Racers Play Exhibition Thursday At Evansville

Thursday, August 11

Evansville, Ind.

7 p.m.

Murray State

Evansville (Exh.)

Photo by: Dave Winder-Murray State Athletics

8/9/2016 5:10:00 PM | Women's Soccer

2016 Schedule

The Murray State soccer team plays a preseason exhibition Thursday on the road against the Evansville Purple Aces. The 7 p.m. game happens at Arad McCutchan Stadium in Evansville, Ind.

The game was rained out Wednesday and moved to Thursday.

The exhibition finds two teams that hosted and won their conference tournaments and played in the NCAA Tournament last November. The Racers (16-5, 10-0) won the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament, while the Aces (6-11-3, 3-2-1) won the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. In NCAA play, Murray State lost 1-0 at Ole Miss in the first round, while UE lost at Florida State 3-0.

The last time Murray State and Evansville met was in the 2013 regular season when the Racers came away with a 1-0 on the Aces home pitch.

The Racers were named No. 1 in the OVC Preseason Poll on Monday, after being picked fifth a year ago. Proving that preseason polls are often wrong, the Racers became the first undefeated OVC team in league history at 10-0.

MSU has a roster that features returning OVC Offensive Player of the Year in junior Harriet Withers. Last season, she scored a MSU single-season record with five game-winning goals and set the single-season record for points with 29. Senior Taylor Richerson returns after being named All-OVC in 2015. Sophomore goalkeeper Alex Steigerwald (All-OVC Second Team) and junior Shelby Haworth may be the best two goalkeepers in the OVC. Haworth is back after her season was cut short nine games into the 2015 season. She was named to the All-OVC Newcomer Team as a freshman in 2014. Additionally, the Racers have 16 underclassmen on the roster, including 10 true freshmen.

After the exhibition at UE, the Racers open the season at Louisiana Tech a week from Friday (Aug. 19). After a game at Alabama (Aug. 21), MSU plays its home opener against Chattanooga (Aug. 26) at Cutchin Field.