Redhawks soccer falls 1-0 to Missouri St. in belated debut

The Southeast Missouri State women's soccer team dropped its pushed-back season opener Friday night.

But coach Heather Nelson did not seem very disturbed by the 1-0 defeat to visiting Missouri State.

Southeast lost seven of its 11 starters from last year's squad that won Ohio Valley Conference regular-season and tournament championships.

For that reason, Nelson said from the outset of practice that it will take time for the Redhawks to mesh.

"There has just been too much turnover for it not to take some time," Nelson said. "I think at times we showed a ton of potential tonight."

Southeast had been scheduled to open the season Aug. 22 against Saint Louis University, but that game was postponed due to the threat of severe weather.

MSU came to Houck Stadium already having played two games. The Bears (2-1) beat Southeast 1-0 for the third year in a row.

"For some reason we're lucky against SEMO," MSU coach Rob Brewer said. "All three [1-0] games you couldn't tell the winner by looking at the stats sheet."

That was pretty much the case Friday as the contest was played evenly. MSU led 7-6 in shots and Southeast led 4-3 in corner kicks.

But the Bears scored the only goal less than five minutes into the second half as Samantha Aguilar got behind the defense and beat Jessica Beckham with a clean shot from about 12 yards.

Although the Redhawks were not credited with any shots on goal, they had some solid scoring opportunities.

Probably Southeast's best chance came midway through the first half when a dangerous cross resulted in a shot that went off the football cross bar just above the soccer goal.

"We missed two open goals that could have been game-changers," Nelson said.

Southeast suffered a bad break before the game when senior standout Casey Kraft rolled an ankle in warmups. She did not play, but Nelson doesn't believe the injury is serious.

"I give us credit," Nelson said. "We had to make some adjustments at the last minute, but they handled it well."

Nelson thought Beckham handled herself well in the nets during her first career start. She was credited with three saves, including a pair of impressive stops.

"We just need to play and get used to the speed of play," Nelson said. "Missouri State is a good team to open with. They always bring a good game."

Southeast returns to action Sept. 7 with a game against Army in St. Louis.

Volleyball drops opener

The Southeast volleyball team lost its season opener Friday, falling to South Dakota State.

South Dakota State, an NCAA tournament squad from last year, beat the Redhawks 25-20, 19-25, 25-20, 25-23 at the Blue Raider Bash hosted by Middle Tennessee State.

Karleigh DeLong had a double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs for the Redhawks. Molly Davis had 17 digs and Sarah Barth recorded 28 assists.

Southeast finishes the tournament with two matches today, against Idaho and nationally ranked Middle Tennessee State.