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MURRAY, Ky. – Amy Ward's goal in the 45th minute was all the offense necessary to make the Southeast Missouri soccer team a winner in its Ohio Valley Conference opener on Friday.

Ward scored with six seconds remaining in the first half to give the Redhawks (2-4-1, 1-0 OVC) a 1-0 win at rival Murray State (3-4-1, 0-1 OVC).

Southeast came out firing in the first half, attempting 10 shots and holding MSU to only four attempts in the opening frame. The Redhawks' aggressive play forced the Racers to commit eight fouls along the way.

Despite the possession advantage, it appeared Southeast and MSU would enter halftime deadlocked, but Murray State's eighth foul of the half was costly. The whistle came in the final minute of play and gave Southeast a late free kick. Christina Rohde played the ball into the box and found the head of Ward, who redirected it past MSU keeper Savannah Haberman with seconds before the halftime buzzer. Ward's goal was her first of the year and marked the first time the senior scored a goal since Oct. 2, 2011 against SIU Edwardsville.

"We spent the last couple days playing balls into the penalty area and scrambling to finish plays," Southeast head coach Heather Nelson said. "Christina dropped the ball in to a good spot in traffic and Amy had a nice finish."

MSU put together more of an attack in the second half and shots were even at six apiece in the final 45 minutes. The Racers put some pressure on the Redhawks in the closing minutes when they got a pair of late corner kick attempts. On the first set piece, Shauna Wicker corralled a loose ball in the box and blasted a shot by Ashton Aubuchon. However, Amy Harrington was well positioned as the last line of defense and blocked the attempt before clearing it away.

Racers' midfielder Julie Mooney got two more attempts in the final minute, but was stopped by Aubuchon with 49 seconds left and drilled another shot wide with 12 seconds showing on the clock.

"I was pleased with our effort helping each other out today," Nelson said. "We reacted well defensively and were quick to double when we needed to. We did a good job reacting to pressure from Murray at the end. This was good experience for our players to fight through that."

Southeast ended up outshooting MSU 16-10 on the day. Each team put seven shots on net, though the Redhawks finished with seven saves to the Racers' six. Both teams attempted seven corner kicks.

Aubuchon finished the day with six saves to record her 17th-career solo shutout, the second most in school history. She also picked up her first victory since Southeast downed MSU, 6-0, on Sept. 28, 2012. This is the 22nd win of her career.

Southeast wraps up its conference-opening road trip at Austin Peay on Sunday. Opening kickoff is at 2 p.m.