Murray State women’s soccer kept their magical postseason run going on Thursday with a 1-0 win over top seeded Valparaiso at Brown Field in Valparaiso, Indiana to advance to the Missouri Valley Conference Championship game. The Racers will face Missouri State in the title match on Sunday afternoon.
The attacking duo of Saraya Young and Mary Hardy got the scoring started early with a 13th-minute strike. After a header from Young landed right at the feet of Hardy, the freshman delivered a top-shelf goal past three-time MVC Goalkeeper of the Year Nikki Coryell.
The single goal proved to be enough as the Racers defense held strong for the full 90 minutes to deliver the clean sheet. Graduate goalkeeper Jamie Skarupsky put together one of the most impressive performances of the season in goal for Murray State with nine saves and her second shutout of the postseason.
Nine Racers put together the full 90 minutes on the pitch as the Racers were able to deliver 17 shots.
MSU took the corner kick battle 6-3 as Young led the Racers with two shots on goal. Hardy, Sydney Etter, and Lauren Payne were each all able to get a shot on target.
Murray State advances to the title game in their first season in the Valley and for the first time since 2018.
The Racers will now take on the Bears of Missouri State on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Brown Field. Coverage of the contest will be streamed on ESPN+ and Live Stats can be found on GoRacers.com.