MOBILE, Ala. – Bookend goals by South Alabama proved to be the story in the Tennessee Tech soccer team’s first road match of the 2025 campaign. The Jaguars scored early in the first half and late in the second to collect a 2-0 nod over the purple and gold in a sweltering, humid afternoon Sunday in Mobile.
South Alabama (1-1-0) unwrapped the scoring in the 12th minute on a set piece after Melina Descary headed in a corner to give the Jaguars the early edge. The goal was set up by Victoria Rocci’s feed, which gave the freshman midfielder her first career assist.
The Jags would go on to double up the margin thanks to an Andrea Iljkic in the 76th minute that extended the lead to 2-0. The LSU transfer capitalized on a Sofia Ferrante cross, which resulted in a quick tap in by Iljkic. Ferrante earned an assist on the play.
The Golden Eagles (0-2-0) were limited to a pair of shots in the match, with both attempts occurring in the first stanza. Ebba Melin and Halle Bibbee each had a bid before intermission. South Alabama notched 13 shots in the contest, led by Iljkic’s four tries.
Maggie Conrad picked up three saves, while Jags keeper Jaidin Kinch did not earn a stop en route to the clean sheet.
AKRON 1, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
AKRON, Ohio – Eastern Illinois mounted a furious offensive attack in the final 30 minutes of action, but the Panthers were unable to find the back of the net falling 1-0 on Sunday afternoon at Akron.
EIU fell to 0-2 on the season while Akron moved to 1-0-1 on the year.
Akron scored the lone goal of the contest in the 14th minute as Luisa Fragnoli found the net from 19 yards out.
The Zips were able to have that one goal stand up as Sara Bower made four saves to produce the clean sheet.
Kate Germano had two shots for the Panthers including one of the four on goal.
Freshmen Camylle Graves and Adison Welsh both added shots on goal for EIU with senior Ella Onstott collecting the final shot on goal for EIU.
Panthers goalkeeper Ella Kratochvil made six saves during her first start of the season.
MOREHEAD STATE 1, AUSTIN PEAY 0
MOREHEAD, Ky. – Freshman defender Faith Peper’s goal at the 69-minute mark of Sunday’s Morehead State-Austin Peay women’s soccer game proved to be the difference as the Eagles snapped a four-game winless streak at the MSU Soccer Field in Morehead with a 1-0 victory over the Governors.
The shutout was the first for the Blue and Gold since the 2024 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament opener against UT Martin. Sophomore goalkeeper Claire Cress continued her outstanding start to the season by picking up her fourth career clean sheet.
The win was the first at home for Morehead State (1-1) since defeating Eastern Illinois 5-1 on Sept. 22 of last year. MSU improved to 3-4-2 on its own field since the start of 2024. The victory also prevented the Eagles from their first 0-2 start since the spring 2021 campaign. Conversely, Austin Peay (0-2) is now winless in its last four outings.
The Governors remain without a goal this season. It fell to No. 17 Vanderbilt 7-0 in its opener. The team is 0-2 on the road this year and 3-4-3 away from home since the start of 2024.
Peper’s score was the first official one of her career, although she recorded the initial goal this season in the exhibition opener against Brescia.
Morehead State dominated the possession early, but did not have many scoring chances in the first half. Improving time with the ball was a goal of coach Paul Cox, who adjusted his strategy from Thursday’s Marshall contest to Sunday in attempt to accomplish that objective.
The Eagles were finally able to connect after senior midfielder Kennedy Baquero’s corner kick from the right side that was initially headed by freshman forward Jade Walton, before eventually landing at the feet of Peper, who kicked the ball between a pair of APSU defenders and into the back of the net from just off the goal line.
Although the temperatures ranged into the high 80s, the heat did not appear to be an obvious adversary to the players. However, the game was stopped for two water breaks in each half, which is far beyond the norm.
MSU was again without three players for the contest, something that has been the case for every game this fall including exhibition play.
Both teams finished with seven total shots. However, the Eagles had a 7-2 edge in corner kicks. Morehead State was whistled for 15 fouls, which was one off last year’s high. Austin Peay committed 10 fouls. In addition, both teams were flagged for being offside once and one card was issued to each club.
