Following their upset victory over top seeded Valparaiso, Murray State women’s soccer is set for the Missouri Valley Championship match against Missouri State on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Brown Field in Valparaiso, Indiana. The Racers are looking to secure their first Valley championship in Murray State’s inaugural season in the league.
It has been quite the postseason run for the Racers who came into the tournament as the eighth seed in the MVC. Following wins over Drake, Southern Illinois, and Valparaiso, Murray State finds themselves just one win from a conference championship.
Senior forward Saraya Young continues to show her quality as the Wilmore, Kentucky native picked up her eighth assist of the season in the win over Valpo. Freshman midfielder Mary Hardy has taken over as the top scorer for Murray State with her fifth goal of the season in the semifinals on Thursday to go along with three assists.
The Racers attacking threat can be found up and down the field as forward Sydney Etter and midfielder Lauren Payne each have four goals apiece with center back Morgan Bodker finding the back of the net three times this season. Hailey Cole, Audrey Henry, and Camille Barber have all shown playmaking abilities throughout the year with each picking up three assists.
Goalkeeper Jamie Skarupsky put together an extremely impressive performance in the semifinal match with nine saves against the Beacons for the clean sheet.
Scouting Report
Missouri State has shown high quality play throughout the season as the Bears earned the two-seed in the MVC following a 7-2-1 record in conference play. In the semifinals, Missouri State picked up a 2-1 win over Northern Iowa to earn their spot in the title match.
The Bears took home several individual awards for this season with Hailey Chambliss taking Freshman of the Year Honors, Carly Raunig winning Defensive Player of the Year, and Grace O’Keefe winning Offensive Player of the Year.
Chambliss leads the Valley with seven goals this season to go with two assists for a tie with Saraya Young to lead the league with 16 points. O’Keefe put together a very balanced attack in her campaign with four goals and four assists for the Bears.
Camielle Day takes primary goalkeeping duties for Missouri State with 66 saves in 17 starts this year. The junior has picked up eight shutouts this season.
The title match will be streamed on ESPN+ as part of the Valley on ESPN and Live Stats can be found on GoRacers.com.