ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Ethan Hackenberg scored the first two goals of his career to lead SIUE men's soccer into the semifinals of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. The fourth-seeded Cougars shut out No. 5 Western Illinois 2-0 Sunday at Hunter Stadium on the Lindenwood campus.
SIUE moves on to face top-seeded Lindenwood in the first semi-final match Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m.
The Cougars improved to 6-10-2 overall with the win. Western Illinois finished its season at 5-11-4.
Hackenberg opened the scoring for the Cougars with his first career goal in the 11th minute when he got his head to a cross from Mathias Clausen. The goal came after a free kick was delivered to the outside by Wes Gibson.
WIU's best chance in the first half came in the 29th minute when the ball fell to Ty Duax straight away from goal, Duax unloaded a hard strike that was turned away by SIUE goalkeeper Noah Scheidweiler who made a leaping save, popping the ball in the air before he caught it again.
Hackenberg doubled SIUE's lead in the 57th minute when he earned a penalty kick when he was taken to ground after receiving a pass in the box. Hackenberg buried the kick low to right side for the 2-0 advantage.
Xavier Gagnon nearly put the Leathernecks on the board in the 79th minute when he headed on goal after a cross, but Scheidweiler again was there to make the save.
WIU finished with just the two shots on goal. Scheidweiler's two saves earned him his fifth shutout this season.
In all, SIUE outshot Western Illinois 11-9. The Cougars finished with four shots on goal. Hackenberg led the way with five total shots and two on goal.
