Game #3
Southeast Missouri State (1-1-0)
vs Evansville (0-0-1)
Match Information
Date: Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Venue:  Houck Stadium
First Kick: 8:00 p.m., CT
All-Time Series: SEMO leads the All-Time series 7-5-4
Last Meeting: 1-0 Win | Cape Girardeau, Mo. | Sep. 8, 2022
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Live Video: ESPN+
 
Redhawks Continue Homestand Thursday Against Evansville
Southeast Missouri women's soccer (1-1-0) will be back in action on Thursday, August 24, when Missouri-Valley member Evansville (0-0-1) comes to Cape Girardeau. Kick-off is slated for 8 p.m., CT. at Houck Field. 
 
The original game time was scheduled for 6 p.m., but due to excessive heat in the Cape Girardeau area the match was pushed back to mitigate some of the heat. 
 
Series History
The Redhawks and Purple Aces will meet for the 17^th on Thursday night as SEMO maintains a 7-5-4 overall series record against the opponent. Last season, the Redhawks captured victory at Houck Field by a final score of 1-0. 
 
Current sophomore defender Alayna Jakul scored the game-winning goal against the Purple Aces a season ago. The strike marked Jakul's first career goal in a Redhawks uniform and gave SEMO their fourth win of the season. 
 
Last Time Out
SEMO opened the 2023 home portion of the schedule on Sunday, August 20 with a 4-1 drubbing of Grambling State inside the newly renovated Houck Stadium. 
 
485 fans watched as the Redhawks tallied four goals from four different players en route to the first victory of the season. 
 
Cayla Koerner (38'), Kiana Khedoo (46'), freshman Emily Baker (PK; 69'), and redshirt-senior Megan Heisserer (89') all scored their first goal of the season. 
 
The Redhawks outshot GSU by a final mark of 8-5. 
  
Sophomore forward Cayla Koerner registered the game's first goal in the 38th minute after coming off the bench for the Redhawks.
 
Koerner took a pass in the middle of the field and dribbled through the Tigers' defense and slotted the ball into the bottom left corner to give SEMO a 1-0 advantage right before half time.  
 
The Mahomet, Ill.-native finished as the player of the match with her goal and two assists later in the match. 
 
Senior Kiana Khedoo grew the lead for SEMO with her goal in the 46th minute, after a beautiful through ball from Koerner. Khedoo beat the defender to the ball, collected, and fired the ball past GSU's Aimee Benton early in the second half. 
 
Emily Baker scored from the spot to make it a 3-0 Redhawks advantage. Melissa Kubin was taken down in the box to win the penalty kick. Baker put the ball in the bottom left of the goal to beat Benton. 
 
Scott City, Mo.-native Megan Heisserer capped off the four-goal performance off a pass from Koerner once again with an easy tap in for her first goal of the season. Heisserer played 23-minutes off the bench for SEMO on Sunday.
 
Scouting the Opponent
Evansville is coming off a 0-0 tie against Mercer in their first game of the season. The Purple Aces registered seven shots during the game with two of them being on target. 
 
Freshman forward Taylor Johnson took the most shots during the game with three (one SOG). Midfielder Nicole Benati, a fifth-year senior, notched two shots during the game. 
 
Goalkeeper Myia Danek recorded a career high 10 saves with six coming in the first period and four in the second.
 
The Purple Aces went 2-9-5 (1-6-3 in the MVC) during the 2022 season. Exhibition matches against SIUE and SLU helped them prepare for the 2023 campaign.
 
Junior forward Hailey Autenrieb was named preseason honorable mention All-MVC. Autenrieb ranked second on UE in scoring last year, playing in 16 matches with 12 starts for the Purple Aces, registering three goals and one assist. She will be helpful in finding a replacement for top scorer last season, Emily Ormson.
 
Last Season Ormson notched five goals and three assists but tallied 34 total shots, 21 more shots than the next closest player.
 
UE are returning 22 athletes this season: five graduates, six seniors, three juniors, seven sophomores, and one redshirt freshman. Additionally, they added eight freshmen for the 2023 season.
 
Evansville head coach Chris Pfau will be entering his seventh season with the Purple Aces. His first stint with the team (2005-2007) he put together three 10-win seasons. He took over the program again in December of 2019 and led the team. He has an overall record of 41-39-19.
 
Looking Ahead
Southeast Missouri will be back in action on Sunday, August 27 when they take on Southern Illinois in Carbondale. Kick-off is slated for 1 p.m., CT. at Lew Hartzog T&F Complex.