#7 Southeast Missouri (5-8-3, 3-4-3 OVC) vs #6 Belmont (6-8-2, 4-5-1 OVC) 
 
Date: Friday, October 26, 2018
Time: 1 p.m., CT
Location: Charleston, Ill.
Series: SEMO leads, 6-2-4
 
Quick Kicks
Southeast Missouri women's soccer (5-8-3, 3-4-3) clinched a spot in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament after defeating Austin Peay, 2-1, on Oct. 21. SEMO will make its 17th trip to the OVC Tournament in the program's 20th season.
 
SEMO fell to Belmont in overtime in the last matchup between the two teams in Nashville, Tennessee on Oct. 18. The Bruins earned the #6 seed after their 2-1 win. This will be a rematch of last year's OVC Quarterfinal bout in which the Redhawks eliminated the Bruins. 
 
Esmie Gonzales has already broken into SEMO's top five career leaders in goals (t4th, 23), game-winning goals (t2nd, 10), shots (t4th, 177) and shots on goal (t4th, 84). The Fort Worth, Texas native is nearly in the top five in points (54). She is a junior this season.
 
OVC Tournament
The OVC Tournament is a two-weekend event with the first being the First Round and Quarterfinals (Oct. 27 & 29) and the latter featuring the Semifinals and Championship. UT Martin has clinched the #1 seed after finishing 9-0-1 in conference play and Murray State (7-3-0 OVC) is seeded #2. Both teams receive byes to the Semifinals that will be held in Martin, Tennessee. If the Redhawks beat Belmont in Charleston, Illinois Friday, they will face #3 Eastern Illinois Sunday.
 
Nationally Ranked Redhawks
Junior Esmie Gonzales is currently ranked nationally in total goals (t55th, 9), game-winning goals (t31st, 4), goals per game (t44th, 0.60) and shots per game (t68th, 3.53). Bailey Redden is ranked as well in both save percentage (t61st, .827) and saves per game (t67th, 5.17)
 
Follow the Redhawks
• @SEMOsoccer, the official Twitter page of the Redhawks, will feature live in-game updates all season long. 
• Watch SEMO soccer live on the OVC Digital Network for all Ohio Valley Conference Tournament games. 
• Live stats for every game are available on gosoutheast.com
 
Series History
SEMO leads its all-time series against Belmont, 6-2-4. The Redhawks recently dropped a regular season matchup against the Bruins, 2-1 in Nashville, Tenn. In postseason play, SEMO's last OVC Tournament appearance was in 2017 where it won on penalty kicks to advance to the semifinals. The Redhawks only other loss to the Bruins was on October 8, 2017. 
 
Scouting Belmont
Belmont is currently 6-8-2 with its last game against SEMO on Oct. 18. Belmont qualified for the OVC Tournament for the third straight season, despite being 0-2-1 in postseason play. Sophomore Julie Garst leads the Bruins with seven goals this season and 12 in her career. The Franklin, Tennessee native has 64 shots so far this season and three game-winners. Lily Herman is in the net for the Bruins with 62 saves and three shutouts. The junior from Springboro, Ohio has allowed 28 goals in her 15 starts this season. 
 
Redden's Rookie Season
Bailey Redden made her first career start against UT Martin (Sept. 16). The Belleville, Illinois native has appeared in 13 matches so far this year, playing 90 or more minutes nine times now. The true freshman has made 63 total saves, nine against both UT Martin and Eastern Kentucky. Redden has a .829 save percentage and has recorded three shutouts.  Redden had a great outing at Tennessee Tech en route to getting the second shutout of her career. 
 
McCourt's Powerful Start
Morgan McCourt had a great start to her collegiate career with four goals and 18 shots. Two of the Burlington, Wisconsin native's goals occurred against Illinois-Springfield (Aug. 24). McCourt has been a constant threat on offense as she has recorded 10 shots on goal in her 11 starts and 16 appearances this year.
 
OVC Preseason Poll
SEMO was picked to finish tied for fourth in the 2018 OVC Predicted Order of Finish. Murray State was voted to win the league with 15 first-place votes. Two other teams also garnered first-place nods, including Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee Tech. 
 
Roster Breakdown
The 2018 roster consists of 24 student-athletes including 17 returners, six of which were regular starters in 2017. Notable players back this season are both 2017 OVC All-Tournament Team senior forward Lauren Kaempfe and junior midfielder Esmie Gonzales.