SIUE (5-5 in 2020)  
at Wisconsin (2-7-1 in 2020)
Thu., Aug. 26, 5:00 p.m. 
McClimon Track and Soccer Complex

TONIGHT: SIUE opens its 55th season of soccer at Wisconsin. The two teams last met in 2019 in Madison, playing to a 2-2 tie. 

TUNE-UP: SIUE won a pair of preseason games, while outscoring its opponents 5-1. The Cougars faced Memphis on the road (3-1) and IUPUI (2-0) at home. 

WELCOME BACK: After playing four seasons in the Mid-American Conference, SIUE is returning to the Missouri Valley Conference, where the Cougars played as affiliate members from 2010-2016. SIUE won a pair of tournament championships, one regular season championship and ammassed a record of 25-13-7 in the MVC.

DIDN'T WE JUST DO THIS?: SIUE played its entire 2020 season in the spring of 2021. The Cougars played 10 games between February 5 and April 7. Along the way, five games were canceled. 
 
LEADERS RETURNING: Redshirt sophomore Oskar Lenz led the team in scoring with 13 points on four goals and five assists. He was fourth in the MAC in goals and led the league in assists. Lluis Martorell led the MAC with 44 total saves, which ranked 18th nationally. He was third in the NCAA in saves per game (5.50) and third in goals against average at .800.

NICE SAVE: Cougar goalkeepers Lluis Martorell and Tor Erik Larsen combined to average 5.50 saves per game during the 2020-21 season, which was fifth best in the NCAA. SIUE's team save percentage was .797, which ranked second in the MAC and No. 28 nationally.

OVERTIME: SIUE played two overtime games last year and are 1-1. The Cougars played seven overtime games in 2019 and were 1-2-4 in those games. The school record for overtime games in a season is nine, both in 2014 and again in 2016.

ONE-GOAL GAMES: SIUE was 3-2 in one-goal games last season. The Cougars are 8-5 in one-goal games over the past two seasons combined. 

SCORING CONCERNS: SIUE went more than four full games without scoring a goal until Sunday when they scored twice. 

FAMILIAR FACES: The Cougars lost just one player from last season's roster. SIUE added three newcomers.