Aug. 14, 2009

Final Stats | Photo Gallery

By Brett Maikowski
Southeast Missouri State Sports Information

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast women's soccer came up just short tonight as they fell to the Saint Louis University Billikens by a 2-1 margin. SEMO had a late game push in the third period to get on the scoreboard, but it wasn't enough to overpower SLU. The Redhawks are now 0-1 in exhibition play, while the Billikens move to 1-0.

The two teams decided to play three 30-minute periods tonight instead of the normal regular season 45-minute halves. From the beginning of the game, Southeast was hard-pressed for offense. They weren't able to manage a shot on goal until the third and final period of the game. On the other side of the ball, Saint Louis kept the pressure on goalie Kaitlyn Smugala as they attempted 15 shots over the span of the game.

The scoring started tonight with Ashley Hayes of SLU who dribbled around Smugala and scored in the center of the net after receiving a pass past the last defender from Jessica Lopez. Hayes also put in the second goal for her team in the third period after shooting the ball into the lower right corner to give the Billikens a 2-0 lead with 20 minutes remaining in the match.

With only seven minutes left in the game, Stephanie Kulavic chipped a shot right over goalie Parris Wells' head to prevent the shutout and give the Redhawks some hope in tying the game. Unfortunately, SEMO was not able to capitalize and eventually dropped the match.

The Redhawks will return to action on Sunday when they take on the Tritons of Missouri-St. Louis. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m.