MURRAY, Ky. — The Southeast Missouri soccer team fell to Murray State in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Championship match on Sunday, 1-0. The Racers scored with 53 seconds left in the first overtime period to down the Redhawks and claim the OVC Tournament title. 

Southeast Missouri finishes the 2015 season 9-6-7 while Murray will begin the NCAA Tournament 16-4. 

"I think we had a great run and I couldn't have asked more from my team," said head coach Heather Nelson. "We came in with a game plan and I feel they did a very good job of executing a different system of play. It's been a good season. This team is absolutely amazing and they left their hearts out on the field today." 

The No. 6 Redhawks made OVC history on Sunday as they were the first sixth-seed to compete in the championship match. 

Jennifer Antonacci, Kaitlin Kuznacic, and Kindra Lierz earned All-Tournament Team honors for their efforts in the tournament. 

The Redhawks and Racers found themselves scoreless after regulation to force overtime. 

The Racers outshot the Redhawks 14-4 in regulation. Murray had five shots on goal while the Redhawks had two. 

Murray had 11 corner kicks in regulation while the Redhawks had just one, which came in the second half. 

Natasha Minor began the overtime period with a shot on goal. Minor took the kickoff and ran directly for the goal. She fired a shot off that was saved by Alex Steigerwald. 

With just 53 seconds left in the first overtime period, Taylor Richerson netted her eighth goal of the season. After a wild sequence in the box, Richerson fired a shot just inside the left post, past a diving Lierz to defeat Southeast, 1-0. 

The Racers finished with 19 shots in the match, seven on goal. Southeast had five with three on goal. 

Minor led the Redhawk offense with a pair of shots. Lauren Kaempfe, Paige Blankenheim, and Angie Mann contributed Southeast's three other shots. 

The Redhawk defense was stellar in the match and held a strong Murray offense scoreless for almost 100 minutes. 

"Our defense was very well organized and as a defensive unit, they worked really well together today. We had some individual players step up and ensure we held some of the best offensive players in the league scoreless for almost 100 minutes," Nelson added. 

Lierz (8-6-7) played the entire 99 minutes in goal for Southeast. Lierz made six saves for Southeast. With 99 minutes played on Sunday, Lierz broke the single-season goalkeeper minutes played record with 1,940. The previous record of 1,902 was held by Amanda Wrzos (2003). 

Steigerwald (11-1) also played the full 99 minutes in goal. She recorded the shutout and made three saves. 

Looking ahead to next season, the Redhawks will return a number of players from this season including most of their starting lineup. 

"I have to give a lot of credit to our seniors for leaving this program in a very good spot. All of our returners contributed to that and followed the leadership the seniors have instilled in our team. We definitely look forward to building on this next season," Nelson concluded. 

2015 OVC All-Tournament Team 
Kelsey Gomez, Morehead State
Makenna Lavatori, Morehead State
Lauren Brewer, Tennessee Tech
Taylor Sutton, Tennessee Tech
Jennifer Antonacci, Southeast Missouri
Kindra Lierz, Southeast Missouri
Kaitlin Kuznacic, Southeast Missouri
Nyomi Devine, Murray State
Ali Critcher, Murray State
Marissa Burroughs, Murray State
Taylor Richerson, Murray State (MVP)