The Southeast Missouri State women's soccer team defeated Illinois Springfield on Sunday, Aug. 21, with a 3-1 win for its first home competition. During this matchup, Houck Stadium was filled with a record-setting attendance of 1,137.

Senior midfielder/forward Natasha Minor, sophomore forward/defender Lauren Kaempfe and freshman forward/midfielder Cassidi Tomsu scored Southeast's three goals of the night.

Minor scored the equalizing goal in the 54th minute to bring the score back to even at 1 to 1. Alexis Hacker tried her shot at a goal but the deflection came back to Minor who then dropped it in. The goal was Minor's 17th in her career, while it was Hacker's first career assist.

In 2015, Minor played in 15 matches and made 14 starts, but missed most of the competition during October due to a knee injury. Coming off of that nine month recovery process, her health has given her a new perspective this year.

"I was just so excited to be back on the field and lace up my cleats," Minor said. "I'm not going to lie, I cried when I got to really put them on again knowing I was going to get to compete."

The fitness level of the team this year is one thing that sets them apart from many other programs, coach Heather Nelson said.

"These newcomers came to us in August in shape, which allowed us to get right to work with skills, which will give us an edge on a lot of opponents we face this year," Nelson said.

The Redhawks will travel on a series of away games, including Wisconsin-Green Bay, Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Evansville before returning home for a game at 7 p.m. Sept. 7 at Houck Stadium.

To read more, visit SoutheastArrow.com/sports.