Otahkians suffers 2-1 setback to Memphis

Coming off a huge win Friday night against Ohio Valley Conference women's soccer favorite Eastern Illinois, Southeast Missouri State University dominated nearly every facet of its game against Memphis at Houck Stadium Monday night.

Except the score, that is.

On a late goal by midfielder Alison Baker, the Tigers squeaked out a 2-1 victory as they improved to 5-5-1 and dropped the Otahkians to 7-4-1.

Southeast coach Heather Nelson said despite coming out of the game with twice as many losses as last season, her team will be better prepared for OVC play.

"I'm pleased to have a game like this," she said.

Southeast dominated the scoring chances in the first half, and had an open net but failed to capitalize due to miscommunication between Otahkian forwards.

With a scoreless tie coming out of half, Memphis forward Becca Amrozowicz put a 30-yard blast off the crossbar and into the net early in the second half.

Memphis coach Brooks Monaghan said he was happy the way his team responded after a Friday overtime loss against another OVC opponent, Tennessee-Martin.

"It's definitely nice to get a win," he said. "We let one get away from us Friday. Our morale was down.

"We had a long talk and we got our act together. A very big win against a very good team."

The Otahkians responded less than 10 minutes after the Memphis goal with a goal from Marla Gianino. Gianino was able to ram a loose ball into the net after the Memphis goalie misplayed a cross.

Southeast had several good chances after its goal, before Baker slipped past the defense and beat freshman goalie Lauren Fabbro for the game-winner with about 10 minutes left.

"I thought their goaltender did a very good job tonight," Nelson said.

Otahkian midfielder Valerie Henderson said she was disappointed with the result, but not with the way Southeast played.

"It was a really physical game," she said. "The way the play of the game was I couldn't have asked for more."

Monday's game was a rather international affair for the Otahkians. Memphis sports 14 foreign-born players, representing seven different countries.

Monaghan said the foreign-born players bring something different to the table.

"They bring a lot of passion to the game," he said. "That's what helps our team."

Southeast will travel to Cookeville, Tenn., Friday to take on OVC foe Tennessee Tech. Tennessee Tech is coming off of its first OVC loss Sunday to Tennessee-Martin.

Nelson said play in the OVC this year will be as wide open as it has ever been.

"It should be very interesting to see what four teams advance to the (conference) tournament," she said.

jjoffray@semissourian.com

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