Gonzales brace sparks critical victory for Southeast Missouri State women's soccer vs. Eastern Illinois

Southeast Missouri State's Esmie Gonzales (11) celebrates with Lauren Kaempfe (7) following a 3-0 win over Eastern Illinois in a college soccer game Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, at Houck Field in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Gonzales had a pair of goals in the game.

Josh Mlot ~ Southeast Missourian

The Southeast Missouri State women’s soccer team needed a win — for points in the standings, for confidence on the field. With three games remaining, a loss would be devastating.

On Friday night, the Redhawks looked like a team that understood the ramifications.

Southeast adopted a more proactive approach, embraced a little more risk and rolled past Ohio Valley Conference bottom feeder Eastern Illinois 3-0 at Houck Field.

Southeast Missouri State's Esmie Gonzales scores a 42nd-minute goal against Eastern Illinois in a college soccer game Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, at Houck Field in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Gonzales had a pair of goals in a 3-0 Redhawks win.

Josh Mlot ~ Southeast Missourian

The Redhawks (5-7-3 overall, 2-3-3 OVC) got two goals in just over a minute from Esmie Gonzales late in the first half, then punctuated the result with a Shelby Beussink goal early in the second half as SEMO controlled the proceedings.

“It’s critical,” Southeast coach Heather Nelson said. “We’ve talked about our destiny’s in our own hands and we need to control as much as we can and try to play a little bit freer than we have, especially in the attacking third. Take more risks. That we welcome that.”

It was the third and fourth goals of the season for Gonzales and the second of the season and career for Beussink, who has scored in two consecutive games.

Gonzales led the team with four shots, growing ever more comfortable as the game progressed before giving her team a much-deserved lead going into the locker room.

There was just 1 minute, 5 seconds between Gonzales’ goals in the 42nd and 43rd minutes.

“I just look at the open space and my team finds me,” Gonzales said. “I’ve got to give them a whole bunch of props, because they find those empty spots and just want to keep the ball there and I’ll chase after that ball. It was amazing. It was them looking for the one-two (combinations) and the passes, and as a group I felt we did amazing.

“We’ve been on a little bit of a rocky road, but we pulled out the win and it feels amazing. The team, they’re happy about it, and we just want to keep working to Sunday and the games we have left.”

SEMO has now scored five goals in its last two games, matching the attacking output of the previous seven games combined. The three goals against EIU (5-10-2, 0-7-1) matched a season high, which came against Division II Illinois Springfield on Aug. 20 in the second game of the season.

Friday’s approach was different than it has been this season, with a heavy high defensive press from the opening whistle and more of an attacking bent by the outside backs.

The pressure disrupted the Panthers in their own half and allowed the hosts to dictate the game’s tempo for much of the 90 minutes.

“We watched a lot of tape this week and tactically we thought we might be able to cause some difficulties if we did put a lot of pressure,” Nelson said. “We were more optimistic defensively, starting with our front three, and I think they did a good job with that.”

The fullbacks were a part of that approach, and often popped up higher than usual, even with the ball — part of a continued push by the Redhawks to embrace risk more often. The result was another dimension in the attack, which directly contributed to two of Southeast’s goals — right back Shay Darga’s ball in found Gonzales prior to her first goal, and left back Jasmine Hilliard created and assisted on Beussink’s strike.

“We were spreading our center backs out a lot more and sending our outside backs high and wide,” Nelson said. “They have quite a bit of experience doing that — we had done that throughout most of [last] year — so tactically it was an easy change for them, and I thought Jazz had a very good game tonight. She was highly involved in a lot of things we did on both ends of the park, either cutting things out, carrying it and sending a ball in or playing it on the ground forward.”

The press dictated the game from the start, even if it didn’t pay off immediately. But a possession advantage finally turned into a lead in the 42nd minute, as Gonzales settled a ball in to the area from Darga, turned to create separation from the defender and ripped a shot into the back of the net for a 1-0 advantage.

EIU hardly had time to take a breath before Gonzales was tearing down the left wing, cutting in toward goal and letting a shot loose. EIU goalkeeper Sara Teteak was there, but the ball powered through her hands and over the goal line for a 2-0 lead.

“I thought the keeper had it, but I guess she fumbled it and it went in the goal,” Gonzales said. “I was like, ‘Oh, OK. I’ll take it.’”

Southeast Missouri State midfielder Amanda Orlando battles with Eastern Illinois' Itxaso Aguero during a college soccer game Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, at Houck Field in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. The Redhawks won 3-0.

Josh Mlot ~ Southeast Missourian

Southeast wasted little time extending its lead in the second half, as Hilliard won the ball high up the field, about 20 yards from goal, pushed it into the left corner and swung a cross to the far post. That’s where Beussink headed it in for a 52nd-minute strike.

Desperate for a goal, Eastern Illinois threw numbers forward in the final 30 minutes or so, creating some threat but very few true chances.

It was enough to end the game even on shots, 13-all, but not on the scoreboard.

The Redhawks are back on the field Sunday hosting SIU Edwardsville, which is coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to UT Martin. The Cougars currently sit fifth in the OVC with a 4-3-1 league record.

Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.

With two games remaining, SEMO currently sits two points outside the OVC Tournament picture. The minimum Southeast needs out of the remaining two games is two points (the equivalent of a pair of draws) but will likely need more to survive a multitude of potential scenarios.

Kaempfe’s contributions

Junior Lauren Kaempfe has been a major contributor for the Redhawks this season, not in the least because she’s performed at a high level at three positions: center back, outside back and defensive midfielder.

Southeast Missouri State's Lauren Kaempfe signs an autograph for a young fan following a college soccer game against Eastern Illinois on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, at Houck Field in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. The Redhawks won 3-0.

Josh Mlot ~ Southeast Missourian

The last couple of weeks, she has been playing as a deep-lying midfielder — a role that’s seemed to combine the best of her offensive and defensive traits to create a quality box-to-box player who can snuff out opposing attacks or help the Redhawks transition forward.

Against Eastern Illinois, her coach was particularly impressed.

“I think Lauren Kaempfe in midfield, especially, was really, really sharp. All she saw was ball tonight,” Nelson said. “I thought she was super sharp and that might be her gaining confidence. It’s the third position we’ve played her in this season, so she’s really stepping up to the challenge and embracing it. We’re very excited about her addition in the midfield.”

Cerebral Gonzales

Gonzales scored her team-leading fourth goal against the Panthers, and has at times looked like a one-man wrecking crew with her ability to turn opposing defenses inside out.

But the sophomore attacking midfielder is at her best when she’s using more than just her low center of gravity and excellent technical skills.

SEMO benefits from her presence most when she’s out-smarting the opposition, which she did against EIU.

“Esmie was really working early in the game to figure out where she could cause the most problems,” Nelson said. “It’s kind of neat to actually watch her because you’ll see her experiment to figure out where she can get the ball most easily. She’s just a very tactical kid, so it’s just super cool to watch how her mind works during the game as she’s seeing the team at speed for the first time. She does a lot of watching on film to prepare herself, too, so I think when she gets a feel for how quick players are and their organization, she just takes it and runs with it.

“I think it gives them a lot of confidence, especially with her because there’s nothing selfish about her. She’ll make the play that needs to be made. If that’s her holding on to the ball while something else develops and finding the pass or creating an assist, or if it means her going to goal. The players know that and they trust her and they trust her on the end of the ball.

"What we’ve really been trying to work on with them is to not get caught in watching her when she’s got the ball but to be continuing to move into positions because if there’s a better play than what she has, she’s going to find it.”