The final weekend of OVC play for women’s soccer is about to begin. The top two seeds are presumably locked up by Tennessee-Martin and Murray State, but the remaining six seeds are anything but settled. 

Just three points separate third-seeded Southern Illinois Edwardsville and eighth-seeded Belmont. 

Even the nine and 10 seeds are just outside the playoffs at this point. The only team clearly out of the running is Jacksonville State. They are just 1-7 in conference place.

Eastern sits in sixth place prior to their weekend matches and are just one point ahead of both Austin Peay and Belmont. 

At the top of the standings is Tennessee-Martin, who has not lost a conference match this season. They have won their last four coming off a draw against Eastern on Sept. 30.

They are led on offense by Amy McGivern, who co-leads the conference with 23 points. Her 11 goals are the most in the OVC. She was also named the OVC Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 16. 

Murray State’s duo of Abby Jones and Miyah Watford continue to produce. Jones also has 23 points and Watford has 21. They are tied for the second most goals in the OVC with eight apiece. 

If Eastern earns a win and a draw, they are guaranteed a postseason berth, regardless of what the other teams do. 

The Panthers play the bottom two teams in the conference this weekend. On Friday they play 11th place Jacksonville State and then close out the season against 10th place Tennessee Tech. 

Eastern is coming off of their fifth win of the season which was also their most productive offensive match of the year. They beat non-conference Fort Wayne 4-3 this past Sunday. 

Eastern is led offensively by junior Lexi Ketterhagen and sophomore Haylee Renick. Ketterhagen has two goals and four assists on the season, leading the team with eight points. 

Renick leads the team with three goals. Sarah DeWolf, Itxaso Aguero and Pilar Barrio each have two goals on the season. 

Kate Olson, Angela Corcoran, Kayla Stolfa and Victoria Wharton have each added one goal on the season. 

As a team, Eastern has been outshot 209-153 by their opponents. Eastern’s shots on goal percentage is higher than their opponents, however, as 49.7 percent of their goals have been on target. 

Junior goalkeeper Sara Teteak, despite resting against Fort Wayne, still leads the OVC with seven shutouts. Five of her shutouts have come in conference play. 

If Eastern winds up in a postseason position after the weekend, it will be their first time making the OVC tournament since 2013. They have finished in either 10th or 11th place every year since. 

Adam Tumino can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].