Racers Ready for First Round of Missouri Valley Conference Tournament

Thursday, October 27

Carbondale, Ill.

6 p.m.

Murray State

Drake

Photo by: David Eaton-Murray State Athletics

Racers Ready for First Round of Missouri Valley Conference Tournament

10/25/2022 2:56:00 PM | Women's Soccer

2022 MVC WSOC Bracket.pdf

Murray State women’s soccer set to take on Drake in the first round of the MVC Championships

Murray State women's soccer is set to take on the Missouri Valley Conference tournament starting with a Thursday matchup with Drake at 6 p.m. in Carbondale, Illinois. The Racers and Bulldogs squared off in the last game of the regular season when Drake took the game 1-0 after an 86th-minute goal.

The Racers will compete as the eighth seed in their inaugural run in the MVC Championships. MSU has been one of the best offensive threats in the Valley throughout the campaign, with a league-high 22 goals and 23 assists.

Saraya Young has looked the part of one of the best players in the conference throughout her first campaign as a forward. The Wilmore, Kentucky native has seven assists this season to lead the MVC to go with her 13 points which are tied for tops in the league.

Lauren Payne and Sydney Etter are the top two goal scorers on the Roster for MSU with each bagging four goals. Etter has the lone hat trick in the MVC this season in the Racers 7-3 win over Illinois State. Payne now has 16 goal contributions (12 goals, four assists) in her career.

Hailey Cole and Mary Hardy have each shined this season as well with Cole scoring a goal to go with three assists and Hardy looking like one of the top freshman talents in the Valley with three goals and two assists.

Scouting Report

The Drake Bulldogs come into the matchup as the fifth seed in the tournament. Drake currently has 19 goals this season.

Emma Nagel has started all 17 games for the Bulldogs and has scored a team-high five goals while adding an assist.

Rachel Panther has looked the part of one of the better playmakers in the conference with five assists to rank second league wide. Avery Mertz is the reigning MVC Defensive Player of the Week after the Bulldogs wins over the Racers and Belmont last week.

Viany Lopez leads the MVC in saves with 78 saves in over 1400 minutes in goal for the Bulldogs. Lopez has started in 17 of 18 games for Drake and has posted a .776 career save percentage.

The matchup will be streamed live on ESPN+ with live stats available at GoRacers.com.