FAYETTEVILLE, Ark, - The lessons learned from Saturday's exhibition contest at Arkansas will benefit SIUE women's soccer moving forward.

After completing Saturday's game, the Cougars now look forward to Thursday's home opener against Missouri State. The contest is set for 5 p.m. at Korte Stadium.

"Our team displayed an incredible level of commitment to each other tonight," said SIUE Head Coach Derek Burton. "It's a great step to set a standard of investment for a young team. The execution aspect of our game will improve for sure."

The Razorbacks, ranked No. 8 nationally in the first NCAA national poll, took a 2-0 lead at halftime and added four goals in the final 90 minutes for a 6-0 final.

"We will keep working on improving ourselves in every way to prepare for the season opener this week," said Burton. "We can't wait to be at Korte to get going."