EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – On Senior Day at Korte Stadium, five different SIUE seniors figured into the scoring as men's soccer capped its regular season at home with a 3-0 win over Western Illinois Saturday.
The Cougars improved to 8-4-3 overall and 6-1-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference maintaining a hold on the top spot in the league. Western Illinois dropped to 7-9-1 overall and 2-6-0 in the OVC.
It was Nic Muench to open the scoring in the ninth minute, when he and Yasha Schaerer hooked up on a give-and-go. Muench scored from six yards out to the far post.
Jacob Bilyeu, the active career leader in games played with 75, made it 2-0 in the 20th minute after a long pass ahead by Muench, Stephan Moreira sent a cross through the box. It came through to the back post where Bilyeu banged it home for the two-goal lead.
Jacobo Sanfeliu headed home a corner kick from Schaerer just three minutes later for the 3-0 lead.
SIUE's defense stifled any attempts by the Leathernecks. WIU had just six shots total and just a single shot on goal, which didn't come until the 88th minute. Tyler Philpott had a short-range crack at the goal, but it was stopped by SIUE goalkeeper Rob Gjelaj who picked up his league-leading eighth shutout of the season.
SIUE meanwhile had 16 total shots and seven on goal, coming from seven different players.
SIUE will close out the regular season with road games at Southern Indiana and Eastern Illinois. The OVC Tournament will play out at Korte Stadium. The first round of the tournament is set for Sunday Nov. 10.
