Southeast soccer settles for tie

~ Southeast peppered Eastern Illinois with 27 shots, but the game ended in a 1-1 deadlock

The Southeast Missouri State women's soccer team dominated Sunday's Ohio Valley Conference opener with Eastern Illinois.

Unfortunately for the Redhawks, they came away with only a 1-1 tie.

That's mainly due to the spectacular play of EIU goalkeeper Jenny Williams, who was credited with 13 saves and made at least six that were far from routine.

"That keeper was the man of the match," Southeast coach Heather Nelson said. "You have to give her credit for that."

Southeast (5-4-1) outshot EIU 27-4, held a 9-3 edge in corner kicks and kept the ball in the Panthers' end for the majority of the 90 minutes of regulation play.

But Williams kept EIU (4-3-4) in the game, and the Panthers finally broke through on their only strong scoring chance of the day with a little more than 15 minutes left in the second half.

EIU's Laura Ridolfi headed in a corner kick from Rachel Hamilton to tie the score.

"I think we played well," Nelson said. "We made one mistake on the corner and let a girl get a free header."

The Panthers seemed to play with more confidence after their goal and played Southeast fairly even for the rest of regulation and the two 10-minute overtime periods.

"I think they did play better after that," Nelson said.

Southeast took a 1-0 lead with just over 15 minutes left before halftime when senior defender Stephanie Kulavic headed in a corner kick from senior forward Lauren Lacopo.

Kulavic has been a key member of the Southeast squad since her freshman season, but Sunday marked her first collegiate goal.

"I usually get my goals in the preseason," joked Kulavic, who has scored in exhibition contests. "I just try to keep it out of the net [as a defender].

"We always talk about making a difference. I had an opportunity to make a difference and it was my turn."

Nelson was pleased to see Kulavic -- she and Lacopo are Southeast's only two seniors -- finally dent the net.

"It's fantastic," Nelson said. "She's been playing the best soccer of her career."

Southeast sophomore defender Shona Goodwin scored a goal with about 20 minutes left that would have made it 2-0, but the Redhawks were called for offside.

After EIU tied it, junior forward Ashley Runion appeared to be taken down in the box with about five minutes left in regulation for what could have been a penalty kick, but the official whistled a foul on Runion for a foul earlier in the play.