Racers Earn Three Points in Edwardsville with 2-1 Victory over SIUE

Friday, March 26

Edwardsville, Ill.

7 P.M.

Murray State

7-1-0, 7-1-0

SIUE

5-1-1, 5-1-1

Murray St.

SIUE

Racers Earn Three Points in Edwardsville with 2-1 Victory over SIUE

3/27/2021 12:20:00 AM | Women's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

MSU improves to 7-1 behind goals from Hailey Cole and Chloe Barnthouse

Murray State women's soccer opened its two-game road trip with a trek to Edwardsville, Illinois for a meeting with SIUE on Friday evening. In a clash between two sides at the top of the OVC table, the Racers brought all three points back to Murray on match day eight of ten with a 2-1 victory behind goals from Hailey Cole and Chloe Barnthouse.

"It's massive when you go to a place like Edwardsville where it's a really tough place to play…I'm really proud of them. All week we've been saying that this is one of those wins that gets one hand on the trophy, and then the next one against SEMO, another undefeated team, is one we have to take care of. We told them to enjoy it, but we have to get over it quick and get straight on to the next one. Luckily we get the bye on Tuesday and get a week to prepare for a very good SEMO team," said MSU head coach Matt Lodge.

The Racers (7-1) opened the scoring in the 26^th minute when Hailey Cole found the net off a ball played across the penalty area from Izzy Heckman. MSU would hold the lead into the halftime break with both sides posting five shots through the first 45 minutes of action.

SIUE found the equalizer in the 54^th minute via the penalty spot when Lily Schneiders buried the penalty kick to draw the game level at 1-1.

The Racers went on to secure what would prove to be the game-winner in the 72^nd minute when Chloe Barnthouse ran on to a ball played out of the back from Audrey Henry that was misdirected off the head of an SIUE defender at midfield - pushing the ball past the Cougar goalkeeper who had come well outside the penalty area to challenge the 1v1 before finding the net with a clinical finish to give her side a 2-1 advantage with less than 20 minutes remaining.

Sophomore goalkeeper Jenna Villacres made four saves on the evening, but the most impressive came with just five minutes left to play when she denied Mackenzie Litzsinger's effort from inside the six-yard box to preserve the lead and secure the three points for the Racers.

For Cole, the goal is her second of the season, while Barnthouse scored her team-leading fourth of the campaign as the two true freshmen have combined for six goals through eight matches.

"It's something I tell all freshmen coming in…We don't recruit you to come in and get to the standard - we recruit you to raise the standard, and they've done just that. Everyone has raised their game, and it's been a really fun group to work with overall," added Lodge.

The win on the road over SIUE was the first time Murray State has defeated the Cougars on their home turf in Edwardsville.

The Racers will return to action next Friday when they travel to Cape Girardeau for a match against the undefeated Redhawks of Southeast Missouri that has massive implications on the OVC title race.