JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville state soccer team ended the 2015 season with heart-breaking opening round contest of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament as southeast Missouri advances on penalty kicks after the two sides played to a 1-1 draw after 110 minutes of action.
The Redhawks, the No. 6 seed, will now face No. 2 seed Tennessee Tech on Friday in the semifinals of the OVC Tournament in Murray, Kentucky. JSU wraps up the season at 8-9-2 overall.
After both teams recorded goals in the first 45 minutes, the rain-soaked contest was a stalemate the rest of the way. JSU and SEMO had quality looks at a game-winning goal as they combined for 30 shots. Jax State finished with a two-shot advantage at 16-14, including three looks at goal in the second overtime session.
In the penalty kick stage,
Neil Macdonald followed the script from last season's OVC Tournament contest with UT Martin and inserted junior
Katie Thomas in goal. Thomas saved SEMO's first attempt as did SEMO goalkeeper Kindra Lierz on
Courtney Hurt's attempt. Lierz would go on to stave off the Gamecocks three other times. SEMO's Paige Blankenheim turned in the winning goal on the final attempt to send her squad to the semifinals.
JSU's
Claire Petersen and
Mackenzie Bellows connected on goals in the penalty kicks session.
The Gamecocks took the early advantage with a goal from Hurt in the 33
rd minute. After a run that was started by sophomore
Kayla Thompson and senior
Katt Dowd, Dowd sent a high deep cross from the left side of the pitch to the right post for Hurt to put the ball in the back of the net. The Huntsville, Alabama senior collected four shots in her final game in a Gamecock uniform. Hurt finished her career with 23 goals, which ranks her fourth on JSU's all-time career goals chart, just behind senior
Kelsey Bright, who posted 27 career goals. Bright, who had three shot attempts in the extended match, tied JSU's all-time mark for career shots with former Gamecock
Jackie Rush. Rush and Bright sit atop the list with 210 career shots.
SEMO equalized three minutes later as Maddy Cornell connected on a shot from the left side of the pitch on a feeder from Natasha Minor.
Both squads plated solid defense throughout the contest with wet field conditions. Robinson turned in six saves, while Lierz tallied the same amount.
