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LEXINGTON, Ky. – Louisville used three second-half goals to open up a slim halftime lead and send the Southeast Missouri soccer team to a 4-0 loss in the Tropical Smoothie Invitational on Friday night.
The Redhawks (1-3-1) trailed 1-0 at the break, but the Cardinals (3-0) big second half broke an impressive Southeast streak. The score marks the first time since Nov. 11, 2010 that the Redhawks allowed more than two goals in a match, a streak that lasted 23 contests.
Erin Yenney scored the lone goal of the first half, striking from long range into the top corner of the net in the 18th minute. Louisville, who entered the contest ranked 14th in the Soccer America top 25 poll, entered the break with the lead on the scoreboard and a 9-3 advantage in shot attempts.
The score lasted until the 55th minute when Andrea Distler drilled another shot top corner from 18-yards out to put the Cardinals up two goals, the first time this season the Redhawks have trailed by more than one goal.
"I didn't feel like it was a real 4-0 game, they scored a few goals that went top corner from about 20 yards away," Southeast associate head coach
Paul Nelson said. "That is rare to see that many perfectly placed shots. Our defense broke down once and we got punished. Other than that, we created some chances as well. We gave the ball away too much in the first half, but it was only 1-0. It feels weird to say that we played better in the second half and giving up three goals, but that's how the game played out."
Louisville put the contest away with two goals less than three minutes apart. In the 69th minute, Katie Walz executed a give and go with Nicole Mitchell, who snuck a shot far side into the post. Lauren Nash fit another shot in off the far post in the 72nd minute, converting a feed from Megan Berberich.
The Cardinals outshot the Redhawks, 19-5, and owned a slim, 5-4, advantage in corner kicks.
Renee Kertz made her fourth-straight start in goal and stopped five of nine shots over 79 minutes.
Ashton Aubuchon relieved Kertz and stopped one shot. Chloe Kiefer made three save for Louisville in 85 minutes, before being replaced by Halle Pyle down the stretch.
Southeast concludes its weekend of the Tropical Smoothie Invitational on Sunday when it takes on host Kentucky at 1:30 p.m. CT.
