Women's soccer pick up win to sneak in OVC tournament

The Southeast women’s soccer team (5-8-3) took on the Austin Peay Governors (8-8-1) Sunday afternoon and pulled away with the 2-1 win at Houck Field due to goals by junior midfielder Esmie Gonzales in both halves of play. With the win, Southeast also qualified for the OVC Tournament in Charleston, Illinois.

The Redhawks dropped their previous contest against the Belmont Bruins in Nashville. Therefore, Nelson stressed the idea of the players sticking to their main style of play and maintaining possession of the ball throughout the majority of the time.

“Initially we wanted to play our style of play of 4-3-3 and try and possess the ball to create opportunities and I think the first half was a great soccer game,” Nelson said.

seventeen minutes into the first half, junior midfielder Esmie Gonzales broke away from defenders and pushed the ball upfield before netting the game’s first goal, putting the home team ahead 1-0.

A minute into the second half, Austin Peay defender Ashley Whittaker tied the game with a close range shot.

The Redhawks soon responded with a goal of their own, as Gonzales found the ball within the goalie’s box due to a Governor defender whiffing the ball and Gonzales punched it in unassisted with 52 minutes left in the half to put the Redhawks in the lead at 2-1 for the rest of the game.

“I definitely think those plays gave the team energy, and that’s all I want, I just want to help my team as best I can, and I just wanted them to keep going, they’ve been doing great, and I love my team, and I couldn’t do it without them,” Gonzales said.

The goals were eighth and ninth of the season for Esmie Gonzales, a career high for the junior.

Other notable players during the game were junior defender Jordan Nelson who had two shots, and freshman goalie Bailey Redden who made five saves on 16 shots.

The Redhawks were outshot 10-16 by the Governors during the contest.

To end the season, Southeast finished with a (5-8-3, 3-4-3) record and their first game will be a first round contest against the Belmont University bruins in Charleston, Illinois on Oct. 26 at 1 p.m.

It was also senior night at Houck Field and seniors Maddi Karstens, Lauren Kaempfe and Jermina Job took home field for the final time during their collegiate careers.

“They’re all unique in their own ways and I don’t even want to think about that right now, I wanna think about keeping them as long as I can, because I will miss them,” head coach Heather Nelson said.