Oct. 8, 2009

By Brett Maikowski, Southeast Missouri State Sports Information

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Southeast Missouri State Redhawks soccer team will hit the road for two matches this weekend against Murray State and UT Martin. Kickoff for Friday's match with MSU is set for 3 p.m., while SEMO and UTM will compete on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Scouting the Redhawks

Southeast (5-4-2, 0-0-2) will look to capture their first Ohio Valley Conference victory of the season against the defending OVC regular season champion and preseason favorite Murray State Racers (4-6-1, 2-1-0) on Friday. The Redhawks are coming off a pair of ties to open conference play against Eastern Illinois and Austin Peay.

Defensively, Southeast has remained a dominant force by limiting the number of shots for their opponents. Just in the last two matches, SEMO has outshot its opponents 56-10. Goalkeeper Kristen Starkey has had to make very few saves, while still holding the top spot in the OVC in total shutouts (4) this season.

They have struggled to get those shots in the goal though as the Redhawks only scored one goal in their two ties of the year. Ashley Runion, Bobbi Jo Schlick, and Mabel Velarde all hold spots in the top 10 of the conference in total shots. Southeast has faced some tough goalies though, including the OVC Goalkeeper of the Week for the past two weeks.

Scouting the Racers

The Murray State Racers suffered their first OVC loss of the year on Sunday in Martin, Tenn. in a 2-0 decision against UT Martin. In the loss, Katie Walsh gave up the two goals, while recording one save in only 45 minutes of play.

MSU doesn't usually go down in shut out fashion though as they are in second in the conference in goals scored with 22. The Racers have struggled to keep the ball out of their own net though as they have given up 24 goals, which is the second most in the OVC.

Last year, Southeast was shut out by Murray State, 1-0, at Houck Stadium. Before that match, the Redhawks had won three straight against the Racers dating back to the 2005 season. Overall the two teams have been pretty evenly matched though, as Southeast currently holds a slight 6-5 edge in the overall series history.

Scouting the Skyhawks

After being shut out by Tennessee Tech in their first OVC match of the year, the UT Martin Skyhawks (5-5-0, 2-1-0) have notched two consecutive shutout victories of their own the past two weeks against Jacksonville State and Murray State. Most recently, the Skyhawks are coming off a 2-0 victory over the Racers with Brooke Robertson and Jenni Duffy scoring for UTM in the match.

This season, UT Martin hasn't scored a lot, but their defense and goalkeeping has been a strong force. In 10 matches, they have only given up eight goals, which is good enough for first in the OVC. In goal, Aubrey Buehler posts a conference leading 0.82 goals against average with a .772 save percentage.

In nine seasons of soccer, the Redhawks hold a 9-1-2 series lead over the Skyhawks. Southeast's only loss against UT Martin came in 2005 in a 1-0 decision. Overall the Redhawks have outscored the Skyhawks by a 15-3 margin.