Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Tennessee Tech
Racers Travel to Tennessee Tech & Jacksonville State
10/13/2011 10:23:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Murray State soccer looks to pick up a number of important points this weekend as the Racers face road contests at Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State.
Looking for its first OVC win of the season through three conference matches, MSU is coming off of a dominating 6-0 performance at Alabama A&M. Head coach Beth Acreman is looking to see the momentum picked up earlier in the week in her team's play against conference opponents.
“We got a lot out of our game against Alabama A&M,” Acreman said. “We've struggled on the scoring side this season, so it was nice to see players put the ball in the back of the net. We were able to work on some things that we'll need for the rest of the year and we really benefitted from playing that game.”
Sophomore Shauna Wicker and freshman Julie Mooney lead the scoring charge for Murray State on Monday. Wicker tallied the seventh hat trick in school history, netting three consecutive goals, and Mooney scored the first two goals of the game with an assist on the third.
“It was great to see Shauna work so hard and be able to finish the ball, scoring a couple of different ways, and Julie Mooney put two in the back of the net,” Acreman said.
“Julie is definitely maturing game-by-game. She's still just a freshman but she has a big role on our team and she creates a number of attacking opportunities for us.”
The Racers are matched up with a pair of teams this week that they've had success against in the past, winning the last three against Jacksonville State while earning victories in their last five games against Tennessee Tech.
Tennessee Tech is coming off of its first conference victory, a 2-1 double-overtime win against Jacksonville State on the road. Kerri Reid and Ellie Iaciofano each lead the Golden Eagles with three goals on the season.
Murray State defeated TTU at home in 2010, winning 3-0 in a match that produced the last Murray State hat trick as Sophie Hargreaves scored all three goals in the victory.
Jacksonville State comes in to weekend action having participated in three straight matches that have gone to double-overtime. The Gamecocks dropped their match on a late goal with Tennessee Tech, and played the entire 110 minutes in a pair of ties against Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State.
The Racers edged out a 1-0 overtime win at home against JSU last season, earning the win on free kick in the 96th minute.
We need to get on the board in OVC play and Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State are going to be teams that give us a hard match up,” Acreman said. “Once you get to conference play, every game is really important, and for us, playing the first three and learning a lot from those, we need to be successful this weekend. I look for us to play with urgency and link that in with being composed. Monday, we were able to work on our composure during the game and it helped them learn what we're expecting now in this last part of the season.”
