Live Stats I OVC Standings

RICHMOND, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky University women’s soccer team enters this final weekend of the regular season in second place and with a chance to win its first-ever Ohio Valley Conference title. EKU (6-8-3, 4-2-1 OVC) will host Austin Peay (9-6-1, 3-3-1 OVC) on Friday at 4:00 p.m., and then wrap up the regular season by hosting Murray State (6-7-3, 3-2-2 OVC) on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Senior Day will be celebrated before Sunday’s game.

If EKU wins both of its games this weekend, and first place Southeast Missouri (10-5-1, 6-1-0 OVC) loses both of its games, the Colonels will win their first-ever regular season OVC crown and will host the OVC Tournament at EKU Soccer Field. SEMO hosts second-to-last-place Jacksonville State (2-11-4, 1-2-4 OVC) on Friday and last-place Tennessee Tech (5-11-1, 2-5-0 OVC) on Sunday.

EKU took a respite from OVC play last weekend, travelling to non-conference Longwood and tying the Lancers, 1-1, thanks to a goal by sophomore Nicole Donnelly with less than five minutes to play in regulation.

The Colonels are led by an unbending defense – anchored by seniors Stephanie Murray and Heather Bruce, junior Deja Tennon, sophomores #Emily D’Italia and Lauren Fant and freshman Paige Larkin# – that has not allowed multiple goals in a game since Sept. 9. Freshman goalkeeper Annie Wickett, meanwhile, is third in the conference with a 0.68 goals against average during league play.

The opportunistic EKU offense is led by freshman Devon Saini, who has racked up four goals and one assist for a total of nine points on the season. Donnelly (two goals, two assists, 25 shots) and freshman Stephany Ellison (two goals, one assist, 22 shots) have also been active up front.

Fourth-place MSU and fifth-place APSU are dangerous teams, as both have won two straight games and both come into this weekend battling for spots in the OVC Tournament.

MSU – which has won an OVC regular season title and an OVC Tournament title in the last four years – is led by Julie Mooney and Shauna Wicker, both of whom have scored six goals on the season. EKU is 1-4-1 all-time against MSU, as the Colonels’ first-ever win over the Racers came last year at EKU Soccer Field, 1-0. Donnelly scored the game-winner in the 78th minute of that dramatic affair.

APSU – last year’s OVC Tournament runners-up – is led by Tatiana Ariza, the 2010 OVC Offensive Player of the Year. The dynamic Ariza has scored 15 goals and dished out seven assists this season. The all-time series between EKU and APSU is even at 2-2-2, although the Lady Govs defeated the Colonels, 1-0, last year in Clarksville.

Before Sunday’s game against MSU, EKU’s duo of Canadian seniors, Bruce and Murray, will be honored on the field for their prestigious four-year Colonel careers.