Box Score EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Two goals in less than a minute in the first half helped propel SIUE men's soccer to a 3-0 win over Evansville in the home opener for the Cougars at Korte Stadium.
SIUE improved to 2-0, while Evansville is 0-2.
"The second half of the first half, I felt we were a little impatient," SIUE Head Coach Cale Wassermann admitted. "We were trying to get the third instead of trying to manage the game. But I'll take a two-nill lead and deal with that any day of the week."
Freshman Mitchell Murphy assisted on a pair of Cougars goals in the 11th minute, both coming on low crosses from the left side.
"Not only did Mitch Murphy get in behind and so deep, but then he delivered two quality crosses, low and hard into dangerous areas," Wassermann said.
Vincent Jackson II netted the opener for SIUE, his first goal as a Cougar. He received the cross from Murphy, before flicking over the top of Evansville goalkeeper Jacob Madden to make it 1-0.
"For Vincent Jackson to stop that ball and lift it the way he did; I wasn't sure if it was going to go in and it just floated in there," Wassermann said. "It was a great goal."
Andres Delascion made a dash through the midfield and made a sliding finish on Murphy's cross for SIUE's second goal just 40 seconds later.
"Andres scored the second one with a great run out of midfield," Wassermann said. A couple of good little combos. Mitch put those on a platter."
Evansville made a charge before halftime, taking four shots while putting two on goal, forcing saves by SIUE goalkeeper Tor Erik Larsen.
The Cougars led 2-0 at the break.
Oskar Lenz put SIUE up 3-0 in the 71st minute with a penalty kick. The infraction came on a handball in the box after a free kick also taken by Lenz. The Cougar sophomore buried the kick low to Madden's right.
"Oskar was on the National Team of the Week last week and arguably should have had a start today," Wassermann said. "We went a different route. He came off the bench and again affected the game positively."
SIUE used seven players off the bench and outshot the Aces 9-6 for the game.
"We have a lot of interchangeable pieces," Wasserman said. "Starting or not starting, a lot of guys are going to play."
Larsen finished the day with three saves in goal for SIUE en route to his first shutout with the Cougars.
"Evansville doesn't give up," Wassermann said. "Last year we had them on the ropes at 4-0 and they banged in three on us. A real big emphasis today was we that we not quit until the final whistle and I was happy with the effort."
SIUE had adjusted its schedule and will play host to Western Illinois Sunday at Korte Stadium. Kickoff is salted for 2 p.m. The game replaces a March 1 date in which the Cougars were to play at Missouri State.
