The Southeast Missouri State women’s soccer team made Ohio Valley Conference history on Nov. 8 by being the first sixth-seeded team in history to make it to the final round of the tournament.

Although, the Redhawks did fall to No. 1-seeded Murray State losing 0-1 during overtime. Sophomore goalkeeper Kindra Lierz made six saves during the game, while Natasha Minor shot two out of the five times for the Redhawks. The Redhawks also sustained some injuries during the final game.

According to junior midfielder Kaitlin Kuznacic, this tournament was anyone's fair game. Kuznacic explained that if Southeast would have won its last regular-season game then the team would have entered the tournament in the third-team position. The team’s last regular season game was on Oct. 29 against UT Martin which the team tied 0-0.

“The record number of ties is certainly a reflection of the competitiveness of the league,” head coach Heather Nelson said.

“We knew we had nothing to lose so we left it all out on the field,” Lierz said about entering the tournament, as they began by facing Jacksonville State.

During the first game of the OVC tournament the Redhawks tied Jacksonville State 1-1 and then won in a shootout 3-2. This is the second time the Redhawks have done this in OVC history with the first time being in 2007.

Sophomore midfielder Maddy Cornell scored the only goal for the Redhawks during official play during the first 37 minutes of the match. This was her first goal of the season.

Junior midfielder Christina Rohde was the first one to score during the shootout. Then junior midfielder Jennifer Antonacci scored the second goal. Sophomore midfielder Paige Blankenheim scored the winning shot during the shootout.

Lierz made the game winning save and advanced her team to the tournament semifinals.

“My only focus was on the ball and where it was coming from,” Lierz said.

The semifinal game was played against Tennessee Tech where the Redhawks won 2-0. Antonacci scored the first goal in the first nine minutes of the match. Junior midfielder Natasha Minor scored the final goal of the match 81 minutes in.

“We did the best that we could have done and each of us left it all out on the field,” Kuznacic said.

After the tournament three Redhawks, Antonacci, Kuznacic and Lierz, were named to the OVC All-Tournament Team.

“I am excited for each of them to be recognized for their elite performances in OVC tournament games,” Nelson said.