Southeast Missouri State soccer team plays Tech to scoreless deadlock

Southeast Missouri State soccer coach Heather Nelson's squad battled through its fifth Ohio Valley Conference overtime game of the season against Tennessee Tech, which entered Sunday's game in second place in the conference standings.

The Senior Day game against the visiting Golden Eagles ended in a scoreless tie at the end of the 110 minutes played at Houck Stadium.

For the Redhawks, who are tied for fifth in the OVC with a 3-2-4 league record, it was just another example of them holding their own against the conference's top competition.

Southeast has an overall record of 8-5-5, and the team's fifth tie of the season tied a program record from 2003. The Redhawks four conference ties set a new program record.

"We were also very well organized in the back, and I felt like our decisions on the ball were excellent today," Nelson said. "Our whole ball movement -- I would have rated our team very high with decision-making, and that's exciting to see because this team isn't going to have very much turnover and I personally feel like we're just starting to play our very best soccer of the year."

Southeast Missouri State's Jennifer Antonacci keeps the ball from Tennessee Tech's Taylor Sutton during the first half Sunday, Oct. 25, 2015 at Houck Stadium. (Fred Lynch)

Murray State (9-0 OVC) already claimed the conference title and the top spot in the OVC tournament that begins next Sunday, but the rest is up for grabs.

The Redhawks and Jacksonville State are tied for fifth with 13 points. Morehead and TTU are tied for second with 16 points, and UT Martin, the team Southeast faces in its regular-season finale on Thursday, is fourth with 15 points.

The top six teams in the 11-team standings earn a spot in the conference tournament.

"It's ideal," Nelson said with a smile about her team peaking at this time of year. "I just feel like we have to get one of those six spots in the tournament, and I don't think anybody's going to want to have us on their side [of the bracket]. That's how I personally feel about it."

Sunday's tie was the ninth shutout of the season for the Redhawks. Southeast finished the contest with 11 shots, including five on goal.

Southeast Missouri State's Abby Klintworth, left, and Kaitlin Kuznacic converge for a header with Tennessee Tech's Taylor Sutton during the second half Sunday, Oct. 25, 2015 at Houck Stadium. (Fred Lynch)

Senior Paige Luehmann put one of the Redhawks' best chances on goal with 12 seconds remaining in the final 10-minute overtime. Her left-footed shot from 30 yards out was struck hard and curved away from the goalkeeper, but Kari Naerdemann made the save for TTU to preserve the tie.

Nelson credited Naerdemann and the Golden Eagles' ability to get players back on defense for keeping Southeast out of the net.

"When they do that you have to be pretty creative to break them down," Nelson said. "We played a very organized, disciplined team, and we were just that close to getting three points [with a win] out of it. I didn't feel like we were really ever at risk of giving up a goal. We're tying all the teams that are in the top of the league right now."

The Redhawks' last game against No. 2 Morehead State also went double overtime and finished in a 2-2 deadlock.

Southeast's defense limited TTU to four shots, three of which were on goal, and never seemed threatened by the Golden Eagles' attack.

Goalkeeper Kindra Lierz recorded her sixth shutout.

"Knew it would be pretty physical, but I think overall we were ready, pretty fit," junior defender Christina Rohde said. "We all want to make it into the tournament, so we knew we had to do everything we could do to get a point today."

Southeast was shutout for the fifth time this season and the third by a conference opponent.

The Redhawks attempted several long balls behind the TTU defense but couldn't track them down before Naerdemann came out and took control. Southeast also was unable to capitalize on several crosses in front of the net.

"Their back line dropped off a lot, so we couldn't really play our balls down the line or through like we usually do," Rohde said. "But I thought we did a great job playing in front of them; we just needed to get some more shots off."

Southeast also had five corner kicks to none for the Golden Eagles.

"We were close on a couple of those. There was a scramble in the box a couple times that we probably could've tucked away, but our forwards did a lot of work today," sophomore midfielder Paige Blankenheim said.

The Redhawks conclude the regular season against UT Martin. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Thursday in Martin, Tennessee.

"I think that we can play with anybody in the conference," Nelson said. "I'm happy with the level of play right now, and we'll spend the week working on our final third of play and hopefully we'll get a player or two back before our UTM game."