Southeast Missouri State soccer team arranges OVC title showdown

Junior midfielder Jenna Collingridge netted her first two career goals for the Southeast Missouri State women's soccer team to help the Redhawks defeat host Jacksonville State 3-0 on Sunday and arrange a showdown for the Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title.

Collingridge scored her first goal 27 minutes into the game on a shot from near the top of the penalty box, according to a news release from Southeast Missouri State. The tally also marked the first assist for freshman midfielder Sunni Kesenich.

It was all the offense the Redhawks would need behind the work of freshman goalkeeper Kindra Lierz in improving to 10-5 overall and 7-2 in the OVC. The win set up a showdown against SIU Edwardsville at 7 p.m. Friday in Edwardsville, Illinois, for the OVC title and the accompanying right to host the OVC tournament Nov. 6 to 9.

SIU Edwardsville currently leads the OVC standings with an 8-1 mark. The Redhawks can claim the title with a win in the regular-season finale through the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Against the Gamecocks, Collingridge added an insurance goal in the 54th minute and sophomore midfielder/forward Natasha Minor completed the scoring with her seventh goal of the season in the 82nd minute.

Senior forward Breana Beine assisted on Collingridge's second goal, and sophomore midfielder Jennifer Antonacci assisted on the goal by Minor, who is tied with Beine for the team lead in that department.

The win was the fifth straight for the Redhawks, who also picked up a 2-0 OVC road win over Tennessee Tech on Friday.

"As a team, we are performing at a very high level, and that's a testament to the contribution that every member of our team makes to our program," Southeast coach Heather Nelson said in the release. "Our speed of play, transition and overall commitment to getting numbers forward in the attack and back in defense was outstanding all weekend. I give credit to our players for taking personal responsibility for their fitness during the summer and to their total commitment to depending on our team fitness from week to week. We couldn't be more excited to have earned the opportunity to compete for the OVC regular season championship on Friday."

Southeast held an edge in overall shots, 15-14, and shots on goal, 6-3.

Lierz, who has four shutouts in the Redhawks' win streak, made three saves in recording her eighth shutout of the season.

Jacksonville State fell to 9-9 overall and 5-4 in the conference.