EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Patrick Clendenny buried the game winner from 12 yards out for his first career goal as SIUE defeated Lipscomb 3-2 in men's college soccer at Korte Stadium Saturday night.

The Cougars improved to 5-2-2 with a busy offense that tallied 14 shots led by three from Clendenny.

"We have been waiting for Pat to get healthy. He is a great athlete and is great on restarts. He definitely helps out our back line. If he can stay healthy the rest of the year I think he is going to be a big contributor," said SIUE Head Coach Kevin Kalish.

It was the second straight game for the Cougars in which a player scored his first career goal that also would count as a game winner after Aaron Lantz did it Friday against Belmont.

Clendenny's goal was in the box off a restart. Brian Groark started the play from 30 yards out off a Lipscomb foul. He served the ball into the box, and Clendenny applied the foot that forced the ball past Lipscomb goalkeeper Brent McGee.

Lipscomb fell to 1-7-2 despite tying the game in the second half on a pair of goals by Nick Bibb.

The Cougars looked strong early with a pair of goals in the first 17 minutes of the contest.

Jared Tejada scored his second goal of the season from five yards out on a perfect pass from Groark at 13:09. Derek Huffman put the Cougars up 2-0 with a tap-in goal from three yards out on an unselfish pass from Matt Polster in the box.

"That was a classic goal," said Kalish. It was beautiful vision by Matt and a great finish by Derek."

The Cougars were in control at halftime with an 8-3 edge, but the Bisons fought back.

"I thought the first half was pretty good. I thought we made some mistakes in the second half. It's good to come back and get the win with the goal by Pat," Kalish said.

Lipscomb countered with goals from Bibb at 57:52 and 59:38. The second glanced off a diving SIUE goalkeeper Scott Meyer who would finish the game with two saves.

"There's a lot to improve on, but at the end of the day we had two results over the weekend so we have to be positive," Kalish said.

SIUE takes to the road for a pair of contests in Ohio. The Cougars travel to Dayton for a 7 p.m. ET game on Saturday. SIUE also faces Cincinnati in a 7 p.m. ET game on Oct. 4.

"We are back on the road again. We just have to keep working on our consistency," Kalish said.

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