As the Ohio Valley Conference season dwindles to an end for women’s soccer, the teams are fighting for the top spot in the standings.

In the close race, Tennessee Tech is currently at the top with three wins and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and Morehead State are right behind Tech also with three wins.

Each team in the OVC has players that are keeping these standings close.

Chloe Smith – Tennessee Tech

Tennessee Tech senior forward Chloe Smith has had a phenomenal senior season so far for the Golden Eagles. She is on track to have her best stats in her four years at Tech. She leads the OVC in points and tied for first in goals. She currently has 5 total goals and has 14 points averaging 1.08 per game. Two of her goals have counted as game-winning goals. Goals are worth two points and assists are worth one point in NCAA soccer. She is third in the OVC in assists with four as her teammate junior Yao Giada Zhou leads the OVC with six.

Lily Schnieders – SIUE

SIUE junior forward Lily Schnieders is second in shots in the OVC with 32 total making it a 2.69 average per game. When it comes to points, she is tied in 10th place with six as she has a total of 3 goals. Schnieders had a successful season last year and is working hard to

Hadley Cytron – Morehead State

Morehead State junior forward is playing well for the Eagles as this is the first year of action she’s seen in her collegiate career after a few transfers. She is 10th overall in the OVC in shots with 21, averaging 1.62 per game. She also has six points and has three goals, which puts her in a tie for ninth overall in the OVC. She is also in tie for fourth place overall in assists as she

has recorded three. She won Co-Offensive Player of the Week the week of September 6 after scoring the opening goal in the win against Virginia Military Institute and then a penalty kick to take a tie with Queens North Carolina and She won OVC Offensive Player of the Week during the week of September 27 after she recorded two goals in the match versus UT Martin on September 25.

Sam Blazek – Lindenwood

Senior goalkeeper Sam Blazek has helped lead Lindenwood to a 2-1-3 OVC record as she has recorded 60 total saves which puts her at second place in conference, which puts her at getting about five saves per game. She was named OVC Co- Goalkeeper of the Week the week of September 20 because of the five saves she recorded in the second half of their match versus DePaul while not allowing any goals and not allowing any goals in their conference opener against Little Rock. She was also named OVC Goalkeeper of the Week the week of October 11 because of the 12 total saves she recorded in their matches with UT Martin and Southern Indiana. She recorded nine of those saves in the shutout versus UT Martin.

Sophia Elfrink – SEMO

Freshman goalkeeper Sophia Elfrink has been a leader for SEMO so far this season. She leads the OVC in saves as she has recorded 72. She averages 5.54 per game. She also leads the OVC in shutouts as she has three. She shows a lot of potential in her freshman year as she has played all the minutes as keeper and currently has the best stats in the OVC.

Natalee Geren – Little Rock

Fifth year defender Natalee Geren has had her best season at Little Rock and has been helpful all over the field this season. As a defender, she is tied for 10th overall in points as she

has recorded six points as she has one goal and four assists. She is in second place in the conference when it comes to assists. She won OVC Defensive Player of the Week the week of September 6 because of her ability to lead the defense to keep potential shots away from the goalkeeper during their match with Arkansas State as well as recording four shots and one goal over the course of two games.

Peyton Murphy – Southern Indiana

Freshman midfielder Peyton Murphy has had an outstanding first season with the Screaming Eagles. She ties the lead in conference in goals with five and she has two game winning goals. These stats come in as she has 24 total shots this season. She recorded three goals in USI’s home opener against Rose-Hulman and at the game Northern Illinois she recorded an assist and between both of those matches, she had seven points and four shots on goal. This led her to be chosen for OVC Offensive Player of the Week the week of August 30.

Jenna Little – Eastern Illinois

Eastern junior midfielder/forward Jenna Little has had a phenomenal junior season for the Panthers. She leads the conference in shots as she has 35 total or 2.69 per game. She is tied for sixth overall in points with nine. She is also tied in third for goals as she has 4. She scored two of her four goals early in the season in a match versus Purdue Fort Wayne. She has had several nominations for OVC Offensive Player of the Week.

Megan Drake – UT Martin

UT Martin senior forward Megan Drake has had a great season with the Skyhawks. She has shown great improvement since she began her time at UT Martin. As she has recorded 16 total shots this year, she is tied for third in goals in the conference with four. She has a total of

nine points which puts her in a tie for sixth overall in that category. In just 48 total minutes of play in the early season win against Indiana State, she scored two goals on three shot attempts. Because of this feat, she was named the OVC Offensive Player of the Week for September 13.