EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Two goals from Ignacio Abeal Pou assured SIUE men's soccer the chance play for an Ohio Valley Conference championship as the top-seeded Cougars ousted No. 4 seed Lindenwood 2-0 Wednesday at Korte Stadium.
The Cougars improved to 15-0-3 and will face Incarnate Word in a 6:00 p.m. game Saturday for the inaugural OVC Championship.
"What a night," We're thrilled with the clean sheet, and I am so happy for Nacho who's been putting such great effort. Tonight was his night to be the difference-maker."
The first strike came in the 70th minute to snap a scoreless tie. Sam Layton delivered a 20-yard pass over midfield to Abeal who spun around a defender before making a run in on goal from the left side before blasting home from 15 yards away.
Nacho's second goal came less than three minutes from the final whistle. Nic Muench took the ball to the corner flag, before back-heeling a pass to Andres Delascio turned in the box and sent a short cross to the Nacho, who scored his second of the night from just outside of the penalty spot.
"I can't explain it in words, but it was an amazing night, not for me but the win for the team," Abeal said. "We've been pushing together the whole year. We're not done yet. We have a lot to get done."
SIUE outshot Lindenwood 9-5. Sam Gomez made a single save to secure his ninth career shutout.
Saturday's meeting will be the second of the year between SIUE and UIW. The Cougars picked up a 3-0 win Oct. 12 also at Korte Stadium.
"They're a very technical, ball-playing team," Wassermann said of UIW. "It's going to be a tough game. We have 90 minutes to prove ourselves at home. We're excited to be in the position we're in, but we've got to get the job done."
"We're going to enjoy this for a couple of hours and then we're focused on the next one," Abeal added.
