Ohio Valley Conference 

Conference Tournament Champion: Morehead State
Offensive Player of the Year: Jade Flory, Morehead State
Defensive Player of the Year: Ashton Aubuchon, Southeast Missouri State
Freshman of the Year: Angela Black, Morehead State
Co-Coaches of the Year: Jason Cherry, Eastern Illinois/Warren Lipka, Morehead State 

Teams (2013 overall, conference record):

1. UT Martin (11-9-1, 8-2)
2. Morehead State (10-11-1, 7-3)
3. Southeast Missouri State (9-6-3, 6-2-2)
4. SIUE (13-5-3, 6-3-1)
5. Eastern Illinois (6-14, 6-4)
6. Austin Peay (10-7-2, 5-4-1)
7. Belmont (7-8-2, 5-4-1)
8. Eastern Kentucky (5-12-2, 4-5-1)
9. Murray State (6-10-1, 3-7)
10. Tennessee Tech (3-15-1, 1-8-1)
11. Jacksonville State (4-13-2, 0-9-1) 

Morehead State was second fiddle to UT Martin for almost all of last year, and that included a brutal 3-0 loss in the middle of the conference season. That game decided the regular season title and the top seed in the conference tournament, but it didn’t determine much else. Morehead State caught fire in the tourney, which culminated in a 1-0 victory over UT Martin to nab the NCAA bid.

UT Martin appears poised to right the final wrong that kept them from the tourney in 2013. The Skyhawks return 13 players from last year’s team, including all-conference first team keeper Mariah Klenke, second-team midfielder Alyssa Curtis and newcomer Ellie Myrick. But it appears they’ll again have to get by Morehead State, which brings back some hefty firepower of its own. Youngstown State transfer Jade Flory scored 14 goals and was named the league’s offensive player of the year in her first season in the OVC, and she also made the league’s first team and all-newcomer team. She’ll be a senior this season with plenty of expectation on her shoulders. Conference tourney MVP Lindsey Oettle is also back, as is conference freshman of the year Angela Black, who had six goals and four assists in her first college season.

Five other squads finished with winning conference records in 2013 and can reasonably expect to challenge the two-horse hegemony at the top. Belmont has some encouraging pieces back and finished strong last year with wins in its last three, including one over Morehead State. Austin Peay snuck into the conference tourney last year, but it might’ve missed its window with Colombian international and last year’s OVC leading scorer Tatiana Ariza graduated.

SIUE appears poised to do some damage this season. With nine home games, the return of the conference’s third-leading scorer in Kayla Delgado and the league’s best defense will be a boon to a team that won 13 games in 2013 and pushed UT Martin to overtime in the conference semifinals. Another player to watch is Murray State’s Julie Mooney, who enters her senior season after leading the conference in assists last season with seven.

Missouri Valley Conference

Conference Tournament Champion: Illinois State
Player of the Year: Rachel Tejada, Illinois State
Defensive Player of the Year: Kelsey Fouch, Missouri State
Goalkeeper of the Year: Aryn Newson, Illinois State
Freshman of the Year: Hannah Leinert, Illinois State
Coaching Staff of the Year: Illinois State 

Teams (2013 overall/conference record):

1. Illinois State (14-7-1, 6-0)
2. Indiana State (10-9, 4-2)
3. Loyola-Chicago (6-8-6, 3-3)
4. Missouri State (5-10-4, 2-2-2)
5. Evansville (9-6-4, 2-3-1)
6. Drake (3-12-5, 1-4-1)
7. Northern Iowa (4-15, 1-5)

Illinois State enjoyed the best season in conference history last year. The Redbirds went a perfect 6-0 in conference before romping to the conference tourney title via a 5-0 beating of second-seeded Indiana State. In doing so, they became the first team in MVC history to pull off an 8-0 record against the conference. It was their third straight tourney title, and it wasn’t all that close. Further, the Redbirds became the first MVC team in history to win an NCAA tournament game, which they did in penalties over Louisville. 

So can anyone catch the Redbirds? Doubtful. Three first-team all-conference players return, including reigning player of the year Rachel Tejada and her 54 career goals and 31 career assists. If there’s a silver bullet in conference for this team, the rest of the league is still trying to figure out what it is.

Indiana State came as close as anyone last year in a 2-1 loss, and the Sycamores are coming off their best season in history with eight projected starters returning. Abby Reed was among the surprises of the conference last year with a program record 10 goals in her freshman season, but they’ll have to find a way to replace all-tournament team selections Taylor Reed and Taylor Hancock.

Loyola was the only other team in conference to finish within a goal of Illinois State in a league match, and the Ramblers can expect to break .500 in conference with nine starters back. The loss of leading points-getter Tricia Stonebraker to graduation will sting, but returners like Hailey Merrill and Shelby Koch will have increased loads. Missouri State is in a similar spot with nine starters back, including leading scorer Molly Brewer. Evansville, Drake and Northern Iowa will attempt to turn the tide after losing conference records last season.

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