The Southeast soccer team got its offense going against Morehead State on Sunday, Sept. 30, with a 2-0 victory at Houck Field, securing its first win in Ohio Valley Conference play.

SEMO took the field with 10 players in the first half to honor Meg Herndon, a Southeast soccer player who died in a scooter accident during the 2012 season. The players also wore green jerseys for the annual Green Up to raise awareness about organ, eye tissue donation as well as the beneficiaries.

“The most important part of the game to me is it being the Meg Herndon memorial game,” Southeast coach Heather Nelson said.

During the first half, the Redhawks took six shots and and twice found the back of the net.

Junior midfielder Esmie Gonzales scored the first goal of the match seven minutes into the contest, with the assist from junior defender Jordan Nelson.

“I was excited how we started off with getting a goal pretty early in the first half,” Heather Nelson said.

That goal was Gonzales’ fifth of the season, leading the team.

“It felt amazing,” Gonzales said. “I know it is not a one-person game. My team put a lot of effort into it [tonight] and we came out with the win.

Freshman midfielder Morgan Mccourt scored the second goal at the 10-minute mark, with the assist from sophomore forward Emily Holten.

In the second half, the ball stayed in the Southeast zone much of the time, putting pressure on the Redhawks’ defense.

“If I had to do it all over again, I would’ve want us to come out a little stronger in the second half; we had to change our formation twice in order to get settled in,” Heather Nelson said.

Freshman goalkeeper Bailey Redden recorded the first shutout of her career. She had three saves during the game, and held down her position while facing six shots from Morehead State.

SEMO got the ball up the field and near the goal often, leading in shot attempts (11-6).

Gonzales did not realize that she was leading the team in scoring with five goals.

“I honestly didn’t know that, but that is awesome; I couldn’t do it without my team though.” she said.

Southeast (3-7-1 overall, 1-3-1 OVC) will hit the road for its next four games, beginning with Tennessee Tech on Oct. 5. The Redhawks return to Cape Girardeau on Oct. 21 for the final matchup of the regular season against Austin Peay.