ROMEOVILLE - Round one was a tie. Lewis won round two. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville won round three and advances in the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Tournament.
         SIUE, 16-2-3 and ranked No. 10 in the nation, defeated No.1-ranked and previously-undefeated Lewis 2-0 Sunday afternoon. The Cougars now advance to the Elite Eight of NCAA-II men's soccer and plays host to Ashland University in the quarterfinal round at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Ralph Korte Stadium/Bob Guelker Field. Ashland defeated Mercyhurst 2-1 on Saturday.
         It was the third meeting of the season between the Flyers and the Cougars. SIUE and Lewis tied at Romeoville on Sept. 14. One week ago, Lewis, 20-1-1, edged SIUE 2-1 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament title game at SIUE.
         On Sunday, it was SIUE's turn.
         Brian Douglas (Centerville, Ohio) scored from 12 yards out behind two quick passes from Justin McMillian (Granite City) and Ryan Stoddart (Springfield) at 35:29.
         SIUE controlled play in the first half and outshot the Flyers 8-4. Lewis countered with a second-half spree of control.
         "They actually made a tactical move to put three forwards and three backs in there for the second half," said SIUE Coach Ed Huneke.
         Lewis kept the ball near SIUE's goal for most of the half, challenging SIUE goalkeeper Matt Evers (Edwardsville) to make several stops. Evers recorded just three saves but made several keys stops on potential Lewis goals.
         Huneke said he was not playing to keep Lewis at bay in the second half. Rather, it just happened that SIUE didn't control the offensive flow of play nearly as well as it had in the first half.
         "It the nature of soccer to have that happen when you have a lead," said Huneke.
         The Cougars finally put the game out of reach at 88:23 as Justin Huneke (Glen Carbon) scored from 15 yards out on an assist from McMillian. Lewis had put so many players forward that Justin Huneke had a one-on-one confrontation with Lewis goalkeeper Jordan Gustman.
         "Pushing forward is dangerous, but it does create counters for us," said Huneke.
                  -siue-