Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
University of Evansville
Late Second Period Goal Sends Evansville Past Racers, 2-1
9/28/2005 5:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Fortier's sixth save in the first half broke the record of 209 career saves held by Karen Fitzharris who played from 2000 to 2003. Fortier started and played the first half, facing 11 shots, nine of which were on goal. The junior from Bowling Green, Ky., totaled eight saves, raising her career total to 212, while allowing one goal.
"Annie's been real good for us over the last three years," said Murray State Head Coach Mike Minielli. "She deserved to break the record in that first half because she played great."
The Purple Aces held an 11-3 shot advantage in the first period and attempted 10 corner kicks compared to none for MSU.
Heidi Evans staked Evansville to a 1-0 lead, 23 and a half minutes into the match, when she dribbled six yards down the center of the box and beat Fortier to the left side for her sixth goal of the season.
Just over 16 and a half minutes into the second period, Tara Eby's pass found Rebekah Clay in the center of the field. Clay's shot high over top of the goalkeeper found the net and tied the match for the Racers. It was the freshman's first career goal and Eby's first assist of the season.
Murray State limited Evansville to just two shots on goal in the second period. The Purple Aces however finished the match with an 18-5 advantage in shots. Evansville's Keshia Malone led all players with four shot attempts. Krista Llewellyn accounted for three of the Racers' five shots.
The game winner came at the 79:37 mark. Kayla Lambert took a pass from Lindsay Ince, dribbled to the left side, and beat MSU keeper Heather Jones with her shot. The goal was the ninth of the season for Lambert.
"In the first half we played worse than we did over the weekend," Minielli said. "That mental funk really carried over. In the second half though, we saw the team we expected to see all year, now we have to carry that over to the game on Friday."
The Racers will resume their 2005 Ohio Valley Conference schedule when they host Morehead State University (3-5-2, 0-2-0 OVC) on Friday at Cutchin Field on the MSU campus. The match is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m.
"We did a lot of experimenting with our line up today and we found something that's really going to work for us," Minielli added.
