SIUE, WIU Settle for 2-2 Draw
Aug. 23, 2009
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and Western Illinois women's soccer battled to a 2-2 tie Sunday to complete the exhibition season.
The Cougars ended the exhibition season with a 1-1-1 record. SIUE opens the regular season this Friday at Eastern Kentucky. The Cougars take on the Colonels, a future Ohio Valley Conference opponent, in a 5 p.m. ET contest.
Sunday's exhibition finale turned out to be an exciting one down the stretch.
SIUE coach Derek Burton said the team's intensity and passion came out against Western Illinois.
"We found that today for sure," said Burton.
Western Illinois' Abby Davis opened the scoring from 16 yards out with an assist from Keeley Murray at 16:09. SIUE evened the score at 26:39 when Kiara Akpore (Galesburg) dribbled almost the width of the 18-yard box before depositing a shot past WIU goalkeeper Jessica Walsh.
Both teams were quiet offensively in the second half with a handful of opportunities but nothing until SIUE took the lead with 2:30 to play in regulation. Kristin Dierker (Groveland) headed the ball past WIU backup goalkeeper Laura Atkinson on a pass from the side from Kiara Akpore, who led all players with eight shots.
The Leathernecks didn't back down, rallying for a score 24 seconds later when Jill Kevorkian scored from 10 yards out on a pass from Kelly Diershow.
The two teams went into overtime with SIUE controlling the tempo and outshooting the Leathernecks 8-3 in the two 10-minute periods. SIUE outshot Western Illinois overall 20-16.
Stephanie Jung (Troy) played solid for the Cougars in goal, collecting seven saves.
Burton said the team's offensive awareness and intensity improved today. "Hopefully we can find some consistent finishing," he said. -siue cougars-
