Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Jacksonville State
Racers win in second overtime over JSU on Latimer header
10/3/2004 5:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Senior Theresa Reedy picked up her 11th goal of the season on a drive from the opening kick, taking a pass from freshman Kara Carlile in front of the goal and popping it in from five feet out.
Reedy is just two goals behind the MSU record for single-season goals, set by Jackie Thomas in 2000.
Both teams played aggressively from that point. The Racers (5-7-0, 2-1-0 OVC) took four shots on goal in the first half, two in the second and one in the second overtime, but Jacksonville State goalkeeper Amanda Stephens (3-6-1, 1-2-0 OVC) was up to the task, turning away five saves.
Jacksonville State (4-8-1, 1-2-0 OVC) had two shots on goal in the first half, three in the second and three in the first overtime, but sophomore goalkeeper Annie Fortier (4-4-0, 2-1-0 OVC) turned away seven saves.
In the second half, the Gamecocks knotted the game when Christina Balint took the corner kick from Kate Stipech in front of the goal and put it in from 10 feet out with 15:50 left in regulation.
Jacksonville State maintained possession for most of the first 10-minute overtime period, and got off three shots on goal, but were unable to put it past Fortier.
In the second overtime, Murray State kept possession for most of the period, with 5:34 left, freshman Sara Struve booted a corner kick towards the goal box, ad Latimer jumped up and headed it in from five feet out for the game-winner. The goal was Latimer's first of the season.
"She plays well in the air," said MSU head coach Mike Minielli. "She got up a foot above everybody else. Her specialty is finishing around the box.
"We had a lot of energy in the first half and the first part of the second half, and I told our players we can do this the easy way or the hard way. We seem to be able to do things the hard way and turn games into battles. The bright side is, we know we're OK in these situations, since we've played them before.
"We played well in the box today on both ends," Minielli said. "We put some pressure on their goalkeeper that we didn't against Samford on Friday.
"This win is huge for us. Last year, we missed out on the tournament because of two ties that we couldn't convert to wins. We know that, once we get into the tournament, we can play with anybody. We lost to Jacksonville State last year, so this was a really huge win for us."
Murray State next plays against Tennessee-Martin on Saturday at noon at MSU's Cutchin Field.
