SIUE Ready For The Conference Tournament
         After finishing the regular season with eight straight wins, the Southern Illinois University men's soccer Cougars are ready for the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament.
         As the No. 1 seed for the GLVC Tournament, for the fourth consecutive season, SIUE has drawn eighth-seeded Missouri-St. Louis in the quarterfinal round. SIUE faces UMSL at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Korte Stadium. If SIUE advances, the Cougars will be the host institution for the GLVC Tournament semifinals and finals, set for Oct. 27 and 29.
         SIUE added to the win column this past week against Missouri-Rolla 5-0 and Truman State 1-0. The two wins over the weekend helped the Cougars to end the regular season with an 11-3-3 record and a No. 8 national ranking in the latest NSCAA/NCAA Division II Coaches Poll.
         SIUE soccer coach Ed Huneke said the win over Truman State was a "little ugly," but the team still found a way to win, which will be a key to the Cougars success in the postseason.
         Huneke credits a big part of the Cougars' strong finish to the team’s strong defense and the play of Ross Beveridge (Dunfermline, Scotland).
         "Ross Beveridge has been playing better that he has all season," said Huneke.
         The intense play of the Cougar defense has lead to five straight shutouts to finish the season. SIUE's defense has given up just three goals in the last 10 games. The Cougars hold a 0.79 goals against average.
         The Cougars are now set to host the UMSL in the first round of the GLVC tournament.
         The last time the Cougars faced UMSL, SIUE won 3-0, but Huneke does not see that as a reason to be overconfident going into the game.
         "Just because we played well against them last time doesn't mean we should assume it will be that way this time," said Huneke.
         But Huneke added that he is comfortable with the way the team looks heading into the postseason.
                  -siue cougars-