BOX SCORE

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – Freshman midfielder Heather Bruce scored her third game winner of the season to lead the Eastern Kentucky University women’s soccer team to a 2-0 victory at conference foe Jacksonville State on Sunday in the Colonels’ regular season finale. 

With the win, EKU finishes the season with a program best record of 8-8-2 (5-3 OVC) and will enter the OVC Tournament for the first time ever as the number two seed.

The Colonels ended the season winning six of their last seven matches to secure a second place finish in the regular season.

“Halfway through the season, we didn’t think we’d be in this position,” freshman defender Stephanie Murray said. “But we’ve capitalized on opportunities and played tough defense. I’m confident I have three more years of great soccer ahead of me.”

After a scoreless first half, Bruce put the Colonels on the board in the 63rd minute when she received a pass from sophomore midfielder Carly Muller and fired it past the JSU goalkeeper. It was Bruce’s third goal of the season, and all three of the freshman’s scores have been game winners.

In the 84th minute, sophomore forward Alex Hartwick added insurance when she scored her third goal of the season off an assist from freshman midfielder Jessica Reed. The assist was Reed’s team-leading third of the year.

On the season, the Colonels have scored 16 of their 20 goals in the second half.

Sophomore goalkeeper Stephanie Lynch played all 90 minutes of the match and made eight saves. For Lynch and the rest of the Colonel defense, it was a school-record seventh shutout of the season.

“We were really tough in the air and rarely let them get the ball over our backline,” junior defender Eva Hollenberg said. “Ending the season with a winning weekend gives us a lot of confidence heading into the OVC Tournament.”

As the number two seed, the Colonels will receive a first round bye and play their first match against the winner of UT Martin/Tennessee Tech in the semifinals on Friday, November 6. The OVC Tournament will be held at Murray State, who won the OVC regular season championship.

“We’ve known all along we could win like this,” sophomore defender Gabriella Wolf said. “Now all that hard work is finally starting to pay off.”