Sept. 24, 2010

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Southern Illinois University Edwardsville opened its own men's soccer tournament with a thriller Friday as the Cougars defeated Dayton 3-2 in overtime.

Jack Twellman scored his first goal of the year with 27 seconds left in overtime as SIUE improved to 3-4. The goal capped a strong offensive performance from SIUE's front line.

"I think our guys played very well tonight. And it was one of our best performances of the year," said Head Coach Kevin Kalish after collecting the win at the SIUE Men's Soccer Classic.

Twellman's goal was off a rebound in the waning seconds of the first overtime period. Shot from eight yards out in front of the goal, Twellman pounced on a rebound from a defender and hit the back of the net with force.

"We had some world class or what we call highlight reel goals," said Kalish.

SIUE's first goal of the game came at 42:06. SIUE forward Jared Tejada connected on the give and go from Jordan Barnes to put SIUE up 1-0.

SIUE held the lead at halftime as the Cougar offense shut down Dayton and held the Flyers without a shot over the first 45 minutes.

Dayton evened the score at 1-1 at 49:54 when Oskar Kretzinger punched the ball in from 10 yards out on an assist from Evan McCreary.

The Flyers took the lead at 63:27 on a penalty kick. Tommy Watkins swept the ball past SIUE starting goalkeeper Nick Collico to put Dayton up 2-1.

SIUE would work its way back for its goalkeeper. Cougar forward Kevin Bielicki took a pass from Twellman and bested two defenders to slip the ball past Dayton goalie Tyler Picard.

"I thought our guys battled and came back. They showed a lot of character," Kalish said.

The comeback finished on the only shot of the overtime period. The Cougars would outshoot Dayton 13-6 for the match.

"It's a fine line between competing and fighting, and we found a balance in that," Kalish added.

The Cougars next take on Memphis Sunday in a 2:30 p.m. contest at Korte Stadium. Memphis dropped a 2-1 decision earlier Friday to UMKC in the SIUE Men's Soccer Classic opener. Dayton and UMKC hook up in the first game Sunday at noon.

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