Box Score CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo.- The Belmont women's soccer team lost its first conference game of the season 2-1 at the hands of SEMO at Houck Stadium Friday night.
Both teams had to start out of their normal pre-game routine, with the game experiencing a two-hour rain and lightning delay. After a quick 30-minute warm-up where the Bruins displayed green tops to honor the memory of former SEMO soccer player Meghan Herndon, who was killed in a motor vehicle accident on Sept. 20, 2012, SEMO and the Bruins participated in an honorary kickoff ceremony to commemorate Herndon.
Friday marked the seventh anniversary of Herndon's death, who was an organ donor, as SEMO started the game with 10 players and kicked the ball in the direction of their former teammate's position.
"I thought (SEMO coach) Heather (Nelson) and her team honoring Meghan for this game was such a fitting day for them because it was the anniversary. It was her angel day," head coach Heather Henson said. "That's a special thing that they allowed us to be a part of that."
As SEMO reset to resume play, the Redhawks quickly refocused to fire their offense. The Redhawks scored the game's first goal, with Jennifer Brien scoring her first goal of the season to give SEMO a 1-0 lead.
Belmont responded two minutes later, capitalizing off its first corner kick of the match. Paige Hewitt fed Rachel Vernon, who fought her way through traffic to squeeze the ball into the goal and tie the match 1-1. The goal marked Vernon's second goal of the season, just 12 days after collecting her first score of the season.
"(The team) understands the importance of corner kicks," Henson said. "They knew where our opportunities were going to be created off corners and to be able to execute it the way that we talked about, I was extremely proud of them for that. I was extremely proud of them for being able to rebound after they scored first."
SEMO responded by creating two shot opportunities in the next 10 minutes of the first half, with its third turning into the go-ahead goal. Cassidi Tomsu scored off the assist from Esmie Gonzales in the 15th minute of the match, giving SEMO the one-goal lead.
Belmont fought its way to create more scoring opportunities to tie the game in the final 75 minutes, but SEMO's defense limited the Bruins' chances and resulted in the Redhawks taking the first regular season win of the series since 2014.
"First game is under our belts, but we did not start the game with the energy and the detail of the game we needed to," Henson said. "As an entire first half, we dug ourselves a hole and had to climb out of it in the second half. We have to come out from the beginning whistle and play the entire 90 minutes."
Belmont goes on its fourth consecutive road game on Sunday, continuing conference play at UT Martin at 2 p.m.
