It was a big night for the Southeast soccer team and forward Morgan McCourt on Aug. 24 as the Redhawks defeated the University of Illinois-Springfield 3-0 with the help of the freshman’s first two collegiate goals.

It was a dominant performance by Southeast (1-2) in collecting its first win of the season after scoring one goal in a pair of home losses. The Redhawks outshot the Prairie Stars 20-2, and had 11 shots on goal to two for the University of Illinois-Springfield.

Southeast scored on its only two shots on goals in the first half, before putting one of its nine shots on goal past the UIS goalkeeper in a strong second half.

The Prairie Stars’ lone shot on goal in the first half came 15 minutes in when Southeast redshirt freshman goalkeeper Kayla Byrd stopped a header off a corner kick. Byrd made her first career start in place of injured redshirt sophomore Maddie Gleeson.

Southeast’s first goal came came in the 18th minute, started from a cross by right back Katie Wegmann. After a shot from Cassidi Tomsu hit the post, Jennifer Brien put the carom in the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.

The Redhawks netted their second goal with just under a minute left in the first half. The chance came off another cross, this time by forward Emily Holten. McCourt took the feed and netted her first goal for a 2-0 lead at the intermission.

The Redhawks ramped up the intensity in the second half, outshooting the Prairie Stars 18-1.

McCourt struck again when she deposited a cross from Wegmann after a free kick to put the Redhawks up by the final tally of 3-0.

“The goals we scored tonight largely came from getting the ball wide and getting crosses in,” Southeast coach Heather Nelson said. “That was a goal of ours, to make sure we were attacking the wide areas of of the field and getting services in.”

This win served as a bounce-back game for the Redhawks, after losing to Missouri State 1-0 on Aug. 21. In that game, the Redhawks dominated possession, but could not put the ball in the net.

The Redhawks now travel to Arizona, where they will take on the Arizona Wildcats and the Arizona State Sun Devils.

“We are going to have to be very tactical,” Nelson said. “We are to have be very smart in our defensive shape and that we can try to win balls and attack out of that. We will have to use our energy very smart.”

They take on Arizona on Aug. 31 and Arizona State on Sept. 2 before returning home to take on Oral Roberts on Sept. 9.