EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Soccer poured on the offense Thursday night at Strassweg Field in a 4-1 conference victory against the University of Tennessee at Martin.
In its second Ohio Valley Conference match this season, Southern Indiana (2-6-3, 1-0-1 OVC) had to battle less-than-ideal weather for the second time in as many weeks on Thursday with heavy rain falling off and on throughout the evening. The Screaming Eagles showed once again they were not fazed.
USI came out buzzing on the field and aggressive toward goal. Sophomore midfielder Pilar Torres set the tone with a pair of shots on goal within the first two minutes of the match. Recording several more shots in the opening minutes, Southern Indiana claimed a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute when Torres slotted a pass from the wing that was tapped inside the near post by junior midfielder Peyton Murphy, her first goal of the season.
Nearly seven minutes later, USI doubled its advantage to 2-0. Torres dished out her second assist of the night after dribbling down the field and finding junior midfielder Emerson Grafton to her left, who finished the play with her second goal of the season.
With under 10 minutes left in the first half, UT Martin (2-5-3, 1-1-0 OVC) looked to respond by putting a couple of shots on goal, including one that forced USI redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Anna Markland to make a highlight jumping punch-save over the crossbar. A few minutes later right before halftime, senior midfielder Adriana Berruti gave the Eagles a 3-0 lead with her first career goal after a throw-in by junior defender Brynn Quick and a connecting pass across the face of goal from Murphy.
Southern Indiana stayed strong defensively and remained on the offensive to start the second half of play. Following a pair of blocked shot attempts inside the box, the ball deflected out to the top of the 18 where junior defender Charli Grafton rifled a one-timer into the top-right corner of the goal to push USI’s lead to four. It marked the first time the Grafton sisters scored in the same game.
The visiting Skyhawks got one goal back in the 73rd minute, but the Screaming Eagles did not relinquish their lead any further and secured the 4-1 victory.
Southern Indiana took 20 shot attempts Thursday evening, the most since USI had 21 in last season’s 1-1 tie against UT Martin. USI placed eight of its 20 shots on goal on Thursday. The Skyhawks had five of its nine shots go on target. Plus, entering Thursday’s action, USI and UT Martin were one and two, respectively, in the OVC for most fouls committed this season. The two sides combined for only 15 fouls Thursday.
Individually, Murphy led USI with four shots with Torres and Charli Grafton posting a team-high two shots on goal. Torres had three total shot attempts in addition to two assists. The last time a Screaming Eagles had a pair of assists in a game was in August 2022 when Morgan Beyer and Jill DiTusa each had two helpers against Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Between the posts, Markland totaled four saves for USI.
After Thursday’s action and claiming three points, Southern Indiana moved into a tie for second in the OVC standings with four points alongside Lindenwood University and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Next, the Screaming Eagles will host Eastern Illinois University Sunday afternoon at Strassweg Field in Ohio Valley Conference play. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. Links for match coverage can be found at usiscreamingeagles.com.
