Aug. 18, 2009

Box Score

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Arkansas State held off SIUE's late charge for a 2-1 victory in women's college soccer action at Korte Stadium.

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is now 1-1 in exhibition play after taking the loss from the Redwolves. The Cougars' final exhibition game is Sunday when they entertain Western Illinois in a 1 p.m. contest.

SIUE coach Derek Burton said the Cougars didn't get off to a good start but were able to pick up the offense in the second half.

"We competed a lot harder than we did in the first half so if we can continue to build on that we'll be in pretty good shape," said Burton.

Arkansas State took the lead at 23:35 when Kara Nitti scored from 25 yards out on an assist from Tory Pitts. The Redwolves held an 11-5 edge in shots in the first half, holding the Cougars in check.

The Cougars started gain some strength in the second half when Brittany Bodziak just missed a chip-in, breakaway opportunity past ASU goalkeeper Susan Brown at 54:25.

Arkansas State would grab a 2-0 lead at 71:43 when Stasha Siers connected from 10 yards out off the pass from Michele Clark. SIUE goalkeeper Stephanie Jung had just entered the game 30 seconds before after starting goalkeeper Claire Lovercheck was injured while making her 11th save of the game.

The Cougars avoided the shutout with just five seconds left in the game. Kiara Akpore scored from five yards out off a corner kick when the ball caromed around and ended up in the back of ASU's net.

"The other positive is that we created a lot of chances. We created the opportunities. Hopefully that continues," said Burton.

SIUE, which was called for offsides four times in the game, outshot Arkansas State 12-8 in the second half with numerous opportunities in the box. ASU finished the game outshooting the Cougars 19-17.

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