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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — The Southeast Missouri soccer team put together a furious rally in the second half, but a first-half UMKC goal sent the Redhawks to a 1-0 loss at Houck Stadium on Friday night.
The Kangaroos (1-1-1) got a goal from Taylor Bare in the 26th minute, which proved to be all UMKC needed to send Southeast to 0-2-1 in the young season.
After a Southeast shot created an early corner kick, UMKC fired eight of the next nine shots in the first half. In the 26th minute, Hunter Wagoner played a long ball that went behind the Redhawks defense and found Bare, who slipped in all alone and beat
Renee Kertz for her first goal of the year.
The Redhawks put together a glorious opportunity in the closing seconds of the opening frame.
Amy Ward's long throw in made its way to
Hayley Abbott, who got a shot from in close that Kangaroo keeper Jami Finnell turned aside, preserving the lead going into the break.
“We were flat coming out in the first half,” Associate head coach
Paul Nelson said. “We had a bit of a talk at halftime and picked it up from there. It was good that I was able to stick people in other positions and they played well. Everything we are doing prepares us for conference, but we really need to earn a win.”
Southeast came out energized in the second half and put UMKC on the defensive for the remainder of the contest. The Redhawks appeared to tie the contest in the 66th minute when
Ashley Geist launched a shot from outside that caromed off Finnell to
Courtney Luehmann. Luehmann fired a shot from the middle that Finnell again steered aside and
Jacey Boyko tapped the loose ball in the net, but was whistled offside beforehand.
The Kangaroos stepped it up defensively from there, holding the Redhawks without a shot over the next 22 minutes. Southeast put together its best opportunity of the contest in the 88th minute.
Erin Shulman got taken down in the 18-yard box, creating a penalty kick, which
Torey Byrd took. Finnell, the reigning Summit League Defensive Player of the Week, made a diving save to keep the Redhawks off the board.
Southeast drew two more corner kicks in the closing minutes, but was unable to solve Finnell.
“The exciting thing is we created chances,” Nelson said. “We can't let ourselves think that we can't let the other team score because we're struggling ourselves. We had good chances, but we need to put the ball into the net.”
The Redhawks outshot the Kangaroos, 8-5, in the second half, but UMKC held a 14-11 overall advantage in shots. Southeast won the battle in corner kicks, 6-5, including a 5-2 advantage in the second half.
Kertz made her second consecutive start in goal for the Redhawks and stopped five of the six shots she faced. Finnell stopped all eight shots that came her way for UMKC.
The Redhawks conclude their homestand on Sunday when they host Drake. Kickoff at Houck Stadium is at 6:30 p.m.
