Morehead State soccer ended its season at 6-11-2 (3-6-1 Ohio Valley Conference) after a 3-1 loss at Southeast Missouri on Sunday afternoon.
"The girls worked their butts off," said head coach Warren Lipka. "I'm very proud of their effort."
The Eagles were once again led by forward Ashley Ritchie, who scored the team's only goal off an assist from sophomore Cara Maher. Ritchie had a hand in three of Morehead State's five shots, landing each attempt on goal. The freshman ended her first collegiate season with a team-leading eight goals, two assists, 47 shot attempts, and 23 shots on goal.
Freshman goalkeeper Eva Ýr Helgadóttir added nine more saves to her season total, coming in at 90 on the year. The 6-foot-2 Reykjavík, Iceland native faced 273 total shots, starting in 14 of the Eagles' 19 matches.
Defenders Angela Black, Tayler Stivers, and Makenna Lavatori played all 90 minutes on the backline in Sunday's loss to the Redhawks. Stivers and Lavatori, along with fellow defender Dani Wilson, were the only Morehead State players to start in every game this season.
Black, a senior, finishes her illustrious career with 14 goals, 12 assists, 145 shot attempts, and 67 shots on goal over 4,724 minutes. She has garnered second team All-OVC, OVC Freshman of the Year, OVC All-Newcomer, OVC Offensive Player of the Week, and OVC Defensive Player of the Week honors over her career, with additional accolades likely still to come.
The Eagles will graduate Black, Tonia Parisi, and Ashley Huffine this offseason. However, Morehead State is set to return 10 of this season's top 11 performers, as 79 percent of the team's total minutes were allotted to underclassmen.
"I look forward to working with this young group in the offseason," Lipka said. "The future is very promising."
This will be the first time since 2012 that the Eagles will not participate in postseason action. Morehead State would go on to win the 2013 OVC Tournament that following season.
