Southeast women charge into semis

MARTIN, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State University's women's soccer team qualified for the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament semifinals by beating host Tennessee-Martin 2-0 Tuesday in a tournament play-in game.

The fifth-seeded Otahkians (10-5-4) advance to Friday's 7 p.m. contest in Birmingham, Ala., against OVC regular-season champion Samford, the tournament host.

Southeast, which beat fourth-seeded Tennessee-Martin (9-7-3) 2-1 during the regular season, controlled play and held a 17-6 edge in shots along with a 5-3 advantage in corner kicks.

The Otahkians got the only goal they would need with 16:44 remaining in the first half as freshman Molli Beard scored off a corner kick from Marla Gianino. It was Beard's fourth goal of the season, which ties her for the team lead, and Gianino posted her team-high seventh assist of the campaign.

Ahead 1-0 at halftime, the Otahkians got an insurance goal less than 10 minutes into the second half as Diana Poovey scored unassisted. It was also Poovey's fourth goal of the season.

Southeast goalkeeper Amanda Wrzos made four saves as she posted her sixth shutout of the year.

Now the Otahkians will have a chance to avenge a regular-season loss when the tournament's final four moves to Birmingham. Top-seeded Samford (11-4-3) edged Southeast 1-0 on Oct. 10 in Cape Girardeau.

Friday's other semifinal will feature second-seeded Eastern Illinois (10-5-4) against either third-seeded Jacksonville State (10-4-4) or sixth-seeded Tennessee Tech (9-10-0), which met late Tuesday in the other play-in game.

The semifinal winners square off Sunday at 1 p.m. for the OVC's automatic NCAA Tournament berth. Eastern Illinois captured the last two OVC Tournament titles, edging Southeast in the finals both times. The Otahkians captured the past two OVC regular-season crowns.