Southeast Missouri State women's soccer has high expectations as it opens at Tennessee

There's plenty of reason for excitement within the Southeast Missouri State women's soccer program, and this might just be the beginning.

A dynamic group of eight freshmen join forces with a core of veteran players for the Redhawks, who begin the 2016 season with high expectations as the team predicted to finish second in the Ohio Valley Conference.

"I like seeing how much energy everyone has," said goalkeeper Kindra Lierz, whose team begins its season at 6 p.m. Friday when it travels to face Tennessee. "Our freshmen came in fit and excited to get ready to play. They're not afraid to hit us older kids. Everyone's trying to outwork everyone, which just makes our level even higher."

Southeast qualified for the OVC Tournament as the sixth and final seed a year ago. The Redhawks edged out a shootout victory over third-seeded Jacksonville State in the opening round before a 2-0 win over No. 2 Tennessee Tech made them the first sixth-seeded team in conference history to reach the championship round.

Southeast kept pace with the top-seeded Racers for nearly 100 minutes until Taylor Richardson scored a golden goal for MSU to break a scoreless tie with 53 seconds remaining in the first overtime period. The Redhawks ended their season at 9-6-7 (3-2-5 in OVC) and haven't forgotten about the sting of that loss.

"I think it's done a lot for us," Southeast coach Heather Nelson said. "I have to give credit to Murray for the kind of season they had because they've sharpened us, and you always need people to set standards consistently. I really think they did that for the OVC last year, and without a doubt, they're a huge target for us in a very good way.

"We want to try and achieve everything that they achieved last year."

Despite losing eight of last year's contributors, Southeast benefits most from the return of its top two goal scorers -- seniors Angie Mann and Natasha Minor.

Southeast Missouri State goalkeeper Kindra Lierz makes a save on a shot by Eastern Illinois during a game last season at Houck Stadium. Lierz, a junior, is among the returners from last year's team that reached the championship game of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.Fred Lynch

Mann started at forward in all 22 games a year ago and led the team with 17 points, eight goals and a .686 shot-on-goal percentage. It was her first season at Southeast after transferring from Central Michigan, and she earned second-team All-OVC honors.

"The amount of scoring opportunities she created for us and finished was off the charts compared to her first season when she was transitioning into playing for us, so we're hoping that will be a springboard for her," Nelson said about Mann. "You can always count on her when it comes to courage, work rate and that reload mentality. She can be very effective on both her left- and right-footed shots and crosses, which is really a benefit for our program.

Mann spent her offseason playing with North Shore United, a club soccer team based out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that's associated with five other players on the Redhawks' roster, including Minor and senior Kaitlin Kuznacic.

After being named first-team all-conference with a team-leading 22 points as a sophomore, Minor had limited production in 2015 due to a knee injury; she was still able to start 14 games, finishing with four goals and an assist (nine points).

Together, Mann and Minor accounted for 35 percent of the team's 74 combined points.

"We have a great core of returning players in our program that are bought into the program, so we couldn't be happier with that to ground us in tradition and set expectations," Nelson said.

Despite the team's obvious growth in maturity, the newcomers are generating most of the buzz within the program. Southeast added eight freshmen during the offseason, and Nelson has been pleased with the way they've pushed the returning players to defend their roles.

"For our returning players, I honestly think, top to bottom with eight players, this is the strongest freshmen class that we've had in the history of our program," Nelson said. "Those two things added together have meant that there's a lot of excellent competition every day that we go out for training because the differences between who are currently starters and reserves in our program is slim. ... I just feel like our reserves are really pushing our starters, and our starters are just fighting like cats and dogs to keep their positions."

The obvious standout among the freshmen is Esmeralda Gonzales, a 4-foot-10 midfielder from Fort Worth, Texas. Gonzales wrapped up her prep career at South Hills High School as the nation's top goal scorer with 316 career goals, including a Texas single-season record of 109 as a senior.

Mann has seen several freshman classes during her time at Southeast, but none compare to this year's group.

