Redhawks escape with 1-0 OVC win in double overtime

It was probably as ugly a performance as Southeast Missouri State's women's soccer team has had all season.

But the end result was a thing of beauty for the Redhawks.

Southeast struggled virtually the entire match against underdog Tennessee Tech, but the Redhawks were finally able celebrate a 1-0 home victory in double overtime Sunday afternoon.

"We're so relieved," said a smiling senior Lisa Schweppe, who scored the only goal. "A loss or a tie today would have been devastating."

Southeast improved to 7-2-1 overall and 2-0-1 in Ohio Valley Conference play as they moved into a first-place tie with Eastern Illinois, both squads having seven points.

But the Redhawks knew how fortunate they were. Teams are awarded three points for a victory in OVC play, but just one point for a tie and no points for a loss.

Either a tie or a loss would have put Southeast in a bind, even though there are still plenty of conference games remaining.

"We needed this win bad," junior Jessie Wuellner said.

Schweppe and Wuellner were largely responsible for helping the Redhawks avoid a bad result against the Eaglettes (4-8, 2-2).

After neither team scored during the 90 minutes of regulation and in the first 10-minute sudden-death overtime period, a 0-0 tie seemed likely.

But, midway through the second and final extra session, Wuellner crossed a nice ball to Schweppe, whose header from about 10 yards out directly in front of the goal found the left corner of the net with 5:28 remaining. Junior Caitlin Huber also received an assist on the play, as she made the initial pass to Wuellner.

"I saw it coming and I knew I needed to get on it," said Schweppe, whose goal was her fourth of the season, which is tied for the team lead. "When I saw it go in, it was pure joy."

Neither team had all that many strong scoring opportunities, although Southeast had a goal by freshman Nicole Bussman wiped out in the first half on an offsides call.

Southeast held a 7-5 advantage in shots and a 5-1 edge in corner kicks.

Junior goalkeeper Lindsay Pickering was credited with only one save in her seventh shutout of the season, although she made a nice stop in the first overtime when the Eaglettes had one of their best chances to score.

Southeast coach Heather Nelson did not have very many good things to say about the Redhawks' play.

"The only thing I'm happy about is that we played bad but found a way to win," Nelson said. "I'm livid about our performance."

But, as the old sports saying goes, it's much better to play bad and win than to play well and lose.

"We got lucky," said a grinning Schweppe. "But we'll take it."