Oct. 26, 2008

Final Stats

By Brett Maikowski, Soccer Contact

CHARLESTON, Ill. - In a must-win situation to continue their season, the Redhawks came up short to the Eastern Illinois Panthers, 2-1. Southeast received all the help they needed from Jacksonville State as they only needed a win today to make the final spot of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. SEMO was unable to do that though and now closes out their season with a 2-9-3 mark overall and a 2-5-3 record in the OVC.

EIU took the early lead in the first half after goals by Pam Melinauskas and Samantha Kohen. The first one came in the 17th minute of play when Melinauskas put the ball past goalkeeper Jessica Beckham from about 10 yards out, scoring her third goal of the season. Alexis Miller recorded her second assist this year on the play.

Only five minutes later, the deficit for the Redhawks increased as Samantha Kohen scored her first goal of the season after kicking in the loose ball off a corner kick. Melinauskas and Rachel Hamilton both notched assists, their firsts on the year.

The Redhawks remained in this 2-0 hole for a majority of the game until Casey Kraft took a shot from the center of the box about 15 yards out in the 80th minute. After putting the ball in the right side of the net past goalie Jenny Williams giving Kraft her fourth goal of the year, the Panther lead was now cut in half.

Southeast had two more shots after the Kraft goal from Nikki Edwards and Mabel Velarde, but still could not tie the game and send it into extra time. Although they came up short on the scoreboard, the Redhawks had a season high 22 shots for the game, including 15 in the second half alone. Also they did not allow a single shot from the Panthers in the last 58 minutes of the game.

Beckham recorded no saves, while allowing two goals giving her a 1.13 goals against average for the season. Williams, on the other hand, notched nine saves while allowing one goal putting her at a record of 1-8 on the year.

Southeast wraps up its season with five points from a 2-5-3 conference record finishing them in last place. Although the Redhawks won't be participating in it this year, the OVC Tournament will begin next week on November 4 with the championship game being set for Sunday, November 9 at 1 p.m.