Otahkians take aim at ranked Illini tonight

Southeast Missouri State University's women's soccer team is off to a good start -- and tonight the Otahkians have an opportunity to make it an exceptional one.

The Otahkians (2-0) play their third straight home game to begin the season as nationally ranked Illinois (1-0) visits Houck Stadium for a 7 p.m. match. Sunday, Southeast hosts Xavier (0-2) at 2 p.m.

"We're off to a good start, and this is a very big weekend for us," Southeast coach Heather Nelson said. "This is a great opportunity for our team to compete against one of the top teams in the nation in Illinois and a very solid team in Xavier."

Illinois, last year's Big 10 Conference tournament champion, is ranked 14th in one major poll and 19th in another. The Illini opened their season with a 4-1 victory against Missouri.

"Our seniors have had good success playing against nationally ranked teams and I know they are looking forward to the Illinois game," Nelson said. "When our seniors were sophomores, they beat a nationally ranked Kentucky team, and last year they played a ranked Auburn team very tough before losing 2-0."

Southeast opened its season last weekend by beating Arkansas 3-2 and Evansville 1-0, led by Ohio Valley Conference offensive player of the week Lisa Schweppe. The junior had the game-winning goal against Arkansas and assisted on the only goal against Evansville.