Redhawks' offense erupts in 4-0 soccer win over Govs

Southeast Missouri State's Ohio Valley Conference soccer opener resulted in no goals for the Redhawks as they battled Eastern Illinois to a scoreless tie on Sept. 23.

But the Redhawks had nothing resembling an offensive drought during their second OVC match as they blistered Austin Peay 4-0 Friday night in front of nearly 250 fans at Houck Stadium.

"We were waiting for our offense to kick in," senior Lisa Schweppe said. "Hopefully this is a sign of things to come."

The Redhawks improved to 6-2-1 overall and 1-0-1 in OVC play. The Governors fell to 5-5 and 2-1.

"I thought we moved the ball well," Southeast coach Heather Nelson said. "We had more people step up and create shots."

As lopsided as the final margin was, it actually could have been much worse as Southeast totally dominated the action, with the majority of play spent in Austin Peay's end of the field.

In addition to the four goals, Southeast narrowly missed at least five or six other strong scoring chances, several on impressive stops by Austin Peay keeper Sarah Broadbent, who was credited with 11 saves.

"We had a lot of good opportunities from a lot of different players," Schweppe said.

Schweppe scored her third goal of the season, while freshmen Nicole Bussman and Casey Kraft each got their team-leading fourth goals. Junior Caitlin Huber scored her first goal.

Sophomore Alaina Lacopo had three assists. Adding one assist apiece were Bussman, junior Jessi Wuellner and senior Erin Hartmann, a Jackson High School product.

"We were moving the ball the best we have this season," Schweppe said.

Southeast, which led 3-0 at halftime, held a 24-3 edge in shots and an 8-0 advantage in corner kicks.

Junior keeper Lindsay Pickering, who has had to make her share of brilliant saves during tight games, had a relative breeze in picking up her sixth shutout of the season. She was credited with two routine saves.

The Redhawks have another home OVC match Sunday, facing Tennessee Tech at 2 p.m.

Volleyball falls to EKU

Playing its first home match of the season, Southeast's volleyball team dropped three competitive games to defending OVC champion Eastern Kentucky Friday night.

The Redhawks (5-9, 2-1) suffered their initial conference loss as the Colonels (11-4, 3-0) prevailed 30-25, 30-25, 30-26 in front of more than 300 fans at Houck Field House.

Jackson High School product Jessica Koeper paced Southeast with 21 kills, and Jill Miller added 13.

Lauren Scannell led in digs with 26, followed by Miller with 13, Jamie Baumstark with 12 and Koeper with 10. Baumstark recorded 43 assists.

Amy Arlinghaus and Liz Guard paced EKU in kills with 15 and 14, respectively. Jessica Sabath had 23 digs.

Southeast hosts Morehead today in a 2 p.m. OVC match.