The Eagles saw their season come to an end Friday at the hands of SEMO, dropping their first round OVC Championship Tournament matchup with the Redhawks 1-0.
Morehead State concludes their season in the OVC tournament for the first time since 2018, and finishes with a record of 4-10-4 on the season, with eight of their ten losses coming away from home.
The matchup was a much more even and offensively driven game than the first meeting between the two teams, with both the Eagles and the Redhawks notching seven shots apiece, but once again, the defense controlled the story of the game, as prime chances were hard to come by in the tightly contested showdown.
The Redhawks flipped the script on Morehead State from their previous game, firing the game's first two shots on goal, one more than they had all of last match against the Eagles, but both chances were batted away by junior goaltender Michelle Jerantowski. Shots from Katelynn Setters and Caitlyn Burdine both forced SEMO goaltender Bailey Redden to make diving stops, but the save of the first half came from Jerantowski, who fought off a dangerous shot and rebound chance from SEMO in the 40th minute to send the game into halftime scoreless.
An aggressive Morehead State offense was awarded a corner kick in the 48th minute, but shots from Colleen Swift and Abby Vanhoeve couldn't find the mark. It was finally SEMO, off of a perfect centering pass deep in Morehead State's territory, who broke the ice, scoring the first and only goal between the two teams this season in the 63rd minute.
The Eagles refused to go down without a fight, however, leading to a frenetic final ten minutes as they searched for the equalizing goal. The Eagles peppered SEMO with three corner kicks and two dangerous shots from Katie Kiolbassa in the late stages of the game, but could not beat Redden, who led the OVC in shutouts this season, before time expired.
The match also marks the final appearance for Morehead State's three seniors, Colleen Swift, Katie Kiolbassa and Caitlyn Burdine, who led the Eagles to a sixth place finish in the OVC and the most home wins in a season for the program since 2018.
"This team has changed everything we are looking for in a team. Fight, complete effort, and pride in our program and school. They played with heart tonight and came up short. It's not for a lack of work rate, and commitment, just the game of soccer. I love this group," head coach Warren Lipka added.
