Southeast Missouri State University student publication

Southeast soccer drops conference opener to Murray State

Sunday, September 16, 2018
The Southeast women’s soccer team dropped its conference opener 4-1 to the Murray State Racers on Sept. 13 at Houck Field.

Murray State (5-1-1) was picked to win the Ohio Valley Conference in the preseason polls, and after Thursday’s performance the Racers sit in the top spot. Murray State outshot the Redhawks 13-7, including an advantage of 10-2 in shots on goal.

“I think Murray came out and set a standard,” Southeast coach Heather Nelson said.

It was a tale of two halves, as the first half ended at 0-0 and featured a close shot differential of 6-4 and only a 3-1 shots on goal advantage in favor of Murray State. In the second half, the Racers outshot the Redhawks 7-3, but all seven of their shots were on target and four of them found the back of the net.

The first chance for the Racers came from a miscommunication between the Redhawks’ defender and goalie. Southeast redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Maddie Gleeson tried to get rid of the ball in a hurry and kicked it to Murray State sophomore forward Rebecca Kubin, who was able to get a shot off at the open net but missed wide.

Southeast had a couple chances off corner kicks — once in the 23rd minute and another in the 28th minute — but neither was able to find the target.

Murray State got on the board four minutes into the second half. Racers senior midfielder Caroline Ashton collected the ball after it trickled out of a scrum and put the ball into the top corner to give Murray State the 1-0 lead.

Shortly after, Kubin urged her way through the Southeast defense and drew a penalty. Freshman forward Abby Jones was able to convert the penalty kick and extend the Murray State lead to 2-0.

Southeast got back into the game in the 68th minute, after Redhawks junior midfielder Esmie Gonzales drew a foul at the top of the box to earn a free kick. Gonzales converted the free kick to bring the score to 2-1.

The Racers restored their two-goal lead and were able to extend their lead back to two just seven minutes later. It started with Murray State junior forward Miyah Watford forcing a turnover and dribbling it into the 18-yard box. She was then fouled, giving Murray State its second penalty kick of the game. Watford took the shot and managed to get it past Gleeson to push the score to 3-1.

Murray State junior forward Emma Heise tacked on a goal with three minutes left in the game to reach the final score of 4-1.

“I think, to be honest, there are some things we need to improve when we have the ball, to make sure that we keep the ball,” Nelson said. “I think a fair bit of their offense was created by counterattacks where we chose the wrong ball.”

Kubin and Watford used their speed to give Southeast fits off of those counterattacks. They combined for eight of Murray State’s 13 shots.

Looking ahead, Southeast (2-5) will continue with OVC play when they host Tennessee-Martin on Sept. 16 at Houck Stadium. The Redhawks plan to use the experience gained in the loss to the Racers.

“We have a good conference, there are good forwards and they are all going to be fast. But we’re used to that,” senior defender Maddie Karstens said. “We know that we can adapt to them and know where to pick them up and be at the right places at the right times.”

After playing UTM, the Redhawks will visit Jacksonville State on Sept. 23. Their next home game is Sept. 27 against Eastern Kentucky.

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