2004 SIUE Men's Soccer - Cougars Play For National Title

		Men's Soccer	SIUE Men's Soccer SIUE Athletics

Championship Bracket

SIUE in NCAA Tournament

SIUE's Statistics

December 4, 2004

Cougars Confident Heading into Title Game
          WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS - For some players, this could be the biggest game of their lives. For others, the NCAA Division II championship game is just another soccer contest.
          Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, 19-2-2 overall, has been in this position before. SIUE was the national champion of NCAA Division II in 1972 and the NCAA Division I champion in 1979. SIUE also was the national runner-up in 1975. For the 2004 SIUE men's soccer team, this is the opportunity to create Cougar history.
          SIUE, ranked sixth in the final collegiate poll, faces No. 1-ranked Seattle University, 21-0-1, at 1 p.m. on Sunday. The national title game can be heard on WSIE FM 88.7 and SIUE's Web Radio at webradio.siue.edu.
          SIUE Coach Ed Huneke came close to a junior college national title once before in 1982 as the head coach at Lewis and Clark Community College. This time, Huneke has put together a team which has a strong defense and yet is difficult to defend.
          "Teams have a hard time defending us because we have so many different weapons on offense," Huneke said.
          Huneke pointed to SIUE's first goal in the 4-1 NCAA semifinal win over North Carolina-Pembroke.
          "That was goal by Michael Burgund and an assist for Kevin Thibodeau. That's two backs out there creating scoring chances," he said.
          SIUE has been stunningly balanced on offense this season. Seven players are tied for the team lead in goals with six. All four of SIUE's goals on Friday was a player's sixth goal. Eight different players have scored in SIUE's three games in the NCAA Tournament. John Matthews and Ross Beveridge are the only Cougars with more than one goal as SIUE has outscored its opponents 10-4.
          The Cougars have pushed through a gauntlet of top-ranked teams to get to this point in the postseason.
          SIUE defeated 10th-ranked Lewis 2-0 in the championship game of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament on Nov. 7. The Cougars then began the NCAA charge with a 3-1 win over 19th-ranked Wisconsin-Parkside, a 3-2 win over 14th-ranked Tusculum and a 4-1 drilling of No. 5-ranked UNC-Pembroke.
          Nicholas Frasca has been in goal for the Cougars in each of those victories. The freshman emerged as the team's goalkeeper toward the end of the season. He enters the game with a 0.65 goals against average and 51 saves.
          Frasca's counterpart at Seattle is Jeremiah Doyle, who has started all 22 games for the Redhawks and holds a 0.45 goals against average with 90 saves.
          Seattle's offense is led by Bobby McAllister, who has 21 goals this season including the game-winner in overtime as Seattle advanced over Dowling 2-1.
                    -siue cougars-