SIUE (0-2-1) vs. No. 19 Saint Louis (1-1-1)
Sun., Sep. 8, 6:30 p.m. 
CITYPARK, St. Louis, Missouri

LAST TIME: The Cougars dropped back-to-back games at Ohio State's Wolstein Classic last weekend.

BRONZE BOOT BACK AT CITYPARK: The Cougars face the Billikens for the Joseph Carenza, Sr. Trophy at the home of St. Louis CITY SC for the second straight season. CITYPARK is one of many neutral site venues to have hosted the rivalry game, including Busch Stadium II and St. Louis Soccer Park. 

RANK AND FILE: The Cougars are not currently ranked. SIUE began the year at No. 25 in the preseason Top Drawer Soccer poll.

AT THE HELM: 2023 OVC Coach of the Year Cale Wassermann is in his sixth season in charge of the Cougars, and his 11th overall as a head coach. He has a record of 40-32-12 in five seasons at SIUE. 

SCORE!: SIUE returns its four top scorers from a year ago including the OVC leader in goals Pavel Dashin (9 goals, 19 points), OVC Forward of the Year Stephan Moreira (17 points) OVC Tournament MVP Nacho Abeal (14 points) and Jake Karolczak (13 points). In all, the Cougars have 62 percent of their scoring returning. 

SQUAD GOALS: The Cougars finished last season No. 6 in the NCAA in total goals with 45. They scored six goals Sept. 28 at Southern Indiana, which were the most in a game for the Cougars since a 7-0 win against Saint Joseph's in 2006. 

TAKE YOUR SHOT: SIUE unleashed a season-high 26 total shots last year against Webster. It marked the most shots in a game since a 2016 game against Central Arkansas (29). Sept. 28 at Southern Indiana, SIUE put a season-best 17 shots on goal. 

THE SERIES: 2018 marked the first regular season meeting between the two soccer rivals since 1995. Regularly a well-attended game, the meeting was held at Busch Stadium II from 1972-1986. The largest crowd in NCAA history was a Bronze Boot affair, when 22,512 saw the Billikens and Cougars play at Busch Stadium on Oct. 30, 1980. The Billikens own a 27-10-3 advantage in the overall series, including a 23-6-3 lead in the Bronze Boot series. 

BETWEEN THE PIPES: After the graduation of OVC Goalkeeper of the Year Sam Gomez, the Cougars have turned to grad transfer Rob Gjelaj. He appeared in 55 games making 53 starts over four seasons at Division II Northwood University in Midland, Michigan. He finished as the school's all-time saves leader with 319. Last season he was fourth nationally in DII with 97 saves. Gjelaj is the OVC leader in total saves and saves per game.  

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Picking up where they left off last year, the Cougars had a pair of OVC Players of the Week honored after week one. Nic Muench was the Offensive Player of the Week after scoring the game-tying goal in SIUE's draw with Michigan State. Gjelaj earned the nod as Goalkeeper of the Week after making five saves against the Spartans. 

LAST SEASON: SIUE finished 16-1-3 and was unbeaten through its first 19 games. The Cougars captured the first Ohio Valley Conference Regular Season and Tournament titles and appeared in the NCAA Tournament for the 24th time. SIUE's .850 winning percentage was the best in Division I. 

ALL WE DO IS WIN: SIUE's 16 wins in 2023 were the most in a season for a Cougar team since the return to Division I. 

TITLE TOWN: The regular season title was the first OVC title for a men's program at SIUE in any sport.

PRO TRADITION: More than 75 former SIUE players have gone on to play professional soccer, including MLS veteran Matt Polster, who is in his ninth season in the league.

PROGRAM HISTORY: SIUE is playing its 58th season of men's soccer. The program's all-time record is now 602-331-98. SIUE's .631 winning percentage at the start of the season ranks 23rd all-time.This is the 17th season since returning to NCAA Division I competition. SIUE has made 24 NCAA Tournament appearances, which includes 16 appearances in the Division I tournament. The Cougars hold two National Championships (1972, 1979).