Southeast Missouri State freshman nets lone goal in 1-0 soccer win

Natasha Minor is among several freshmen who have played key roles for the Southeast Missouri State soccer team this year.

Minor delivered again Sunday afternoon as the Redhawks continued a roll that has them challenging for a spot near the top of the Ohio Valley Conference.

Although the Redhawks dominated visiting Tennessee Tech for most of Sunday's match, they could only find the back of the net one time.

That conversion came off the head of Minor, whose goal early in the second half lifted Southeast to a 1-0 victory at Houck Stadium.

"Our team is doing really well," Minor said.

Southeast Missouri State forward Breana Beine moves the ball down the field against Tennessee Tech during the second half Sunday at Houck Stadium. Beine assisted on the Redhawks’ goal in a 1-0 victory. (Adam Vogler)

Southeast, winning its second straight during a four-game homestand, improved to 6-5-3 overall and 4-1-2 in OVC play. The Redhawks are 6-1-2 in their last nine matches. Tech fell to 3-12-1 overall and 1-5-1 in the OVC.

"We're still improving every game. Our forwards are gaining more confidence, and we hope we continue on this upward trend," Southeast coach Heather Nelson said. "We saw the best that Tech had because they needed a result to stay in the OVC Tournament hunt."

Southeast, despite outshooting Tech 9-1 in the first half and having several scoring chances, entered the break locked in a scoreless battle.

It didn't last long.

Junior Breana Beine found space along the left sideline and crossed a perfect ball to Minor, who headed it home for her fourth goal of the season just 2 minutes, 40 seconds into the final period.

"She's so fast, very skilled," Minor said in crediting Beine with making the play. "I was just going, 'I'm going to get my head on this.'"

Minor's four goals are tied for the team lead with sophomore Erin Shulman. Minor's 11 points lead the Redhawks.

"Overall I'm really happy with the way things have gone," said Minor, who is from Wisconsin. "My teammates are great. They've been finding me with some great balls. I couldn't do it without them."

Nelson has been impressed with Minor's rookie campaign.

"Tosh is getting better every week. I'm excited about how quickly she is adapting to the roles we've thrown her way," Nelson said. "Breana is becoming the player we envisioned [after transferring from Evansville]. I was excited that she scored on Friday [a win over Belmont] and she beat two defenders and had a very nice setup of Tosh today. We're hoping she can stay on this roll for us."

The Eagles, outshot 13-4 in the game, had a 3-1 edge in shots down the stretch but only one of their three second-half shots were on goal and that was stopped by senior keeper Ashton Aubuchon.

"I think we're doing what we have to do and then some," Aubuchon said about the Redhawks' strong late-season play that has them fourth in the 11-team OVC and within striking distance of the top spot.

It was a routine shutout for Aubuchon, her fifth of the season and 20th of her career to place her second all-time at Southeast behind Lindsay Pickering's 28.

"The defense has definitely been doing their job. Loads of credit to them," Aubuchon said.

While Aubuchon won't be able to catch Pickering for the shutouts record, she will break her mentor's school saves mark.

Aubuchon's two saves Sunday gave her 227 for her career, one behind Pickering, a Southeast standout from 2005 through 2007 now in her sixth season as a Southeast assistant coach.

"It's kind of cool it's Pick's [record]. She's pretty well taught me everything I know," said Aubuchon, who added with a laugh: "Her name will still be on there [for several records]."

Aubuchon, a graduate of Hazelwood West High School in suburban St. Louis, earned first-team all-OVC honors in 2011 and was named to the OVC all-newcomer team as a freshman in 2010.

"She's been an excellent leader for us," Nelson said.

About the only downer Sunday was Shulman leaving with an elbow injury less than 11 minutes into the contest. She did not return. The news was relatively good later as X-rays revealed only a sprain and no break.

Southeast continues its homestand Friday with a 6:30 p.m. OVC match against SIU Edwardsville.