Redhawks ready for second show at Savvis Center

~ Southeast will play an exhibition in St. Louis for the second straight year.

The more Southeast Missouri State women's soccer coach Heather Nelson can expose her program to the St. Louis area, the better.

For the second straight year, Nelson will get that opportunity in one of the city's largest indoor sports venues.

The Redhawks will play an exhibition game against Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at the 21,000-seat Savvis Center.

Southeast's game will be part of a full day of indoor soccer that has a heavy local flavor.

At 4:30 p.m., a Southeast alumni team will face an alumni squad from SIU-Edwardsville.

And prior to that, from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., there will be three youth games pitting teams from the Southeast Missouri Soccer Club against teams from the Tony Glavin Soccer Club of St. Louis.

The feature game of Saturday's event for fans outside Southeast Missouri is the 7:05 p.m. Major Indoor Soccer League matchup between the St. Louis Steamers and Milwaukee. It will be Daryl Doran Night, as the St. Louis indoor soccer legend is honored.

"It should be a great day and night of soccer, and we're glad to be involved," Nelson said. "Any time we can play in the St. Louis area, especially at the Savvis Center, it's a huge benefit to us since so many of our players are from St. Louis."

As an added bonus, the Southeast soccer program will receive a portion of the proceeds from about 800 tickets that the university sold at a discount price.

"It's a good fundraiser for us," Nelson said. "A lot of Southeast supporters will be there."

The Redhawks also competed at the Savvis Center last year, playing an exhibition against a Southeast alumni team.

"Hopefully, playing at the Savvis Center is something we can do every year," Nelson said. "It's an excellent opportunity for our team, and our alumni has responded. It's good to keep connecting with them."

The college soccer season is in the fall, but the NCAA allows teams to play a five-game spring exhibition schedule, along with several weeks of practice.

The Redhawks also have games later in the spring against SIU-Edwardsville, Truman State and two boys club teams, but Saturday's contest will be their spring opener. It will also mark Southeast's only indoor action of the spring.

"Other than this, we focus on full-field games," Nelson said. "But indoor soccer is more appealing to spectators because it's more fast-paced.

"This is our first game, so the girls can't wait to get out there."

Southeast will be a bit shorthanded Saturday because no regular goalkeeper is available for action. All-Ohio Valley Conference keeper Lindsay Pickering also plays for the Southeast softball team that has a home doubleheader Saturday.

"We'll just have to put one of our regular players in goal and do the best job we can," Nelson said.

People interested in attending Saturday's event who did not purchase tickets in advance can still buy them at Savvis Center. Prices range from $12 to $30.

The Steamers recently clinched the MISL title. They average about 5,100 fans per game, but a crowd of about 10,000 is expected Saturday because of Daryl Doran Night. The first 3,000 fans will receive a commemorative Doran poster.