USI Women’s Soccer picked 5th in OVC
Duggan named to OVC Preseason Players to Watch List
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Soccer is projected to place fifth in the Ohio Valley Conference in a vote submitted by the league’s head coaches and communication directors.
The 10-team OVC will feature a schedule with each team playing each other once for a nine-match conference schedule. The event starts on campus sites with the first round and quarterfinal matches on October 31 and November 3, with the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds hosting matches. The event switches to the site of the No. 1 seed the following weekend with semifinal and Championship matches on November 7 and 10.
Tennessee Tech University topped the OVC preseason poll with 153 points and 12 first-place votes. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville was picked second with 141 points and six first-place votes.
Morehead State University picked up 122 points with two first-place votes for a predicted third-place finish. The University of Arkansas at Little Rock earned 98 points for fourth place. Southern Indiana (91) and the University of Tennessee at Martin (90) were fifth and sixth, respectively. Southeast Missouri State University (86), Eastern Illinois University (61), Lindenwood University (38), and Western Illinois University (22) round out the poll.
As part of the OVC’s preseason announcement, senior midfielder Maggie Duggan (Defiance, Missouri) represented USI on the 2024 OVC Women’s Soccer Preseason Players to Watch List. Duggan, a team captain, returns to the field this season following a season-ending injury in 2023 after starting the first four matches last season. A key component to USI’s midfield, Duggan scored a goal last August against the University of North Alabama in a 1-1. It was Duggan’s first career goal. In 2022, Duggan was vital to USI’s defensive success, helping the Screaming Eagles earn seven shutouts and a 0.82 GAA.
USI plays one final preseason tune-up match at home against Middle Tennessee State University on Saturday at 2 p.m. before opening the 2024 regular season on the road with a first-ever visit to Arkansas State University on August 18. The Screaming Eagles will host their home opener at Strassweg Field on August 22 against Robert Morris University. The first OVC contest of 2024 is September 22 when Southern Indiana travels to Southeast Missouri.
2024 OVC Soccer Predicted Order of Finish
(as voted on by the league’s head coaches and communication directors)
1. Tennessee Tech (12) 153
2. SIUE (6) – 141
3. Morehead State (2) – 122
4. Little Rock – 96
5. Southern Indiana – 91
6. UT Martin – 90
7. Southeast Missouri – 86
8. Eastern Illinois – 61
9. Lindenwood – 38
10. Western Illinois – 22
2024 OVC Soccer Preseason Players to Watch
Avery Richardson, Eastern Illinois
Eyglo Thorsteinsdottir, Lindenwood
Kaitlin Graeber, Little Rock
Anna Lohrer, Morehead State
Sophia Elfrink, Southeast Missouri
Matea Diekema, SIUE
Maggie Duggan, Southern Indiana
Izzy Patterson, UT Martin
Katie Toney, Tennessee Tech
Kayla Turner, Western Illinois
