Southeast Missouri State soccer team loses to Illinois State

The Southeast Missouri State soccer team didn't play as well as it would have liked to on defense in its nonconference matchup with Illinois State on Friday.

But with just two games to go until the Redhawks begin play in the Ohio Valley Conference, Southeast coach Heather Nelson said their were some positive takeaways.

"They have some really outstanding players on that team that can create scoring plays almost immediately after they touch the ball," Nelson said. "There were a lot of mistakes defensively tonight, but I think everyone learned that we have to defend as a team and it can't just be one or two players -- we play as a unit defensive. But I like that we played a good team tonight because we learned and saw a lot of things that we need to fix before we start playing conference opponents."

The Redbirds (4-3) scored three goals within their first six shots of the game and posted a 3-0 win over the Redhawks (2-2) at Houck Stadium.

"I don't think we've scored on that many on so few shots since I've been here, but it was sure fun to watch," Illinois State coach Drew Roff said. "I really liked what we did. They were just hustle goals really. We'll take the pretty goals when we can get them, but that's not the way they were coming today."

Freshman Emily Dickman put the Redbirds up 1-0 just 15 minutes into the first half.

Gabbi McArtor dribbled the ball into Southeast's zone then took a shot from the left corner of the box. Her shot deflected off a Redhawks' defender and bounced to the feet of Dickman, who one-timed it into the back of the net.

Redhawk's freshman goalkeeper Kindra Lierz said she had little time to react.

"It was one of those reactions that just didn't happen in time," Lierz said. "My defender was trying to clear it, and I tried to react off of what she did and where the ball went, but it happened so fast that I just wasn't really able to get back fast enough."

Less than a minute later, Lierz was facing more heavy pressure from the Redbirds on a corner kick. Ali Farkos' kick was right at Lierz, who tried to make a clean save. However, Redbirds forward Rachel Tejada went up at the same time and jarred the ball loose from Lierz. The ball dropped to the feet of Tejada, who rocketed a shot past Lierz to put Illinois State up 2-0.

"I went up for it and that's all I remember," Lierz said. "I know they scored right after that, but whenever I go up for it and I don't get it right away then I have to regroup and try to find the ball, and it was already in before I could get up and find it."

Tejada tacked on her second goal of the game 13 minutes before halftime to extend the lead to 3-0.

"She sets a tone that just gives everybody more confidence when she's on the field," Roff said. "She has high expectations for herself, and I think she's one of those rare players that really makes people around her better."

Illinois State, the three-time Missouri Valley Conference defending champions, outshot Southeast 7-1 in the first half.

The Redhawks did not give up a goal in the second half and made several adjustments on defense to prevent Illinois State from having as many scoring chances.

"We did make some adjustments, but the major adjustments had to do with what our forwards were doing," Nelson said about the Redhawks' defense. "They made us run a lot in the first half because they were able to change the field almost at will, so we made a significant change involving our forwards.

"That change kept the ball on one side of the field throughout the second half, it condensed us and it was probably the biggest thing we got out of this game because now our forwards have a higher level of understanding that defending starts at their level."

The Redhawks were only able to create a couple good scoring chances in the second half.

Eighteen minutes into the second half Paige Luehmann intercepted a pass at midfield then took the ball to the top of the Redbirds' box. Luehmann took a shot, but she was being heavily defended and her shot was blocked and bounced wide of the net.

With 27 minutes to play, Luehmann delivered a perfect ball to Natasha Minor, who was racing down the left side of the field. Minor had a breakaway chance, but she was called for offsides, ending any chance the Redhawks had to score.

"Their overall speed of play was just better than ours was all night," Nelson said. "Credit goes to them for being so organized and well coached. It seemed like any time we took the ball close to the net our chances to score were slim almost immediately."

Southeast managed just three more shots on goal in the second half.

"We'll regroup and get right back to it," Nelson said. "You can't dwell on a game like this against a great opponent who has played some Top 25 teams in their last three games. They're a really great team and we knew it."

The Redhawks will play Evansville on the road at 7 p.m. Wednesday.