Redhawks ready to host OVC soccer tournament at Houck

~ OVC championsenter today's play as the top seed.

The only Ohio Valley Conference team that Southeast Missouri State did not beat this year stands in the way of a Redhawks' berth in the OVC tournament championship game.

Top-seeded Southeast and fourth-seeded Tennessee-Martin square off at 7 p.m. tonight in the tournament semifinals at Houck Stadium.

Today's other semifinal, at 4 p.m., pits second-seeded Samford against sixth-seeded Eastern Illinois.

The semifinal winners meet at 1 p.m. Sunday at Houck Stadium, with the tournament champion earning an automatic NCAA berth.

"It's great to be at home for the tournament," said Southeast coach Heather Nelson, whose squad earned the host berth by winning the OVC regular-season title. "We're undefeated at home and we feel we play better at Houck."

Southeast, 11-2-2 overall, went 8-0-1 in OVC play this year. The only blemish on the Redhawks' conference mark was a scoreless tie at Tennessee-Martin on Oct. 21.

That is the lone non-victory for the Redhawks since Sept. 14, when they lost at Saint Louis University.

Since then, Southeast has reeled off a 9-0-1 mark.

UT-Martin enters today's game with a 10-5-3 record. The Skyhawks finished fourth in the OVC at 4-2-3.

"They've got a very good defensive team," said Nelson, whose squad is the defending OVC tournament champion. "I expect a tough match."

If the seeds hold up, Southeast and Samford will have an interesting rematch in Sunday's title contest.

Southeast denied Samford (14-4, 8-1) a fifth consecutive OVC regular-season title when the Redhawks beat the Bulldogs 1-0 in double-overtime at Houck Stadium on Oct. 28.

But first Samford must get past Eastern Illinois (8-10-1, 4-5), which upset third-seeded Murray State 2-1 in overtime in Tuesday's opening round.

And, of course, first Southeast must get past UT-Martin, which eased past fifth-seeded Morehead State 2-0 on Tuesday.

"We're confident right now, but we know we can't look past anybody," Nelson said. "All four teams left are capable of winning the championship."