CLARKSVILLE – Austin Peay State University's soccer team found the back of the net three times and junior goalkeeper Chloé Dion recorded her first career solo shutout, as the Governors won a 3-0 decision over Eastern Illinois, Thursday, in the final home match of the season at Morgan Bros. Soccer Field.
Austin Peay (4-9-3, 1-5-1) kept its postseason chances alive by picking up three points in the conference standings with its first Ohio Valley Conference win of the season against Eastern Illinois (4-11-2, 2-6-1). With a win on Sunday against Murray State, the Governors would match the Panthers – who played their final regular-season match against the Govs – with seven conference points and would win the tiebreaker, qualifying for the OVC Soccer Championship.
The Governors scored what would prove to be the game-winning goal in the 13th minute when freshman Alec Baumgardt collected a ball that Karley Roberts sent into the 18-yard box and beat Eastern Illinois goalkeeper Faith Davies to the left corner of the net. The 13th-minute tally was Baumgardt's team-leading third goal of the season, with Roberts also picking up her first career assist on the play.
Austin Peay extended its lead to 2-0 in the 39th minute when freshman Haley Patterson used passes from Baumgardt and Gybson Roth to slide a shot to the far post, just past a diving Davies for her second goal of the season. Patterson's goal made her the second Austin Peay freshman to find the back of the net this season, with Baumgardt dishing out her team-leading third assist and Roth recording her first assist since her sophomore season in 2018.
Eastern Illinois fired four shots on goal in the first half, but they were unable to find the back of the net, with Dion saving a pair of shots in the third and sixth minutes and the Governors recording a pair of team saves in the 10th and 11th minutes.
In the 72nd minute, an Eastern Illinois player was given a red card and the Govs were able to play the remainder of the match with a one-player advantage. Austin Peay capitalized on the advantage in the 87th minute, drawing a foul from just outside the 18-yard box and earning a free kick, which sophomore Tori Case rocketed past Davies to stretch the lead to 3-0.
On the defensive end, Dion made her third and final save of the match on a Niodina Nystrom shot in the 51st minute, securing her first career solo shutout. Dion had previously recorded a pair of combined clean sheets, working with Mary Parker Powell to shutout Morehead State in 2019 and partnering with Peyton Powell to shutout Alabama A&M earlier in the season.
In the win over Eastern Illinois, fifth-year senior Claire Larose played in her 77th game as a Governor, tying Taylor Van Wagner and Joceline Quiceno for the Austin Peay career games played record in her final game at Morgan Bros. Soccer Field.
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Austin Peay will wrap up the regular season and have a chance to qualify for the OVC Soccer Championship when it plays a 1 p.m., Sunday match against rival Murray State at Cutchin Field in Murray, Kentucky. If the Govs pick up a win against the Racers, they will play in the first round of the OVC Soccer Championship, Oct. 29, which will be hosted by the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds – who have yet to be determined. For news and updates on everything Governors soccer, follow along on Twitter or Instagram (@GovsWSOC) or check back at LetsGoPeay.com.
