The Eastern women’s soccer team is set for its final two home matches of the season this weekend, hosting Murray State at 3 p.m. Friday and Tennessee-Martin at 1 p.m. Sunday.

The Racers enter in a similar situation that the Panthers found themselves in last season. Coming into 2014, Murray State was on the outside looking in, again picked toward the bottom of the Ohio Valley Conference preseason rankings after missing the tournament last year. Now, with two weeks left in the season, Murray State is tied for first place with Southern Illinois-Edwardsville and looking to make its first postseason run since 2011.

Murray State has not made it out of the first round of the OVC tournament since 2009, the same year it made it all the way to the NCA tournament, only to be knocked out by Virginia Tech in its opening match.

Things are looking different in Murray, Ky., this season. The Racers score more than any other team in the OVC and nobody in the conference can seem to find a way to score against them. Murray State has scored 15 goals this season, averaging 2.5 a match.

Most of the scoring has come from the reigning OVC Offensive Player of the Week, Julie Mooney, who recorded her second hat trick of the season last weekend against Morehead State. Mooney, a senior for St. Peters, Mo., leads the OVC with 12 goals so far this season.

On defense, freshman goalkeeper Shelby Haworth has only given up four goals against OVC opponents and is coming off two straight shutout wins. Haworth averaged less than one goal given up per match at Hilliard Bradley High School in central Ohio in a career where she recorded close to 4,000 minutes.

Haworth has help in front of her as well, with reigning OVC Defensive Player of the Week Taylor Stevens. The junior defender recorded an assist in both of the Racers’ wins over the weekend.

For the Panthers, currently 1-4-1 in conference with four points in the standings, two wins are needed to stay in the race to be one of the top six teams to make the tournament.

Offensively, Eastern’s Madison Carter is coming off a three-goal weekend against Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State. Carter is one of three other Panthers with four total goals for the season, accompanied by Meagan Radloff and Chris Reed.

Sunday’s match features another team with an offensive weapon in Tennessee-Martin’s Rianna Jarrett. Jarrett also scored a hat trick over the weekend, finding the back of the net three times against Eastern Kentucky.

The Tennessee Sportswriters Association named Jarrett Women’s Soccer Player of the Week for her performance.

Originally from Wexford, Ireland, Jarrett played on the Republic of Ireland team in both the UEFA U17 and U19 Championships, scoring seven goals in international play. Jarrett has 11 goals for the Skyhawks so far this season.

Also contributing for Tennessee-Martin is senior Ashlie Watson with six goals this season. A transfer from NAIA Union University in Jackson, Tenn., Watson is Tennessee-Martin’s second leading scorer.

Mariah Klenke, a senior from Highland, is in her fourth season as the Skyhawks’ starting goalkeeper. In her freshman year, she set the school record for wins, only to break it in her sophomore year and then again last season. A first team All-OVC selection in 2013, Klenke has given up 12 goals so far this season, making 77 saves.

Eastern will honor five seniors this weekend, Radloff, Carter, Lauren Hoppensteadt, Allie Lakie and Ellen Campbell, who will be playing in their final matches at Lakeside Field.

Dominic Renzetti (@DomRenzetti) can be reached at 581-2812 or dcrenzetti@eiu.edu.