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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – The Southeast Missouri State (8-2-1, 4-0 Ohio Valley) heads back on the road this weekend trying to continue its perfect start to conference play. The Redhawks face defending OVC champion Morehead State (5-4-3, 1-1-1 OVC) and Eastern Kentucky (4-6-2, 2-0-1 OVC) on Friday (6 p.m. CT) and Sunday (noon CT) to kick start a three-match road swing, their final road matches of the regular season.

Last Week ­– Southeast remained perfect in Ohio Valley Conference play with a pair of shutout victories at Houck Stadium over the weekend. The Redhawks dominated in every statistical category on Friday, but it took nearly 82 minutes to finally get on the board against Eastern Illinois. Erin Shulman poured in her team-leading ninth goal of the year with eight and a half minutes remaining to lift the Redhawks past the Panthers, 1-0, on Friday. Southeast had three different goal scorers, led by Lauren Bozesky's two tallies, in Sunday's 4-0 win over SIU Edwardsville. Jessie Crabtree and Amy Ward also poured in goals as the Redhawks moved to 4-0 in league play and posted their third-straight shutout (OVC-best seventh overall). The Redhawks outshot their opponents by a decisive 36-14 margin in the two victories.

Scouting Morehead State – The preseason OVC favorite, Morehead State got off to a slow start to league play at 0-1-1. The Eagles snapped a five-match winless streak on Sunday with a 1-0 win at Tennessee Tech. The MSU offense is led by Brittany Kiracofe, who has nine points on three goals and three assists. Katie Blevins has played every second in goal for the Eagles and sports a 1.10 goals against average and an .803 save percentage with four solo shutouts on the season. MSU's 1.10 goals against average is second in the OVC while its offense (1.25 goals per match) ranks fifth in the league.

Scouting Eastern Kentucky – The Colonels are one of two unbeaten teams in the OVC, entering the weekend with a 2-0-1 league ledger. EKU shocked preseason favorite Morehead State with a 1-0 win in the conference opener and went 1-0-1 against Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State last weekend. The Colonels are sixth in the league in scoring (1.00 goals per match) and seventh in goals against average (1.45). Individually, Devon Saini leads the EKU offense with nine point (four goals, one assist). Annie Wickett has logged most of the time in goal and owns a 1.27 goals against average, a .766 save percentage and two solo shutouts.

Free Kicks:

All-Time Series – Southeast has dominated both season series, sporting a 9-2-3 all-time record against Morehead State and a 4-1 mark against Eastern Kentucky.

Last Meeting – A first place showdown went Morehead State's way as the Eagles scored three second-half goals to down Southeast 3-0 at Houck Stadium last season. Prior to that match, the Redhawks defeated the Colonels, 1-0,  on the strength of Courtney Luehmann's tally in the 60th minute.

Bringing the D – Southeast's bread and butter has been its stellar defensive play. The Redhawks boast a conference-best 0.62 goals against average and seven shutouts, all of which have come in the last nine matches. The Redhawks' top three defenders Nikki Edwards (995 minutes), Hayley Abbott (964 minutes) and Meg Herndon (912 minutes) have combined to play 2378 out of a possible 3030 minutes (94.8 percent of the minutes).

Pulling Rank – The Redhawks are beginning to garner national and regional attention for their success so far. Southeast debuted at No. 60 in the first NCAA Rating Percentage Index (RPI) rankings, a computer formula utilized by the NCAA selection committee to select the 64-team NCAA Tournament field. The Redhawks are also in this week's National Soccer Coaches Association of America regional rankings, checking in at No. 9 in the South region.

Magic Number is 2 – One of the trends emerging for Southeast this season is its success when scoring two goals or more this season. The Redhawks are a perfect 6-0 when they find the back of the net at least twice, but are 1-2-1 when scoring less than two goals. Conversely, Southeast is 7-0-1 when it allows  less than two goals

Last Line of Defense – On the rare occassion that a quality scoring opportunity has presented itself for the opposition, sophomore goalkeeper Ashton Aubuchon has been equal to the task. In addition to her strong overall numbers, Aubuchon has stopped 39 of 44 shots (.878 save percentage) and has a 0.50 goals against average with five solo shutouts in her last 10 starts.

New Blood – Some of the newest members of the Redhawks are making the biggest impact on the scoresheet.  Freshman Erin Shulman (nine goals, 18 points) and senior transfer Jessie Crabtree (five goals, 12 points) pace the Southeast attack with a combined 14 goals and 30 points this season. Their offensive prowess has carried the Redhawks thus far as they are 7-0 when Shulman scores at least one goal and 4-0 when Crabtree records at least one point.