CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Junior goalkeeper Carley Newman made a career-high 17 saves as Austin Peay State University women's soccer team played to a scoreless draw with Southeast Missouri, Friday, in Ohio Valley Conference action.

It marked the second straight tie for the Lady Govs and marked 222:27 consecutive shutout minutes for Newman in net.

“She played a great game tonight,” head coach Kelley Guth said of Newman. “The game was fast paced and I thought we defended very well. This is always a tough place to play because the turf poses a real advantage for them. Our players did a good job adjusting to the speed and carry of the ball tonight. We showed some improvement going forward, but we had a hard time connecting on our final pass”

Southeast Missouri used the speed of the game to their advantage, keeping the Lady Govs defense backed up for much of the game. The Redhawks outshot the Lady Govs, 29-6. Austin Peay, however, managed to put five of its six shots on goal.

Newman and the Lady Govs defense picked each other up throughout the night. As the end of regulation neared, it was the defense converging to force a Redhawk shot wide of the goal. In the first overtime, a SEMO shot was blocked by the defense and Newman made the stop on the ensuing rebound.

While playing to a tie is never the ultimate goal, the Lady Govs did not have to look hard to find the positives from the match. Returning junior Kellie Cannon and freshman Ginae Starkey, along with the increased playing time for junior Monica Dunham means lengthening the bench and regaining some much-needed depth as conference play continues.

“For us, the goal has been to get players healthy and improve our depth,” Guth said. “We got to play some people tonight we haven't seen for a couple of weeks. We need to establish a rhythm with those players so we can get better down the stretch. Tonight we had a number of players that stepped up for us and we need to continue that the rest of the way.”

Freshman Jazzmine Chandler led Austin Peay with two shots, both on goal. Ashley Runion and Bobbi Jo Schlick each had nine shots for Southeast Missouri. Redhawk keeper Kristen Starkey had five saves.

-AP-