WINONA, Minn. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Soccer made history Saturday, capturing a 1-0 win over the Winona State Warriors for the Screaming Eagles’ first victory as an NCAA Division I program.
Freshman midfielder Peyton Murphy (Bargersville, Indiana) has been an impact player early in her USI career, and she continued her strong start to the season by scoring the first goal for USI at the NCAA Division I status on Saturday.
Once again, Southern Indiana had a couple of looks at goal within the first handful of minutes of the contest. Junior midfielder Paige Vanek (St. Charles, Missouri) took the first shot of the match before junior midfielder Avery Schone (Galena, Ohio) let one fly a couple minutes later but was saved by Winona State sophomore goalkeeper Chloe Swanson. Vanek took another two shots by the 12th minute.
After some early possessions and corner kicks by Winona State in USI’s defensive third, the Eagles put the Warriors on their heels a little bit in the first half, getting some counter opportunities and multiple looks at goal. In a 0-0 match by halftime, the Screaming Eagles outshot the Warriors 10-4 and 5-2 in shots on goal.
Three minutes into the second half, Murphy forced Swanson to make another save to keep the match scoreless, but Murphy eventually prevailed with her goal in the 54th minute. Off a USI defensive free kick and a 50-50 ball brought down near midfield, Murphy connected with junior midfielder Alexis Schone (Galena, Ohio) out right on a nice give-and-go play that led to Murphy putting the ball in the high left corner of the net.
After the goal, Winona State subbed in sophomore goalkeeper Alyson Jumper, saving two more shots by Murphy in the next five minutes of play. Thereafter, USI kept the momentum and most of the possessions in the attacking half the rest of the way.
Overall, the Screaming Eagles finished with 20 shots – 12 on goal – compared to the Warriors’ six shots – three on goal.
Individually, Murphy led USI with four shots – four on goal. Sophomore midfielder Adriana Berruti (Berwyn, Illinois) put two out of three shots on target, while Avery Schone, Paige Vanek, and senior forward Taylor Hall (Grayson, Kentucky) also finished with multiple shots in the match. In net, senior goalkeeper Maya Etienne (Midland, Michigan) made three saves on six shots faced.
The Screaming Eagles will head back to campus and make their home debut Thursday at 6 p.m. against the Rose-Hulman Fightin’ Engineers from Strassweg Field. Admission for Thursday’s match is free thanks to The Women’s Hospital.
