The Morehead State Soccer team will begin its 2019 season with a pair of exhibition matches. The Eagles will kick things off at home on Thursday against Marshall at 7:00 p.m. ET before traveling to Northern Kentucky on Saturday for a 7:00 p.m. ET start against the Norse.
Thursday's matchup against the Thundering Herd will be played adjacent to Jayne Stadium on the MSU Recreation and Wellness Center Intramural Field. Spectators should bring blankets or lawn chairs to set up outside of the facility. Concessions will not be sold during the event.
Saturday's match against Northern Kentucky will be played in Highland Heights, Ky., at the NKU Soccer Stadium. Live stats will be available for fans on MSUEagles.com.
Morehead State is looking to build on a 2018 season that saw the program return to the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament for the first time since 2016.
After losing eight players to graduation, and in Eva Helgadottir's case to the professional ranks, the Eagles roster features 10 freshmen, five sophomores, six juniors, and three seniors.
Morehead State head coach Warren Lipka has been pleased with the way his team has approached fall camp since returning to campus and how his upperclassmen have stepped up to lead the large freshman class.
"Our upperclassmen started setting the tone for this season back in the spring," said Lipka. "The seniors and juniors have created this hunger throughout the roster and have really established that they want to re-write the story on their careers and leave a lasting mark on the program."
On the offensive end, junior midfielder Katie Quinn and sophomore defender Nicole Palmer are the only who scored goals a season ago with Quinn netting two on eight shot attempts and Palmer knocking in one on 17 shots. Overall, Quinn and senior defender Morgan Treser top the team's career-goal count with three.
Defensively, Palmer, who was named to the 2019 OVC Players to Watch List, will anchor the Eagles. Behind Palmer, freshman goalkeepers Kayla Landman and Grace Gaffney will compete for minutes.
"We will use these exhibitions as practice and to see where our team is," commented Lipka. "Myself, coach (Trip) Rogers, and coach (Lauren) Smith are really excited to see how we come out and put to practice the things we have been working on in camp."
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