"These freshmen have definitely been able to adjust and adapt better than any group I've seen before, which is awesome," Mann said. "We've got a couple in the starting lineup right now. If you look back at the Vanderbilt [exhibition] game, they performed really well, I thought, so I'm really excited to see how they progress throughout the season and make us better. And we'll make them better. It's going to be fun to watch."

Southeast Missouri State's Lauren Kaempfe dribbles along the sideline against Eastern Illinois Ali Carlson during the first half Sunday, Sept. 27, 2015 at Houck Stadium.Fred Lynch

Returning in the net is Lierz, a 5-foot-10 junior who made an immediate impact as a true freshman in 2014, during which she finished with an 11-5 record and became the first player in OVC history to earn both Defender and Freshman of the Year honors.

By those standards, last year was a bit "up and down" for Lierz, according to Nelson. Lierz led the conference in shutouts with eight, while her .88 goals-against average was third in the league, but Nelson is hoping to see her standout goalie make the most of her new role as an upperclassman.

"She finished on an amazing note," Nelson said of Lierz, who earned OVC All-Tournament team honors after a stellar postseason performance. "... She's made a huge investment this summer to train with our strength and conditioning staff and play with Fire and Ice, and she's in the best starting point that she has been in her three years here. I personally expect very big things out of her, given where she's at now relative to her other two seasons."

During the summer, Lierz played with Fire and Ice SC, an independent club geared toward providing nationwide exposure for high school and college players at a premier level. She joined forces with a pair of former Redhawks in Jessie Crabtree and Lauren Kaempfe.

"I got to play against some really, really good girls," Lierz said. "It helped me hone my skills to be able to judge shots better and figure out where I need to be in the net, so I'm really excited for this year."

With Lierz in goal and junior Shay Darga at right-back, Nelson said the rest of the back line is up for grabs.

Three forwards transitioned to defense during the spring and are still getting acquainted with their new positions, but Nelson likes what she's seen from those players' respective skill sets.

"We have more kids that can serve longer balls and have a greater desire and confidence to attack out of the back," she said. "... The back four, our goalkeeper and our defensive mid have to be on the same page at all times with what they're doing, so there's a huge communication skill and trust that has to be gained for us to be successful.

"On the attacking side of the field, I feel extremely confident, with the skill set and the mentality that we have in the back of the field, that we'll be getting more numbers forward and have more confidence in the middle and final third of the field, even if they're defenders."

For everything the Redhawks currently lack in tactics, they make up for in technical ability and intense training, according to Nelson.

The biggest challenge right now for Nelson, who's in her 17th season as the program's only coach, is getting the younger players up to speed with the values and beliefs that come along with being a selfless member of the team.

Southeast and Vanderbilt finished in a 0-0 tie earlier this month in an exhibition game in Nashville, Tennessee. The Redhawks were held without a shot on goal in the first half but had three in the second half and were able to effectively execute their attack.

"In the second half of the game, we started to actually build an attack and finish very strong," Nelson said. "... All those things don't allow for a lot of continuity, in terms of the play of the game, but the way the game ended, I felt like we finished on top pressuring Vanderbilt. And that shows me a few different things. One is that our confidence grew throughout the game. Secondly, our fitness had to play a role. We must be doing things right because I would rather finish out being in the driver's seat than start a game being in the driver's seat and start to fade a little bit.

"I would've been more concerned if we weren't creating opportunities, but we did. Those things will come."

Southeast' home opener is 7 p.m. Sunday against Illinois Springfield, continuing a non-conference schedule that includes road games against Kentucky (Sept. 14) and Missouri State (Sept. 18). Southeast begins OVC play Sept. 23 at Eastern Illinois.

The lofty expectations haven't been a topic of conversation for the Redhawks, according to Nelson. The team has simply gone about its business as usual, a manner Nelson prefers.

"I think it's recognition of what last year's team did, to be honest," she said. "I like the position that we're picked in because it gives me some confidence that some other teams and coaching staffs and SIDs within the conference have a certain level of respect for us, but in terms of the bigger picture, we're, as a team, way more focused on getting after it every day.

"We haven't talked about it and honestly don't really care to because I just feel like taking care of here and now is a much bigger priority than living in the speculation of what our number is going to be."