JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State soccer team dropped a tough 1-0 decision to Eastern Kentucky on the final home date of the season on Sunday afternoon at the JSU Soccer Field.

The Gamecocks concluded the final home weekend at 1-1 after claiming a win over Bellarmine on Thursday night. With one final weekend of the regular season, JSU dropped to 3-12-1 on the season and 1-6-1 in the ASUN. EKU improved to 8-6-2 overall and 4-3-2 in conference action.
EKU was successful on a penalty kick in the 38th minute and staved off a second half charge by Jax State to cap off the road trip with a win. EKU's Myla Sharpless connected on the penalty kick to give the Colonels the lead.

After being limited to just a pair of shots in the opening 45 minutes, the Gamecocks pressed EKU for most of the second half as they looked for an equalizer. JSU tallied five shots in the second half, including a pair of looks in the final moments of the matinee. Sophomore Laleh Lonteen finished with two of the shots, while six other Gamecocks recorded a shot. EKU posted 19 total shots in the victory with 10 of those on goal opportunities.

"I thought we did not play particularly well in the first half, and we changed some things and created some chances in the second half," said head coach Neil Macdonald.

Sunday marked the final time on the home surface for seven seniors on the JSU club. The program honored the large senior class prior to the match with Bellarmine. Like Thursday, six of the seven seniors saw action on Sunday with Morgan Lerch earning a start between the posts and Briana Eads, Cynthia Bagozzi, Isobel Spray and Ali Thomas in the starting lineup. Kimberly McPhearson came off the bench in the first half. Gabriel Clarke suffered a season-ending injury earlier in the season.

It will be a quick turnaround for Jax State as they make a second trip to Jacksonville, Florida on Tuesday to make up the match with the Dolphins of Jacksonville that was postponed in late September due to Hurricane Ian. The match is set for 2 p.m. CST on the JU campus. The Dolphins blanked Queens (N.C.), 2-0, on Sunday. Following the trip to JU, the Gamecocks wrap up the regular season on Friday evening in the Music City with a duel with Lipscomb. Match time from the LU campus is set for 6 p.m.