CHICAGO, Ill. – The fifth-seeded Murray State women's soccer team scored a goal in the first 38 seconds of Thursday's Missouri Valley Conference Tournament match against the eighth-seeded University of Evansville, and then held off the Purple Aces for a 1-0 victory at Flames Field in Chicago, Illinois.
The Racers sent a ball into the six-yard box in the opening seconds of the match, and UE goalkeeper Myia Danek was able to deny MSU's Hailey Cole of a would-be goal with a sliding kick-save that bounced off the side goal post right to a wide-open Mary Hardy of Murray State. Hardy quickly fired a shot into the back of the net for her eighth goal of the year, and sixth goal in the last seven matches for the Racers.
Evansville would out-shoot Murray State, 7-5, the remainder of the half, but could not find the back of the net, as MSU goalkeeper Griselda Revolorio came up with three saves to keep UE off the scoreboard.
In the second half, Evansville would once again out-shoot Murray State 7-5 for the half, but Revolorio recorded three more saves to keep Evansville scoreless. Evansville best opportunity to equalize came beyond the 70th minute, as freshman forward Brooklyn Robinson had a shot blocked inside the penalty area in the 75th minute, while junior midfielder Reese Simmons was denied on a blast from the top of the penalty box by a diving save by Revolorio.
Evansville would out-shoot Murray State for the match, 14-12, with Robinson and sophomore defender Kaylee Woosley firing four shots each. Simmons also recorded two shots, with both on-target. Danek finished with three saves in goal to move into tenth place on UE's career saves chart, as she has 105 career saves now.
With the loss, Evansville sees its 2023 season end with a 1-7-9 overall record. Murray State, meanwhile, will advance on to the MVC quarter-finals to battle host UIC on Sunday afternoon at 12 p.m. Evansville is scheduled to return 22 players from this year's team next season, including 13 of the 17 players who saw action in Thursday's MVC Tournament match.