Sophomore midfielder Charlotte Lee and graduate student midfielder Karissa Vela both recorded two shots to lead the Eagles. APSU’s Ellie Dreas and Taylor Grover also notched a pair of attempts.
Cress improved to 1-1 on the year, while Lauryn Berry fell to 0-2. Cress finished with three saves. Berry was credited with one.
Morehead State maintained possession for 60 percent of the game. It was on the attack in the Austin Peay defensive zone for 55 percent of its time with the ball. APSU was on offense in the MSU side of the field for 53 percent of its possession time.
MSU extended its commanding series lead to 15-7-2 and 10-2-1 at home. It is the Eagles’ fourth consecutive victory over the Govs in Morehead.
LITTLE ROCK 7, ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 0
PINE BLUFF, Ark. – Little Rock scored seven as it rolled past Arkansas-Pine Bluff. It is the Trojans’ 13th straight win against the Golden Lions and second straight 7-0 win. It was also their seventh straight shutout over UAPB.
The sweltering Sunday heat and heavy humidity couldn’t slow the Trojans. From the opening whistle, Little Rock dictated the tempo, controlling possession and relentlessly driving the ball deep into the Golden Lions’ box, putting early pressure on the defense.
The Golden Lions’ defense finally broke when Amaya Arias and Maria Schuller scored back-to-back goals to go up 2-0 within the first 20 minutes. Schuller then added an assist to Candice Kilderry’s first goal of the season to make it 3-0, and the rest was history.
After halftime, sub Maggie Turner immediately made an impact with two goals from inside the box. Sub Jaeda Centeno also had one goal. Finally, Arias added her second of the game to make it 7-0 with 10 minutes to go on a deflected shot off the keeper.
Little Rock ended the game with 45 shots (17 on goal) and 13 corners.
LINDENWOOD 1, MURRAY STATE 0
MURRAY, Ky. – On a scorching afternoon in southwestern Kentucky, the Lindenwood women’s soccer team beat the heat and their opponent, overcoming Murray State by a score of 1-0. The victory moves the Lions record to 2-0 for the first time since the 2020 season.
In a scoreless first half, Lindenwood recorded three shots with one opportunity on net. Murray State only recorded two shots, but both were on goal, forcing Caroline Ritter to make a pair of saves.
Following the break, Lindenwood would go ahead on a set piece from the corner, as Rachel Jackson flashed across goal on a great delivery from Tasneem Dizdarevic and flicked the ball off her right foot and inside the far post to give Lindenwood a 1-0 lead.
Desperate for an equalizer, the Racers put a lot of pressure on the Lions defense with 10 shots in the second half, including four opportunities from the corner in the game’s final 20 minutes. However, Caroline Ritter stood strong, posting four more saves in the half to complete her first shutout performance of the season.
While the Racers out-shot the Lions 12 to 8, Lindenwood played a much cleaner game, recording just four fouls compared to 15 for Murray State.
Lindenwood now leads the all-time series against Murray State 2-1.
SIUE 2, CHICAGO STATE 2
CHICAGO – SIUE women’s soccer and Chicago State finished with a 2-2 draw Sunday at Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep Field.
SIUE used a mix of youth and experience in scoring its goals.
Amanda Dean scored her first collegiate goal, the game’s only goal of the first half, at 39:31. The freshman went straight down the middle of the goalmouth with an assist from fellow freshman Zoe Bumiller.
SIUE senior Savannah DeFini scored her second goal in as many games when she scored at 84:53 as the Cougars rebounded from Chicago State goals by Leah Rocha and Maya Dixon.
DeFini went top right on Chicago State goalkeeper Aviana Gutierrrez, using an assist by freshman Anna Zichella for the game’s equalizer.
Both Gutierrez and SIUE goalkeeper Sarah Bozeman completed the game with six saves. Chicago State outshot SIUE 18-10 overall.
SIUE is now 1-0-1 for the season.
CLEVELAND STATE 2, SOUTHERN INDIANA 0
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Soccer produced 21 shots in Sunday’s home opener against Cleveland State University at Strassweg Field, but the Screaming Eagles could not find a breakthrough as the Vikings grabbed a 2-0 result.
