Match #14
Southeast Missouri (1-11-1, 1-2-1 OVC) at Western Illinois (1-13-0, 0-4 OVC) 
 
Date: Thursday, October 9 
Time: 4:00 p.m., CT. 
Location: Macomb, Ill. 
Venue: John MacKenzie Alumni Field
Series: WIU leads 2-3-1
Head Coaches: John Klein (SEMO | First Season); Ross Henderson (WIU | First season)
 
Match #15
Eastern Illinois (7-4-2, 4-0 OVC) at Southeast Missouri (1-11-1)
 
Date: Sunday, October 12
Time: 1:00 p.m., CT. 
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo. 
Venue: Houck Field
Series: SEMO leads 17-12-4
Head Coaches: John Klein (SEMO | First Season); Dirk Bennett (WIU | Third season)
 
Follow the Redhawks: 
X: @SEMOSoccer
Live Stats: Western Illinois |Eastern Illinois
Watch: Western Illinois |Eastern Illinois
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SEMO Soccer looks to ride the momentum of its first win, into two-game week.

Sunday's match will also be Socktoberfest, with socks as the giveaway courtesy of Burritoville.

Series History

Western Illinois 

Western Illinois leads in the all-time series 3-2-1. The Leathernecks came into Cape Girardeau last season and came away with a 2-1 win, before drawing 0-0 in 2023. Before that the last matchup was in 2001 and the Redhawks haven't defeated Western Illinois since 2000.

Eastern Illinois
 
The Redhawks and Panthers have met a combined 33 times on the pitch and SEMO leads the overall series 17-12-4. In the last 15 matchups SEMO is 12-3 including a 2-1-win last season on home turf. From 2013-2022, the Redhawks won nine out of 10 matchups with the only loss coming in the OVC tournament in 2018.

Last week

The Redhawks only had one game in which a second half brace from Emily Baker lifted the Redhawks and head coach John Klein to a 2-1 win over UT Martin for first win of the season. After conceding a goal in the second minute, the Redhawks defense clamped down and limited the Skyhawks to just four shots on goal. Bakers first goal came on a freekick from 22 yards out, in which she deposited in the bottom left part of the goal. Her second goal came on a penalty kick after Laia Amat got tripped up in the box after making a nifty move. Goaltender Madison Geisler was strong in net making four saves to keep the squad in the game after the early goal. 

OVC Offensive player of the Week

After her performance Sunday, Emily Baker was awarded the OVC Offensive Player of the Week. It is her second time winning the award in her career and the first time a Redhawk has won any of the OVC awards this year. 

First of Many

The win on Sunday was the first career win for coach John Klein. After securing his first point as a Division I head coach with a draw at home against Little Rock, on September 25^th, he added three more points with the win over UT Martin. 

Gearing up for Conference Play
 
After a struggle to start the season, the SEMO soccer team has clamped its defense and played well during OVC matches. The team had a goal differential of -26 in the non-conference slate; the team has flipped that number to just -1 in the first four OVC matches. They have scored four goals while only conceding five. 
 
Helping the Change
 
Olivia Klinkhardt, who didn't play college soccer her first year in college, joined the team earlier this season. She has worked her way to earning a starting spot at center back and since conference play has started she has yet to come off the field. Her defensive partner Emma Cloud, who has moved from outside back to center back depending on the game, has also played the full 90 in two conference matches  
 
National Rankings
 
As a team, the Redhawks are 13^th in the country and lead the OVC in shot accuracy. On the season they have taken 91 shots with 50 of them being on goal which makes their shot accuracy percentage at .549. 
 
The Redhawk goalkeepers are also seventh in the country in saves per game with 7.54. Western Illinois leads the OVC at 7.57. Individually Madison Geisler leads the conference and is 4^th nationally in that statistic. Holly Rimmer has added 4.33 in here three appearances in goal.