Men's Soccer

Men’s Soccer Collects NCAA Bid
         Southern Illinois University Edwardsville received a bid to the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championships and will be the No. 2 seed in the Central region.
         The Cougars, 16-3, play third-seeded Rockhurst, 10-8-1, on Thursday at 1 p.m. The game will be played on the home field of the region’s top seed Truman State in Kirksville, Mo.
         The winner of the SIUE-Rockhurst game goes on to play Truman State on Saturday at 1 p.m.
         SIUE Coach Ed Huneke was elated with the news.
         “It’s a whole new season now that requires us to be at our best,” he said.
         Huneke noted that SIUE’s 4-0 victory over Rockhurst on a neutral field should not allow anyone to be presumptuous.
         “Rockhurst has been a dominant team the last two years. They know how to get ready for these big games,” said Huneke.
         The Cougars know a little something about the postseason as well. This is SIUE’s 17th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Cougars last made the tournament in 2001, advancing to the national semifinals before bowing out in an overtime game.
         This will be the 18th meeting between SIUE and Rockhurst. SIUE leads the series 12-4-1, including this season’s victory.
         Huneke said Sunday’s 3-1 heartbreaking loss to Lewis may prove to help the Cougars. Despite losing the Great Lakes Valley Conference title and a 15-game winning streak, Huneke said the Cougars appear to be ready.
         In that game, SIUE had scored the first goal of the game just three minutes in as Pete Cacciatore (St. Louis), a second team All-GLVC pick, scored unassisted.
         “We got a little soft after scoring the first goal,” said Huneke.
         The Cougars will have to battle through the loss behind junior Addae Rique (Trinidad & Tobago), who was named the GLVC Player of the Year. He was joined on the first team by senior forward Cal Thomas (Rochester), sophomore back Tim Velten (St. Louis) and senior goalkeeper Bret Richardson (Mt. Vernon, Ind.).
         Richardson currently holds a 0.55 goals against average as the Cougars outscored their opponents 51-12 so far this season.
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