USI more than tripled the number of attempts from their season-opening match last Thursday. Plus, the 21 shots matched last year’s season-high when the Screaming Eagles generated 21 shots in the 2024 regular-season finale against Western Illinois University.
On Sunday, six different Screaming Eagles recorded multiple shot attempts. Graduate midfielder Maggie Duggan and senior forward Emerson Grafton each tallied a team-best five shots. Duggan, senior forward Peyton Murphy, and sophomore forward Josie Pochocki each had two shots on goal against the Vikings. Overall, USI had nine shots on goal in the contest.
Cleveland State had seven shots with three on goal. Junior forward Elise Boyd and redshirt junior midfielder Sophia Cucchetti were the goal scorers for the Vikings.
Southern Indiana notched three shots in the first 15 minutes of action, two of which were saved by Cleveland State’s redshirt junior goalkeeper Hayleigh Lewis. It was in the 16th minute that Cleveland State scored the first goal of the game from Boyd.
USI kept the gas down and went back with four more shots over the following five minutes, including a shot off the post by Grafton. As the Eagles kept control of possession in the offensive half, tough luck continued to plague USI on the finishing end of the field. Cleveland State wound up scoring its second goal on another counterattack in the 30th minute to take a 2-0 lead, which held into halftime.
Southern Indiana came out of halftime still firing toward the net, including two by Grafton and another shot that the Vikings’ Lewis saved. Later in the second half, junior forward Grace Bamber, who had two shots in the game, provided a burst as a substitute with another good look for the Eagles. However, Lewis continued to stand tall for Cleveland State and keep USI off the scoreboard.
As the physicality and intensity ramped up down the stretch, USI placed a few more shots on target in the final minutes. However, Cleveland State held firm on the heels of nine saves by Lewis in goal.
BELMONT 1, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0
NASHVILLE – Southeast Missouri Soccer (0-2-0) dropped Sunday evening’s contest to Belmont (1-1-0) by a final score of 1-0 from E.S. Rose Park.
The Redhawks best chance of the match came early in the second half from freshman Zerina Markovic. SEMO built the play from the middle of the pitch in the 56th minute, finding Markovic who made a beautiful inside cut and fired one of SEMO’s two shots-on-goal in the second half.
SEMO was outshot by an 18-4 advantage, but goalkeeper Madison Geisler had a stellar night in net, making eight saves against nine shots-on-goal from the Bruins in the contest.
The lone goal of the match was scored in the 49th minute by Belmont’s Kaitlyn Elliot who scored with a header to take a 1-0 lead.
Justi Nelson and Cayla Koerner each registered a shot-on-target, but Belmont held on for the 1-0 victory on Sunday evening.
UT MARTIN 1, ARKANSAS STATE 1
MARTIN, Tenn. – Kylee Tompson of the University of Tennessee at Martin soccer team scored in the sixth minute of Sunday’s season opener against Arkansas State at the Skyhawk Soccer Field in Martin. Just when it looked like the goal would be enough, the Red Wolves equalized in the 85th minute to end the game in a 1-1 tie after 90 minutes.
In the sixth minute, Peyton Cook launched a pass across the 18-yard box directly onto the head of Thompson. Thompson then sent the ball past the keeper into the lower right corner for the early 1-0 lead.
UT Martin’s lead held for nearly 80 minutes until Keelyn Peacock and Leigha Dobbins set up Kennedy Horn for the equalizer in the 85th minute. Neither team could find any momentum in the last five minutes and the Skyhawks walked away from their season opener with a 1-1 tie.
The Skyhawks gave themselves plenty of chances in the contest with 13 total shots and nine on target, compared to 11 total shots and six on target by the Red Wolves. While UT Martin got the better of Arkansas State in corner kicks, 10-3, the Red Wolves won the free kick battle, committing just three fouls, while UT Martin committed eight.
Mac Titus went the full 90 minutes in goal for UT Martin and ended the night with five saves. Damaris Deschaine allowed the goal for Arkansas State and made four saves in the first 45 minutes of the game, while Taylor Sweat kept a clean sheet in the last 45 and also made four saves.