 | Men's Soccer |
SIUE Athletics SIUE Men's Soccer | |
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 Kevin Bielicki Boxscore |
November 9, 2007 Bielicki, Cougars Drop Lewis HIGHLAND HTS., Ky. - Kevin Bielicki (St. Louis) scored in both halves Friday as Southern Illinois University Edwardsville men's soccer ousted Lewis 2-1 in the first round of the NCAA Division II Championships. SIUE, now 11-3-3 overall, advances to play Northern Kentucky in the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional title game. Northern Kentucky advanced with a 5-2 victory over Gannon. This will be a rematch of last year's Great Lakes Regional final and SIUE's fourth consecutive Great Lakes Regional final. "I think that's a testimony to a lot of great players over the last four years," said SIUE Coach Ed Huneke. Bielicki scored just 5:42 into the game on a centering pass from Bob Ridder. Bielicki's shot was from 10 yards out, clipped the crossbar and slipped past Lewis goalkeeper Anthony Szymel. After the Cougars grabbed the lead on the first shot of the game, they outshot Lewis in the first half 9-5. Ridder put pressure on the Flyers early in the second half. His shot at 48:33 was blocked, but 10 seconds later Ross Beveridge (Dunfermline, Scotland) served up Bielicki's eighth goal of the season. Bielicki connected from nearly 30 yards out off Szymel's hands. Lewis, which ended the season with a 17-5 record, pressured SIUE late in the second half with five shots and five corner kicks in the final 10 minutes of the game. Nestor Hernandez took away the shutout at 88:10 from eight yards out on a corner kick from Charlie Bucio. It was Hernandez's 10th goal of the season. "They threw everything at us. They're a good team, but we were able to hold up in a barrage of shots and high pressure," said Huneke. The Flyers outshot SIUE in the second half 10-5 and grabbed the overall edge in shots 15-14. SIUE goalkeeper Greg Crook, ranked No. 2 nationally in goals against average, collected four saves in the win. -siue cougars- |