(Cape Giradeau, Mo.) – Friday night on the road, the UMKC women’s soccer team (1-1-1) picked up its first win of the season with a 1-0 victory over the Southeast Missouri Redhawks (0-2-1).

In the 25th minute, no score, the Kangaroos notched their first goal of the season when forward Taylor Bare (1) received a pass from forward Hunter Wagoner and beat keeper Renee Kertz.    

Going into halftime, the score remained the same as UMKC was aggressive on the offensive end with nine shots compared to the Redhawks four.  Defensively, keeper Jami Finnell tallied three saves.

Late in the second half during the 87th minute, same score, the Redhawks caught a break when midfielder Torey Byrd was awarded a penalty kick after being fouled by UMKC.  But, Finnell came up with a huge save to keep the Kangaroos ahead.

Then in the 89th minute, SEMO had another scoring opportunity with a corner kick by forward Ashley Geist, followed by a shot from defender Elly Hight.   Yet again, the Kangaroo defense came up big as Hight’s shot sailed high to seal the win for UMKC.

In the net, Finnell finished with a game-high eight saves in her first shutout performance of the season.  Offensively, UMKC notched a season-high 14 shots, led by Wagoner’s four, three of which were on-goal.   

Coming up, the Blue & Gold will compete in the SIU-Edwardsville Tournament next week as it will take on SIU-Edwardsville on Friday (7:30 p.m.) and Green Bay on Sunday (12 p.m.).

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