LYNCHBURG, Va. – A comeback attempt fell short for SIUE men's soccer and their five-match unbeaten streak came to a close with a 2-1 loss at Liberty Saturday afternoon.
SIUE fell to 3-3-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference and 4-9-2 overall. The loss dropped the Cougars into the fourth spot in the league standings. Liberty is second in the league at 4-1-3. The Flames are 8-3-5 overall.
Leo Conneh gave Liberty the lead in the 19th minute with his sixth goal of the year. Conneh pounced a rebound and scored a low shot after SIUE goalkeeper Noah Schedweiler got his hands on a cross into the box.
Ben Carman doubled the Flames' lead in the 33rd minute. After a long pass, Carman backed into Scheidweiler before scoring with a shot off the outside of his foot for third goal of the season.
Liberty led 2-0 at the break.
Carles Zomeño got the Cougars on the board with his second goal of the season in the 71st minute. Evan Howard set up the goal with a push at the top of the 18-yard box, when the Liberty defense converged, Howard picked out Zach Renz on the right side. Renz sent a pass to the top of the six-yard box where Zomeño finished past LU goalkeeper Tyler Beck.
While the Cougars were outshot overall 9-7, SIUE outpaced Liberty in shots on goal, 4-3. Scheidweiler made a single save in the loss.
SIUE returns to Korte Stadium for the final home game of the year Thursday where they will face Western Illinois at 7 p.m.
