SEMO soccer draws with Central Arkansas to wrap non-con slate

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (Heartland News) - SEMO soccer finished its non-conference portion of the season Sunday, with a 1-1 draw against Central Arkansas.

Sunday’s game started quickly for the Redhawks, with Riley Henderson immediately scoring when a throw in came her way in the box, Henderson slotting the ball into the net.

But Liza Dugan found an equalizer for the Bears later in the half, and the deadlock continued after the halftime break.

Despite registering more shots, SEMO wasn’t able to find a winner on the day, two narrow misses from Olivia Klinkhardt and Laia Amat, each coming inches away from scoring, Klinkhardt’s header just barely rebounding off the post.

Head coach John Klein expressed optimism after the full time whistle, noting the improvement in the number of shots from his team.

“We were the better soccer team today, not by a lot, but we outshot -- for the first time this year we outshot the opponent,” Klein said. “We outcorned them. We took our chances today, and that’s what we need to do moving forward into conference, take our chances, be aggressive, take some risk in the offensive third, and I think we did that. We didn’t find that second goal to win the game, but we got a result today, and that gives us some good momentum going into conference play.”

Conference play begins next Saturday on the road at Western Illinois. The Redhawks will play all seven other OVC opponents in the regular season before the OVC tournament. Every team will make the tournament this season, a new change for 2026 following the departure of Little Rock and Tennessee Tech from the league.

Meg Herndon Donate for Life Game

The Redhawks sported blue and green kits for Sunday’s game, the Meg Herndon Donate for Life Game.

The game is a yearly memorial to honor Meg Herndon, who tragically passed away in 2012, during her time as a SEMO student and soccer player.

A beloved teammate at SEMO, Herndon’s decision to be an organ donor, however, enabled her to have an even greater impact after her passing; her choice saved the lives of seventeen people.

The scholarship fund in her honor gave its yearly donation to freshman Maci Hatzenbuehler, a $15,000 gift for a student who embodied Meg’s character and energy.

Cindi Silvey, Meg’s mother, presented the scholarship, speaking to the team before the game. Coach Klein noted his gratefulness to have Silvey in attendance.

“Amazing for Cindi Herndon (Silvey) to come respect Meg Herndon’s life and continue to be part of our program with the ‘Donate for Life’ special day,” Klein said. “She spoke to the team before. Cindi was awesome. The girls were motivated to play for Meg, and I think we saw that on the field today.”