Morehead State soccer fell to UT Martin on Senior Day at Jayne Stadium, 2-0. Two first half goals by the Skyhawks would be too much to overcome for the Eagles, as they had several chances in the second half, but could not get on the board.
The Eagles were shutout for just the fourth time this season, but two of those shutouts have come in their last four matches.
"We went down 1-0 on the penalty kick and then we made a mistake (on the second goal), and when you make a mistake against a team like that, they're going to punish you. And that's what they did," said head coach Warren Lipka.
UT Martin got on the board first with two first half goals. The first of which came on a penalty kick goal in the 20th minute after senior Teig Palmateer was called for a hand ball inside the box. Skyhawk freshman Lisa Schmeider took the kick and delivered it to the top right corner of the net, beyond the outstretched arms of senior goalie Kaitlynn Murphy.
Four minutes later, the Skyhawks added another goal as they worked the ball from left to right, eventually finding freshman Amy McGivern, who found the bottom left corner of the net, giving UT Martin a 2-0 lead.
Morehead State tried to answer several times in the second half, but couldn't find the back of the net. Twice early in the second half, junior Angela Black found freshman Abby Timm on crosses, but both shots fell just outside of the net. Later in the half, following a free kick from senior Kelsey Gomez, the Eagles got the ball into a crowded box, but freshman Dani Wilson's shot would be blocked.
UT Martin outshot the Eagles, 14-12.
"We had a few chances, we hit the crossbar, we hit this, we hit that," said Lipka. "But, once you give up that first goal, you're chasing the game. Once we started chasing the game, the mistake happened, which was just a bad combination of events that put us in a bit of a hole."
The loss moves the Eagles to 8-9-2 overall and 5-3-1 in conference play. They still have an opportunity to secure the No. 2 seed in the OVC tournament as they travel to Tennessee Tech on Thursday at 8 p.m. The winner of that match will get the No. 2 seed and will receive a bye in the tournament.
