The Southeast Missouri State women's soccer clinched the Ohio Valley Conference title in record-breaking style Friday.
The Redhawks defeated the Jacksonville State Gamecocks to clinch their first Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title since the 2007 season.
Senior forward Jessie Crabtree gave the Redhawks the lead 26 seconds into the first half with her first of two goals in a 3-0 win. The goal was the fastest score in Southeast women's soccer history, eclipsing the previous record of 29 seconds.
"It was pretty great, especially with everyone," Crabtree said of the record-breaking goal. "We pressured, the forwards pressured, everyone was pushing up. The cross was a ball that you pray for as a forward, and all I did was put my head on it."
Erin Shulman logged her first minutes of play since spraining an ankle in a 4-0 win against Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville on Oct. 2. Shulman, a true freshman forward, leads the team with nine goals in 13 games played.
"It was a little rough the first half, then got a little better in the second half," Shulman said of her return. "It was good to get back on the field and be with the team."
Both Crabtree and Shulman were excited about earning their first OVC title. "It's one of those feelings that it's real and you're in the moment and you don't realize it's actually happening," Crabtree said.
Shulman hopes this season translates into more wins in the future.
"It's a good feeling because maybe next year we will be keep doing better," Shulman said.
Heather Nelson has been Southeast's coach for all four of the program's OVC titles in its 12-year history. Southeast previously won the OVC regular-season in 2001, 2002 and 2007.
"I think there's a lot of similarities," Nelson said, comparing the 2011 team with the previous three title teams. "Whenever we've been this successful, team chemistry has been in play. ... We are also a very talented team, a very fit team and a very mature team."
Shulman and Crabtree also believe that team chemistry has been a big part of the winning season.
"I think that the chemistry we have on the team is that we all work very well together and play very well," Shulman said. "Overall, we just have a lot of talent."
Crabtree added that the camaraderie and family environment helped the team win this season.
Nelson said there are still improvements that can be made to help better the team, including playing better set pieces and cleaning up miscues.
Clinching the OVC title means that Southeast will host the OVC tournament at Houck Stadium, an advantage according to Nelson. The tournament will take place Nov. 3-6 and the winner gains a berth to the NCAA tournament. Southeast's first game is Friday at 7 p.m. Southeast will play the winner of Murray State vs. Morehead State, which takes place at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
