Southeast Missouri State women's soccer begins season with road win over SEC foe Tennessee

The Southeast Missouri State women's soccer team was able to begin its season by taking an SEC scalp as the Redhawks traveled to Tennessee and brought home a 1-0 win.

Freshman Esmerelda Gonzales got the deciding strike from almost 30 yards out on the left side for her first career goal in the 47th minute. It proved to be enough, as Southeast (1-0) survived 18 shots -- though only four on goal -- from the Volunteers (0-1).

"I was very pleased with our resilience in this game, and I think we did a good job of defending in waves of players," Heather Nelson said in a press release. "As the game went on, we did a good job of finding open players and finding ways to attack. We finished the first half strong and it was a good way to go into the locker room.

"There were solid chances on both ends of the field. After a few adjustments and believing in controlling what we could control, our attacking really came together in the second half."

Southeast goalkeeper Kindra Lierz was credited with three saves on the night to preserve the shutout.

Midfielder Kaitlin Kuznacic picked up the assist on Gonzales' goal.

"This win is super cool," Nelson said. "It's a fantastic feeling to beat an SEC team. Prior to the game, I expressed my gratitude to the team for allowing me to do what I love. I'm able to be in this profession because of so many amazing women I get to coach.

"All I wanted for our team was to come out and have an amazing performance tonight. They have worked so hard of it."

Southeast put six of its 12 shots on frame.

Freshman Cassidi Tomsu, a former Jackson standout, came off the bench and led all players with four shots.

Lauren Kaempfe, Alexis Hacker and Maddi Karstens played every minute of the match.

The Redhawks had three freshmen -- Gonzales, Hacker and Jasmin Hilliard -- make their debut in the starting lineup.

Southeast returns to action at 7 p.m. today in its home opener against Illinois Springfield.

The first 250 fans through the gate will receive a special edition Pokemon Go T-shirt.

"This team has a wonderful amount of depth and versatility," Nelson said. "We used every player who was available from our roster tonight. Playing time is merit-based, and it was great to see a number of freshmen come in and compete."