COLLEGE SOCCER: OTAHKS POST 2-0 WIN OVER INSPIRED UTM

The expected rout never materialized, but Southeast Missouri State University's women's soccer team was still able to double its win total from all of last season by defeating Tennessee-Martin 2-0 Tuesday night in front of 115 fans at Houck Stadium.

Southeast improved to 8-5-1 overall and 2-3 in Ohio Valley Conference play as it wrapped up its OVC schedule. The Otahkians will likely finish in fourth place in the six-team league.

"I'm happy we won," said a smiling Southeast coach Heather Nelson, when asked what she thought about the Otahkians' performance.

It was apparent that Nelson believed her squad did not play all that well, but the Otahkians have obviously made considerable progress in their second season after winning just four games during their inaugural campaign.

"I'm pleased with that," said Nelson of doubling last year's win total. "And we've still got two (regular-season) games left, plus the (OVC) tournament."

The reason most people expected a lopsided contest Tuesday is that the Skyhawks (0-15 overall, 0-4 OVC) had been blown out in virtually every game this year.

Entering Tuesday's match, UTM had allowed 71 goals while scoring just five. In three OVC games, the Skyhawks had been outscored 20-0. And only once in its first 14 contests had UTM allowed as few as two goals in a game.

That Tuesday's game was relatively competitive could likely be attributed to a pair of factors: Nelson rested some of her key players, including leading scorer Erika Todd -- who is also the OVC's top scorer -- and the Skyhawks put forth a gritty effort.

"I thought Tennessee-Martin played really hard," Nelson said. "We have some players who are sore and we wanted to get them some rest, especially with the conference tournament coming up pretty soon."

The teams nearly played a scoreless first half, but Nichole Thiele finally broke the ice with just 1:55 left before the intermission as she booted home a left-footer from about 15 yards. It was Thiele's 11th goal of the season. She is second in the OVC in goals, behind Todd's 12.

Less than five minutes into the final half, Angela Martinez scored her first goal of the season, from about 15 yards out, with an assist from Thiele.

Southeast goalkeeper Tami Hebert recorded her OVC-leading sixth shutout of the season as she made seven saves.

The Otahkians held only a 20-14 edge in total shots.