Otahkians cap weekend sweep, beat SMS

Valerie Henderson didn't really think the shot was all that good.

"It wasn't that strong," she said. "I thought their goalie would get it."

But Henderson was wrong -- much to her delight.

Henderson, a Southeast Missouri State University senior, angled in a shot from about 20 yards out early in sudden-death overtime as the Otahkians beat Southwest Missouri State 2-1 in front of about 200 fans Sunday at Houck Stadium.

The Otahkians, by sweeping their two-game weekend home stand, improved to 3-1-2.

"It's a big win for us," Henderson said of beating an in-state rival. "Bragging rights."

Southeast, which beat SMS (1-4-2) for the second straight year, finished with a 28-10 edge in shots. But the Otahkians couldn't put away the Bears until Henderson's winner less than three minutes into sudden death.

Marla Gianino got an assist on the winning goal. She sent a pass to Henderson along the right sideline, and Henderson's shot to the opposite post just trickled past SMS keeper Katie Holsopple, who kept the Bears in the game with 12 saves.

"We had a lot of chances, and it was good to capitalize on that one," Henderson said.

The Otahkians peppered the net most of the second half and took advantage of sending in an extra attacker to counter the Bears' alignment.

"We went to the same system they were playing," Southeast coach Heather Nelson said. "It allowed us to get more pressure and made a big difference."

Southeast trailed 1-0 at halftime after an unassisted goal by Ashley Anderson with about 15 minutes left in the opening period.

The Otahkians tied it with about 20 minutes remaining in the second half when sophomore Ashley DeRoy put in a shot off an assist from freshman Jessi Wuellner.

"We pulled it out and showed a lot of character," Nelson said. "It's always good to beat an in-state team. We really get up for these games."

Southeast is off to a solid start despite injuries to key players. Leading scorer Erin Slattery sprained an ankle during Friday's 4-1 win over IUPUI and could miss up to three weeks. Erika Todd, one of only three seniors, has a knee injury, and her status is undetermined.

"We've had a lot of injuries, but so far I think we're playing fine," Henderson said. "Hopefully we'll get everybody healthy soon."