MOREHEAD | The defending Ohio Valley Conference Tournament champion Morehead State women's soccer team came back to town on Monday the 29th to begin preparations for the 2024 season under first-year head coach Paul Cox. The Eagles began two-a-day practices on Tuesday as they ready themselves to open the season with the first of two exhibitions on Wednesday, Aug. 7 at home against Pikeville.
Morehead State finished its 2023 campaign with a 9-6-5 overall record and in second place with a 6-1-2 conference mark, which culminated with a 1-0 overtime victory over host Tennessee Tech in the OVC Championship game. MSU fell to top-seeded and eventual national champion Florida State 5-0 in Tallahassee, Fla., in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The nine wins tied for fourth most in school history, while their five ties equaled the most ever.
The Eagles finished 2023 with a 4-1-4 record at home, a six-game win streak (before the loss to FSU), and an 8-2-3 mark in their final 13 contests.
Five letter winners, four who were starters, return for the Blue and Gold, while 17 newcomers, including three individuals who redshirted last year, join them. A total of 13 letter winners, including seven starters, did not return. The team only features four individuals playing in their final season.
Statistically, the Eagles were a defensively-oriented squad in 2023, holding their opponents to 11.8 shots per game, while surrendering just 25 goals and collecting nine clean sheets. In the net, MSU made 87 saves. Offensively, the Blue and Gold scored 23 times and averaged 1.15 goals per game on 234 total shots.
Cox, who holds a 30-18-4 mark in three previous years of coaching at NAIA's Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, Iowa, has liked what he has seen out of his team after just under a week's worth of practices.
"I am particularly pleased about the level of competition that we have created as a group. This group of players comes to work hard every single day. The new players have integrated really well," he said. "Tactically, they are grasping the ideas we are presenting. We just need to be more rehearsed in what we are doing. I am pleased with where we are at. We are ready to play a game!"
Highlighting the returnees are a trio who were recognized with postseason awards last fall, including graduate student defender Anna Lohrer (20 starts, 1 goal, 2 points), sophom*ore forward Hedda Ornberg (19 games, 4 goals, 1 assist, 9 points) and sophom*ore defender Hannah Burke (16 starts, 2 assists, 2 points).
Lohrer, who played more minutes than any other Eagle in 2023 was named to the OVC All-Tournament team; while Burke and Ornberg were each selected to the OVC All-Newcomer Team. Lohrer, a two-year starter as a central defender, is one of two team members entering her fifth campaign with the club. Over the last four years, she has been a part of 20 shutouts.
Senior forward Erin Fite (17 games, 1 goal, 4 assists, 6 points, 21 shots, 1 game-winning goal) is the team's second-leading returning scorer. During her career, she has tallied five assists, which sits three shy of tying for ninth all-time at MSU. Fite is entering her third season with the squad after playing her first year at Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Junior defender Gracen Houck (18 starts, 1 assist, 1 point) is the only other returning starter. She spent her freshman season at High Point.
Graduate student defender Maddie Feldhaus joins Lohrer as the other fifth-year Eagle. Feldhaus has played 40 games and started 15, including eight last fall, over her tenure. This past season, she participated in nine games and took a career-best two shots.
Three returnees played limited roles last season, while three others sat out the year as redshirts. Sophom*ore defenders Mary Trudeau and Natasha Tanner each saw action in nine games, while starting two. Sophom*ore midfielder Gwen Ladd made it onto the field in three contests, all of which came early in the season.
Graduate student goalkeeper Reegan Garrity transferred from Kentucky Wesleyan last fall after two seasons with the Panthers. In 2022, she started 10 times and made 58 saves, while allowing 30 goals. She had more success as a freshman, starting all 15 games, posting a 3.80 goals against average, while accumulating a .769 save percentage. She did not play last year.
Sophom*ore forward Jade Perrin missed the entire year with a leg injury she suffered just minutes after she entered MSU's first exhibition game. As a freshman, she played at Central Methodist (Mo.) University, where she saw the pitch in 19 games, starting 18 of them, and scoring twice. CMU went 19-3-1 that season and advanced to the second round of the NAIA national tournament.
