Southeast Missouri State women's soccer team rides Crabtree past Murray State

The Southeast Missouri State women's soccer team had to wait an extra day to play at Ohio Valley Conference rival Murray State.

It was worth the wait for the Redhawks, who recorded a 3-0 victory Monday. The contest was postponed Sunday due to lightning.

Southeast improved to 6-2-1 overall and 2-0 in OVC play. The Racers fell to 2-6-2 and 0-1-1.

Senior Jessie Crabtree, a transfer from Missouri, contributed to all three goals. She assisted on the Redhawks' first two tallies and scored a second-half insurance goal.

"Jessie's consistently high level of play and her work ethic is that of an elite Division I student-athlete, and our athletes feed off that," Southeast coach Heather Nelson said. "It's great to see her finish a goal and put the final nail in the coffin."

Shulman (Erin)

The Redhawks broke through a little past the midway point of the first half. Southeast moved out of its own end on a goal kick and a header by Crabtree that reached senior Lauren Bozesky, who drove down the left side and fired the ball into the top of the net in the 27th minute. It was Bozesky's second goal of the season.

Southeast made it 2-0 less than two minutes later when freshman Erin Shulman one-timed a Vanessa Hart cross into the net for her team-leading eighth goal of the year.

Crabtree put the finishing touches on the win with her fourth goal of the season with less than 10 minutes left in the game. Junior Ali Bauer drilled a crossing feed just in front of the 6-yard box, and Crabtree converted to cap the scoring.

The shutout is Southeast's fifth of the season, all coming in the past seven games. The Redhawks have allowed only three goals during that span.

Murray State outshot Southeast 17-10. Sophomore goalkeeper Ashton Aubuchon made six saves in her third solo shutout of the year.

"I'm very pleased with how Ashton played in goal," Nelson said. "She came up with some difficult saves today. I am also happy with our team defense. I think because we defend so well that we create a lot of good possessions and attacking opportunities."

Southeast plays its first OVC home game Friday when Eastern Illinois visits Houck Stadium for a 6:30 p.m. start.

The Redhawks and Panthers are tied for first in the conference.