Southeast women's soccer team shutout against Illinois State at home

The Southeast Missouri State University women's soccer team (2-2) faced a tough Illinois State team (4-3) that featured a relentless attack Friday night.

The Redhawks struggled in a physical game on the National Guard Field in Houck Stadium.

The Redbirds from Illinois are equipped with a talented team and star player Rachel Tejada, who is being scouted by the national team.

In the 3-0 win over the Redbirds, Tejada lead the way with two goals that got behind Southeast's freshman goalie Kindra Lierz, and is now three goals away from becoming the Illinois State all-time leading scorer.

Southeast coach Heather Nelson appreciated the tough competition saying that it made the Redhawks better.

"They're a really talented team. I think out of their last six games they played three Top 25 opponents and their overall speed of play was just better than ours was," Nelson said. "Give credit to them. They are well organized, athletic and well coached."

Nelson called the contest a learning experience for the freshman goalie, whose potential and talent are both high. Lierz's style is different from any Nelson has ever coached.

"I like how Kindra plays, the amount of pressure that was put on her tonight, it just shows her she has to be more specific in where her foot touch goes," Nelson said.

"It was left a little long, [Tejada] is being looked at by the national team program," Nelson said. "We payed for some mistakes, but at the same time you have to make mistakes to get better. I think what happened tonight will make Kindra a better goalkeeper for the rest of the season."

Scoring for the Redbirds all occurred early in the first half with Emily Dickman scoring at the 14-minute mark and Tejada scoring just a minute later with an assist from Ali Farkos.

Tejada's final goal came at the 31-minute mark as she stole the ball from Lierz for an empty-net goal.

It was Tejada's first multi-goal game of the season. Tejada was not available for comment after the game.

The Redbirds made three of their six shots in the first half, which is uncommon according to Nelson. The Redhawks did not have many scoring opportunities the entire game and were outshot 16-4 by Redbirds.

The second half was much better for Lierz and the Redhawks because their defensive execution improved. Lierz got six saves in the half against the attack of Illinois State, which didn't let up until four minutes left in the game.

"She's very talented, she does a lot more than any of the goalkeepers have done in my history here with this program," Nelson said of Lierz. "She also contributes to our offense and some of the opportunities we got were her playing on the ball."

Friday night helped the young freshman gain valuable experience at home, the Redhawks will be on the road on September 17th to face Evansville.

"I wasn't too nervous. I started to adjust to the game really well. I actually like this high level [of competition]," Lierz said. "It makes me better in the long run it makes our team better. I really like playing teams who are really good and really fast, it gets me the good experience I really need."