EVANSVILLE, Ind. – SIUE men's soccer reclaimed the top spot in the Ohio Valley Conference thanks to a 3-1 road win Saturday night at Southern Indiana.
The Cougars moved to 5-2-1 in the OVC and have 16 points, putting them one point better than Lindenwood. SIUE improved to 7-6-2 overall and have won three of their last four games.
Southern Indiana dropped to 2-9-4 overall and 2-5-1 in the league.
SIUE got all the scoring it needed in a three-goal first half. Ryley Gibbs put the Cougars on top in the seventh minute when he got his head to a corner from Grant Locker at the near post. Gibbs flicked the ball to the back post, for his team-leading seventh goal of the season.
The Cougars used a corner kick to double the lead in the 23rd minute. Locker delivered the corner, which was headed on by Anton Mosley. His shot hit the post and the crossbar before bouncing out to Amos Boum Nlend, who put it back in for his first goal as a Cougar.
SIUE picked up its third in the 42nd minute. Archie McDonnell sent a ball over the top from the backline, placing it in stride to Dominic Bartoni. Bartoni took a touch into the box and before banging in a left-footed strike to the back post.
Southern Indiana's only tally came from Ahiro Nakamae in the 55th minute.
For the game, SIUE took a season-high 18 shots, while limiting USI to just 10. The Cougars outshot the Screaming Eagles 12-2 in the first half and tied a season-high with eight shots on goal in the game.
Brady Cochrane made one save in goal to pick up the win for SIUE.
The Cougars will play their final regular season road game Thursday at Western Illinois before wrapping up the regular season with a game Sunday, Nov. 1 against Eastern Illinois.
