Most recently MSU lost to USI 2-1 on October 1st.
 
Morehead outshot Southern Illinois nine to one but was unable to find the back of the net. Five shots were on target for Morehead while only one was on goal for USI. 
 
Goalkeeper Erin Gibbs played all 90 minutes, allowing a team goal in the 25th minute and another at the 66:50 mark.
 
Gibbs has started every game this season posting 52 saves for a 0.743 save rate while notching four shutouts.
 
The lone goal for the Eagles came from freshman Hedda Ornberg in the 79th minute. Ornberg only played 52 minutes but registered a team high in shots with four. 
 
The freshman leads the team and ranks second in the OVC in shots with 30 with 17 being on goal also ranking second in the conference.
 
The sixth-year midfielder, Collen Swift leads the team and the conference with four goals. Swift has tallied 14 shots on the year with ten being on target.
 
Leading the assist column for the Eagles is Erin Fite with three. The forward has only started six games but makes the most of her time adding 13 shots to her resume as well.
 
Head coach Chris Fox is in his second year with the program, leading the blue and gold to seven wins and four OVC wins last season, the best season since 2015 for Morehead State.
 
Looking Ahead
SEMO soccer will be off for a week following Sunday's contest and will return to action next Sunday, October 15, when they welcome in Tennessee Tech. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m., CT. at Houck Field in Cape Girardeau, Mo.