Second-half rally sends Southeast Missouri State women’s soccer to home-opening win in front of record crowd

A record crowd for women's soccer at Houck Stadium went home happy on Sunday night as Southeast Missouri State rallied from a one-goal deficit at halftime, dominating the final 45 minutes and dropping visiting Springfield Illinois 3-1 in the Redhawks' home opener.

Southeast senior striker Natasha Minor started the rally with a 54th-minute goal, and 20 minutes later the floodgates opened as Lauren Kaempfe knocked in the go-ahead strike before Jackson alum Cassidi Tomsu notched her first collegiate goal to set the final score. The final two goals came just 1:17 apart in the 75th and 76th minutes.

"To be honest, we walked into the locker room and we were all like, 'All right, let's go. Let's pick our heads up. We dug ourselves a hole and we've got to dig out of this,'" Minor said. "It was an unlucky goal [in the first half]. Credit to them, but we went into that locker room and said, 'OK, let's go, it's time to kick [butt].'"

Southeast Missouri State striker Natasha Minor attempts to head the ball toward goal in front of Illinois Sringfield's Maggie Juhlin during the first half of Sunday's game. Minor scored the tying goal in the second half to spark a Redhawk rally and a 3-1 victory in the team's home opener.

The Redhawks (2-0) did that. After a first half in which it controlled most of the play but lacked a finishing spark, the hosts were sharp during the final 45 minutes. The Prairie Stars (0-1) rarely even touched the ball and notched just two shots in the second half, both coming late in the game.

Southeast out-shot the visitors 17-5 on the night.

"We thought our decision-making was good in the first half but we didn't think we were moving the ball quickly enough between players -- taking too many touches or the speed the ball was being played at wasn't sharp enough," Southeast coach Heather Nelson said. "That was the main focus -- stay the course, but we had to pick up the speed of play to ensure we were controlling the play."

Eight of Southeast Missouri State's shots came in the first 45 minutes, forcing Illinois Springfield goalkeeper Courtney Johnson into four first-half saves, but the home side found itself trailing in the 13th minute after Prairie Stars forward Karisa Rogers followed up an outstanding save by Redhawks keeper Kindra Lierz by pouncing on the rebound and knocking it home for a 1-0 edge.

That score held until the 54th minute, when freshman Alexis Hacker sent in an early cross from the right side and put it right into the path of Minor, who easily sent it into the back of the net at the far post.

Hacker started the game at center back, but a switch to right back gave her an opportunity to attack up the flank and assist on the game-tying strike.

"I just saw an opportunity on the left flank and I was going to try to pull my defender out and luckily it worked," Minor said.

"I try to think of the play ahead of time and Lexi looked up and I knew instantly that was what she was going to do. I read her eyes and read where my defender was and kind of just took off, and Lexi played a beautiful ball in.

"I think it's just breaking that home drought and getting that first goal and the beast gets unleashed. The girls did wonderful tonight and after that just came out a lot harder."

Even at 1-all, it was clear Southeast's grip on the game was strengthening, and at 74:06 a bit of good fortune put the Redhawks ahead for good. Minor pushed the ball into the right corner before centering it to the top of the 18-yard box, where she found midfielder Lauren Kaempfe. Although Kaempfe's shot on goal was not particularly hard, Johnson wasn't strong enough with her hands, allowing the ball to trickle just over the goal line inside the right post after what appeared to be a save.

With the door kicked in, it took just over a minute for Southeast to add to its lead, as a shot from the right side off the foot of freshman Katie Lever was saved by Johnson but not controlled, and Tomsu was there to roof a shot into the top netting for a 3-1 score.

Southeast Missouri State midfielder Lauren Kaempfe looks to play the ball during Friday's game.

"I think it was going into the locker room and just realizing, 'Holy cow, we're down one,'" Tomsu said. "I think we all knew coming together was most important, and we definitely showed them, 'Hey, you're not going to walk over SEMO. We're going to show you what we're made of. Even though you scored the first one, we're going to come back and shove it down your throat.'"

After battling to a scoreless exhibition tie on the road at Vanderbilt and then knocking off another SEC foe at Tennessee on Friday night, the Redhawks have begun the season about as well as they could have hoped.

"I thought this was a really big challenge for us tonight, coming off all that travel to Knoxville, coming off the high of the win and all the energy we spent," Nelson said. "I think we had a little bit of heavy legs here tonight.

"... We didn't get bent out of shape when we were down a goal and kept believing in what our priorities were. We told them at halftime this would be a big test. They've had a lot of tests -- preseason, two SEC road games, lightning delays, we had a flat tire already. So this was just another thing we had to park and really explore who we are. I'm really happy with where we're at and I adore these guys."

Sunday's record-setting official crowd was announced at 1,137.

"Fantastic to have this many people in the stands," Nelson said. "We played in front of 880 people at [Tennessee] and it's cool to come home and have more people in our stands than they're getting in Knoxville."

Southeast was without freshmen Esmeralda Gonzales, who scored the lone goal in the victory in Knoxville. She also was on the wrong end of a studs-up challenge that resulted in eight stitches to her right leg.

"We're hoping we'll have her back for one of two Wisconsin games," Nelson said. "Probably not Green Bay, but if she heals well hopefully she'll be back on the field for Milwaukee."

The Redhawks travel to Wisconsin-Green Bay on Thursday before playing at Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Sunday