CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — The Southeast Missouri women's soccer team fell to Memphis Wednesday evening in their only exhibition of the preseason, 2-0. 

"We had a solid performance against a quality opponent in Memphis," said head coach Heather Nelson. "We did some good things on both sides of the ball in free play but if we had managed set pieces better, I think the game would've come out even."

The Redhawks and Tigers played to a scoreless draw in the first half of the match. The Redhawks come out strong, putting up four shots before the 15th minute; two of which were on goal. The Tiger offense began firing and pushing the ball the other way as Memphis tallied seven shots to wrap up the half. The Tigers had a couple solid opportunities to score on a pair of headers in the box. The Redhawks had four corner kick opportunities in the first half. 

Nelson added, "We came out of the gate flying and I think that caught Memphis a little off guard and they realized they had a game on their hands and they elevated their play a couple notches."

Memphis broke the scoreless tie in the 63rd minute in the second half. Elysia Masters knocked in a ball on a free kick about 35 yards out from Olivia Gauthier. The Tigers widened the lead to 2-0 in the 85th minute when Diamond Simpson scored on a corner kick from Masters. The Redhawks were held to only two shots in the second half while Memphis fired off five. 

Kindra Lierz played the whole match in goal for the Redhawks. Lierz tallied three saves and allowed both goals. Maryse Bard-Martel recorded the shutout of the Redhawks for Memphis and tallied a pair of saves. 

Natasha Minor led the Redhawks with three shots while Jennifer Antonacci had two. Each had one shot on goal. 

Elizabeth Woerner had three shots for the Tigers while Miranda Smith and Valerie Sanderson each had two. 

"Something we need to work on is our transition, particularly from offense to defense. I think we did a good job transitioning from our defense to our attack. We got to see a lot of players this evening and it was good to see them against an opponent other than ourselves."

Southeast Missouri will open the 2015 season at Missouri S&T on August 21 at 6 p.m.