Oct. 5, 2006

Cape Girardeau, Mo. - A narrow 2-1 loss at Eastern Illinois has put added importance on a two-game road trip for the Southeast Missouri State soccer team.

The Redhawks, 2-1 in the OVC, will play at Austin Peay on Friday, 7 p.m., and at Tennessee Tech on Sunday, 1 p.m.

"The two road games are crucial for us to stay in the OVC title chase," said Southeast coach Heather Nelson. "Two mental errors allowed Eastern Illinois to claim a win in a game that we controlled play. We have to control play at Austin Peay and Tennessee Tech and eliminate the mental errors."

Austin Peay, 2-1-1 in the OVC, is coached by former Southeast assistant Kelly (Poole) Guth who played for Nelson when she was head coach at Florida State. "There won't be any secrets in this game," Nelson said. "We will both play a similar style. We will need to control possession and speed of play. It should be an even match."

At Tennessee Tech, Southeast will face a good goal keeper in Loretta McNamee and Nelson says it will be important to capitalize on all scoring opportunities. Tech is 0-3-1 in the OVC.

"I'm excited about the rest of the OVC season," Nelson said. "I feel like we are coming together as a team. Now we just need to go out and win some games."