Boxscore

OMAHA, Neb. -- One more victory will send the University of Evansville women's soccer team to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2001.

The number one seeded Purple Aces built a 3-0 first half lead and went on to beat number four Missouri State 3-1 here tonight in the semifinals of the State Farm MVC Women's Soccer Tournament.  UE plays for the championship and an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday at 2:30 CST against Indiana State.  The sixth seeded Sycamores upset number two Illinois State tonight 1-0 after beating number three seed Drake on Wednesday, 1-0.  Sunday's match will be televised live by Fox Sports Midwest.

MVC Player of the Year Kayla Lambert started off the scoring 8:20 into the match, scoring her 13th goal of the year on an assist from fellow senior Nicole Moyen.  It was the 11th assist for Moyen, who leads the league in that category.

Freshman forward Colleen Marty put the Aces up 2-0 at 16:04 when she converted Mia Tofano's cross, putting a foot on it before Missouri State goalkeeper Jackie Jasper could knock it away.  The Lambert-Moyen combination worked again at 33:30, with Moyen sending a long pass that allowed Lambert to outrun the Bears' defense and take an open shot that resulted in her league-high 14th goal of the season.

Missouri State finally got on the board at 77:28 on Caroline Sweeney's goal to break up the shutout, but Evansville's defense held up for the two-goal victory thanks to Theresa Bagby's nine saves.  The Aces finished with 14 shots, with seven on goal.  Lambert had five of the seven.  Missouri State took 26 shots and put 10 on goal.
 
The 12-4-2 Aces will be making their league-high eighth MVC Tournament championship match appearance on Sunday.  They are 5-2 in title games, winning in 1996 through 1999, and in 2001.  They lost in 2000 to Missouri State 1-0, and to Drake in 2006 1-0 in overtime.