Sept. 24, 2009

By Brett Maikowski, Southeast Missouri State Sports Information

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Southeast Missouri State soccer team (5-3, 0-0 OVC) will travel to St. Louis on Friday to take on the Washington University in St. Louis Bears (6-2, 0-0 UAA) at 7 p.m. The match will close out non-conference play for the season, as Southeast prepares for Ohio Valley Conference competition on Sunday when they will take on the Eastern Illinois Panthers (3-3-3, 0-0 OVC) at 2 p.m. at Houck Stadium.

Scouting the Redhawks

The Redhawks had the week off this past week. Two weeks ago, Southeast split the weekend with a 2-0 loss to Northwestern State, but bounced back with a 2-0 victory over Western Kentucky two days later. Mabel Velarde scored the unassisted game winner in the 71st minute of play to lift SEMO over WKU. Later in the 88th minute, Ali Bauer scored her second goal of the season from a Kelly Goehring assist to seal the win.

Overall as a team, Southeast is in the top tier of the OVC charts in several statistical categories. They place second in points (52), goals (18), and assists (16) trailing only Jacksonville State. Defensively, the Redhawks have been second to none as they lead the conference in goals allowed with only giving up 6 goals in 8 matches. They are also first in goals against average (0.73) and second in total shutouts (4). SEMO has the least amount of saves (12) as the defense has successfully kept their opponents out of scoring range most of the match.

Scouting the Bears

After dropping their first two matches of the year, the Bears are now riding a 6-match winning streak heading into Friday. Most recently, Washington U. posted a 7-2 win over Principia College in Elsah, Ill. on Tuesday night. Senior Caryn Rosoff scored a hat trick and notched an assist to lead the team in the victory. The Bears scored 6 of their 7 goals in the first half of the match to shut down the Panthers.

Three players are in double digit points for the Bears. Emma Brown leads the team with 8 goals in the same amount of matches to give her 16 points on the year. Caryn Rosoff trails shortly behind with 5 goals after her hat trick performance recently. She also has posted 4 assists to give her a total of 14 points overall. Lee Ann Felder rounds out the top three offensive players for the team as she has 3 goals and 4 assists this season.

In goal, goalkeeper Clara Jaques has started in all 8 matches of the year, while recording a 6-2 record. Jaques has only allowed 4 goals this season, giving her a goals against average of 0.61 and a save percentage of .852.

Friday's match between Washington U. and Southeast will be the first ever meeting between the two teams. The match will be webcast live at http://www.stretchinternet.com/wustlvideo.html.

Scouting the Panthers

The Eastern Illinois Panthers have been all even as they currently hold a 3-3-3 record this season. EIU will host intrastate rival Western Illinois on Friday at 4 p.m. at Lakeside Field before heading to Cape Girardeau, Mo. to take on Southeast on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Last weekend, Eastern lost to Illinois State on the road, 2-0, and drew even with Green Bay at home with a 2-2 score. In the tie against Green Bay, EIU took the early lead with a goal from Rachel Hamilton as she put in the long shot from 30 yards out. Green Bay then took the lead right back after scoring two goals of their own. Eastern's Ashley Streid didn't settle for the loss though as she tied up the game in the 62nd minute of competition from 10 yards out.

Rachel Hamilton and Ashley Streid also lead the Panthers in offense this year with 3 goals apiece. In goal, Kaylin Lorbert has started all 9 matches this year, while recording two shutouts. Lorbert leads the OVC in saves (58) and save percentage (.866). She is also second in shutouts following Southeast's Kristen Starkey.

Eastern Illinois currently leads the overall series over Southeast by a 3-9-2 margin. The teams' most recent meeting came last season in SEMO's last match of the season. The Redhawks fell 2-1 to the Panthers in Charleston, Ill.

Sunday's matchup will be webcast by KFVS12. Live video coverage will be available at http://www.kfvs12.com/Global/category.asp?C=111165.