Freshman defender Kylie Bender did not play at all last year. As a senior at Bridgeport (W.Va.) High School, her team finished 14-5-3 with her recording 13 goals and six assists. As a junior for the 18-4 Indians, she finished with 14 goals and five assists. She recorded 10 assists in 13 games for her 2020 club, which posted a 13-1 record. In her freshman campaign, she tallied three goals and four assists over 22 games for BHS' 19-2-1 squad.
Junior midfielders Kamryn Baquero and Kennedy Baquero are transferring from Sam Houston State. The pair helped the Bearkats to a 9-18-6 record in their two seasons, the most recent one in Conference USA. Last fall, Kennedy accumulated five goals on 19 shots, while Kamryn spent her time on defense, playing 10 games and helping hold opponents to 1.71 goals per game, with 119 shots on goal and four shutouts. In their first season, Kennedy started 10 games and had one assist, while Kamryn played in all but two contests, again primarily as a defender.
Freshman defender Colletta Hardman is a 2023 graduate of Northgate High School in Newman, Ga., but enrolled in January and spent the spring practicing with the Eagles. A four-year starter, she helped her high school squad earn two Elite Eight and one Final Four finish.
Freshman forward Carlie Thurmond enters MSU as one of its most decorated recruits in history. She led Bethlehem High School to the Kentucky state title and earned both Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year and Midway University/KHSAA Student-Athlete of the Year honors. Thurmond tallied 86 points on 33 goals and 20 assists last season, including scoring two goals in the state championship match. For her career, she finished with 150 goals, 55 assists and 355 points; and tied for 22nd all-time in scoring in Kentucky High School girls' soccer history. Thurmond also led BHS' girls' basketball team to the 2023-24 state quarterfinals after averaging 13.7 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 40.4 percent (74-for-183) from 3-point range and 83.9 percent (94-for-112) from the free-throw line.
Like Hardman and Thurmond, the other 11 players are true freshmen.
MSU will need a new goalkeeper this season and Lilly Bailey and Claire Cress will compete with Garrity for the job. Bailey hails from Perth, Australia; while Cress is a native of Berea, Ky., who played for Madison Southern last fall. Bailey was a member of the Women's National Premier League's Perth Soccer Club last year and helped her Hyundai National Training Centre team to a Western Australia State Cup a year earlier. Cress posted a 1.4 gaa, while making 9.5 saves a game for the 9-6 Lady Eagles. She also had three goals and three assists in the field in 2023.
Marinna Campos (Leawood, Kan./Shawnee Mission South HS), Ella Fuller (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome HS) and McKenna Young (Point Pleasant, W.Va./Point Pleasant HS) will all challenge for time on defense. Campos was a four-time all-league choice and honorable mention all-state selection as a senior. Fuller collected all-conference, all-district and second-team all-state honors for the conference and district champs in her final season at JHS. Young was a member of the three-time Kentucky State Cup club champions, and was selected first-team all-conference, all-region and all-state as a senior in high school.
Elena Scianna of Gainesville, Va. (Patriot HS) is the lone freshman midfielder. Scianna was a three-year starter who led her team in scoring the final two seasons, and to a regional title and state runner-up finish as a sophom*ore.
BB Bonzheim (Bradenton, Fla./Parrish Community School), Carly Gilbert (Decatur, Ind./Bellmont HS), Ava Peck (Vandalia, Ohio/Chaminade Julienne HS) and Brylie Tavares-Bright (Las Vegas, Nev./Spring Valley HS) will all factor into the offense.
Bonzheim helped her team to three district championships and was named by her state coaches association as an all-state and all-academic pick all four years of high school. Gilbert was a second-team all-state selection as a senior. Peck was her league's Player of the Year as a senior and helped lead her club team to the Ohio State Cup championship in 2021, while Tavares-Bright was a big-time scorer who earned all-conference honors in 2022.
The team has two home exhibitions (August 7 vs. Pikeville and August 10 vs. Cincinnati), before opening its season on Thursday, Aug. 15 against Marshall on the road.
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