CHARLESTON, Ill. - Southern Illinois University Edwardsville came back from giving up an early goal Saturday to defeat Eastern Illinois 2-1 in Missouri Valley Conference men's soccer play.

The Cougars improved to 7-5-1 overall and 2-1 in the MVC with their first conference road victory of the season. It was SIUE's first regular season victory over EIU since 1992.

Mike Jones scored the game-tying goal in the first half, and Chris Anzalone connected on the eventual game winner near the beginning of the second half for SIUE.

Eastern Illinois, 4-8 overall and 1-3 in MVC play, would come out firing against the Cougars. Kyle Bullock scored his first goal of the season with the help of a pair of passes from Zach Piekarksi and Ryan Child. Bullock's goal to the left side of the net came at 4:11.

SIUE Head Coach Kevin Kalish said his team did not get off to the start the he had hoped.

"The most important thing is that our guys responded and played well for the remainder of the game," said Kalish.

After allowing the first two shots of the game, SIUE rebounded to take the next four of the contest. EIU's defense would hold off seven corner kicks until SIUE capitalized on No. 8.

Brian Groark took the corner and fed a perfect pass to Jones. He would head it in to the right side of the goal past EIU goalie Sean Molony at 36:08, evening the score 1-1.

"I thought we did a good job of keeping our shape and choosing the moments in the game on when to play. We took our chances when they came," Kalish said.

Restarts proved to be big again in the second half, especially on what would be the game-winning goal. This time, Kevin Bielicki provided the assist off the corner kick. Chris Anzalone would head this goal into the left side of the net at 49:04, giving SIUE enough momentum to carry through the rest of the game.

"We have been pretty good on attacking restarts for the most part of the year. I give a lot of credit to (Assistant Coach) Jeremy (Alumbaugh). He has done a fantastic job in this area."

The Panthers outshot the Cougars 20-18 as SIUE goalkeeper recorded a career-high nine saves. EIU's Molony finished with 10 saves.

"We grinded it out and found a way to get a result on the road. There was not a lot of soccer played out there today, but sometimes you have to adapt to get results," said Kalish.

The Cougars now return to Korte Stadium for their final two home games of the regular season. SIUE entertains Central Arkansas for a 7 p.m. game Wednesday. Drake comes to SIUE Saturday for a 7 p.m. contest.

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