Murray State University Athletics
Racers to host OVC quarterfinal against Southeast Missouri State
11/1/2004 6:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
The No. 3-seeded Racers (7-10-1, 4-3-1 OVC) are playing in their first OVC Championship since 2001, and equaled their best-ever seed, having gotten the No. 3 seed in its inaugural season of 2000.
The No. 6-seeded Otahkians (11-5-2, 3-3-2 OVC) will seek revenge after MSU picked up its first-ever win at Cape Girardeau earlier this season, a 1-0 win in the second overtime.
The game will be televised on a tape-delayed basis on MSU TV-11 on Tuesday at 10 p.m. Jim Ely and Steven Jones will provide the coverage for the television audience.
The winner of this game will advance to the semifinals to take on No. 2 Eastern Illinois (11-5-2, 6-1-1 OVC) on Friday at 7 p.m. at Samford's Bulldog Field in Birmingham, Ala. The championship game will be played on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Bulldog Field.
On the other side of the bracket, No. 4 Morehead State (9-8-1, 4-4-0 OVC) will host No. 5 Jacksonville State (6-10-3, 3-3-2 OVC) in the other Tuesday quarterfinal at 5 p.m. CT. The winner of that game will play at Samford (9-6-1, 7-1-0 OVC) on Friday at 4 p.m. in the other semifinal contest.
Murray State has advanced to the semifinals in each of its previous OVC Championships. In 2000, in a six-team field, the Racers beat Tennessee-Martin 4-3, with Jackie Thomas scoring all four goals, to advance to the semis, where they fell to Tennessee Tech 2-1. In 2001, with a four-team field, MSU lost to SEMO 2-0 in the semis.
This season, the tournament is returning to a six-team format for the first time since 2000. This year marks the sixth annual OVC Championship Tournament. Eastern Illinois has won every OVC Championship except in 2000, when Tennessee Tech beat EIU in the finals.
