Sophomore defender Nicole Palmer booted in a free kick in the 74th minute to give Morehead State Soccer a 1-1 tie against Northern Kentucky in an exhibition match on Saturday evening at the NKU Soccer Stadium.
The Norse found the back of the net first when Megan Patrick found Kailey Ivins on a cross into the box that Ivins played past MSU freshman goalkeeper Kayla Landman in the 60th minute. Landman, who split time with freshman teammate Grace Gaffney in goal, made five saves in the match.
Palmer's equalizing goal followed less than 15 minutes later after a foul was called on a Norse defender as the Eagles mounted an attack. Palmer, who was named to the Ohio Valley Conference's Players to Watch list, scored just one goal in 2018
The match was controlled by the MSU midfield as they helped their team win the possession battle with a 56% clip.
"Hats off to our ladies," said Eagles' head coach Warren Lipka. "After the Marshall exhibition we went back to work and looked at some points we needed to improve on and we came out tonight and executed much better in all facets of the game. The emphasis on these exhibition matches is to get better and I think we did that tonight."
Morehead State opens its 2019 campaign on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. ET against Butler. It will be the first-ever meeting between the Eagles and Bulldogs on the soccer pitch. Fans can purchase tickets on MSUEagles.com.
