EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Crown them champions.

The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville men's soccer team won the SIUE Men's Soccer Classic Sunday behind a 2-1 victory over Memphis.

SIUE defender Benny Jeffery was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. The junior from Florissant, Mo., played outstanding for all 190 minutes of the Cougars' tournament and recorded an assist on the game-winning goal against Memphis.

SIUE's game-winner against Memphis came at 78:01 when Jared Tejada, who also was named to the All-Tournament team, charged perfectly into the ball on the right side of the goal as Jeffery placed the cross from the left side onto Tejada's foot.

"Benny made the play," said SIUE Head Coach Kevin Kalish. "Not only did he make a 35-yard run to get forward, he provided a perfect service to Jared. And Jared did his job and buried one."

SIUE teammates Kevin Bielicki and Randy Roy also were named to the All-Tournament team for the victorious Cougars. Dayton was named the runner-up in the tournament after posting a 1-0 win over UMKC in Sunday's first game.

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The Cougars, now 4-4 overall, opened the scoring at 38:39 Sunday off a corner kick. Jack Twellman took the corner kick from the left side and sent the ball eight yards out to the near post. Jordan Barnes was there for the header and the goal.

"Barnes has a knack for scoring goals, especially on restarts. He comes in and gives us a spark, which is good to see," said Kalish.

Memphis showed it wasn't going to give up in the second half. After Tejada put SIUE up 2-0, the Tigers scored their lone goal at 80:28 when Mark Sherrod headed the ball from 10 yards off a free kick from Thomas Shannon. Memphis, 2-5 overall after having lost its fourth straight game, outshot the Cougars 14-7.

"This was a good weekend to build on. We showed a lot of character to fight through a difficult opponent in Memphis," Kalish said.

SIUE doubled its offensive output in a single weekend. The Cougars scored five goals this weekend after recording five in the first six games.

"I think we are finally solidifying some roles on the team and everybody knows where they are going to be playing," Kalish said.

Kalish doesn't figure to look too far ahead as the Cougars have two more non-conference games before beginning play in the Missouri Valley Conference. SIUE faces UIC Thursday in Chicago and returns home for Oral Roberts next Sunday. MVC play begins Oct. 9 at home against Bradley. Kalish was pleased with how his team played at the SIUE Men's Soccer Classic.

"Two wins, I'm happy," he said.

All-Tournament Team
MVP-Benny Jeffery, SIUE
Jared Tejada, SIUE
Kevin Bielicki, SIUE
Randy Roy, SIUE
Tyler Picard, Dayton
Tommy Watkins, Dayton
Jack Pearson, Dayton
Jimmy Simon, UMKC
Jeffrey Stezovsky, UMKC
Cody McCoy, Memphis
Rory O'Connor, Memphis

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