Box Score EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – SIUE women's soccer blanked Jacksonville State 2-0 in a dominate performance Sunday.
The Cougars started off the scoring in the 15th minute when Emily Grahl set up Caroline Hoefert for her third goal of the season. With that assist, Grahl is now seventh all-time for SIUE in career assists with 20.
"It was really important to get the first goal," Head Coach Derek Burton said. "It allows the team to set the tone and anytime you can score it helps confidence."
Coach Burton praised Hoeferts play.
"She does so much work for us," he said. "She leads us in so many ways and it's nice to see her get rewarded. I couldn't be happier for her."
SIUE had multiple attacks and kept possession of the ball for most of the half. The Cougars took five shots and had five corners in the first half.
The second half was much of the same story, with the Cougars holding most of the possession.
The Cougars finally broke through in the 81st minute to put the game away. Becca Jostes controlled a long ball in from Avery Anderson, took multiple dribbles, turned and slotted one away past the keeper.
"We allowed no goals on the weekend," Burton added. "You can't ask for anything more than that. We'll take that and hopefully it gives all of us a little more confidence moving forward."
SIUE outshot JSU 12-3. Hoefert finished with four shots on the day. MacKenzie Litzsinger shot twice, Ashlyn Walter and Peyton Roehnelt both had a shot on goal.
Coach Burton on finishing the regular season with three road games.
"It's a bit of a challenge, but it's not like we haven't played on the road before," he said. "We have a lot of experienced players who have done it. The mentality has to be the same. We need to stay consistent with what we're doing and put our best foot forward when we get on the field next weekend."
The Cougars are now 6-6-2 (4-2-1 OVC) and will travel to UT Martin this Friday, and then head to Southeast Missouri Sunday.
