The tandem of quarterback Greg Brune and receiver Chuck Koerner teamed up for touchdowns on the gridiron to lead the Southeast Missouri football team in the 1960s and now their granddaughters, Emma Brune and Cayla Koerner, are currently adding their own chapters to their family legacies as members of the Redhawks women's soccer team.
The family connection came full circle in SEMO's most recent soccer game at Eastern Illinois on Sept. 22 with Emma Brune hooking up with Cayla Koerner for a goal in the 15th minute.
Brune, a junior midfielder from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, dispossessed a Panthers player before passing to Koerner, a freshman forward from Mahomet, Illinois, who slotted a shot through the legs of goalkeeper Daniela Bermeo.
For the duo of Brune and Koerner, the goal-assist combination was the first of hopefully many in their careers as Redhawks.
Cayla Koerner currently leads SEMO through 10 games this season with two goals on 16 shots (7 SOG) and looks to pick up where her grandfather Chuck left off offensively. He was a star wide receiver for Southeast Missouri football from 1963-1966. In 1966, he was also named the team's MVP.
For Emma Brune, the Red and Black of SEMO is in her DNA, and she has been a fixture on the pitch for the Redhawks soccer team ever since she arrived on campus in 2020.
She is a rare fourth-generation Southeast Missouri student-athlete. Grandfather Greg Brune ranks among Southeast Missouri football's all-time career leaders in several statistical categories, and is a member of the Southeast Missouri Athletics Hall of Fame.
Emma Brune and Cayla Koerner will look to continue to keep adding to their family's intertwined legacy at SEMO this fall and for the foreseeable future.
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