Aug. 19, 2011

Box Score

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The SIUE women's soccer team opened the 2011 season in fine fashion Friday, downing Youngstown State 4-0 in the UMKC Tournament. SIUE was originally scheduled to play two games in the tournament, but a team dropped out reducing the Cougars' tournament to a single game.

"We came out really strong tonight," SIUE Head Coach Derek Burton said. "We pretty much stuck to our game plan, which was to take our game to them. We stuck to it the whole game."

Freshman Michelle Auer enjoyed an impressive collegiate debut. The forward from St. Louis scored twice and assisted on a goal in the victory.

"(Michelle) did what she does," Burton said. "She is so composed in front of the goal. It's great to see her get off to such a great start."

Brittany Bodziak got the Cougars on the board in the 14th minute on an assist from Devon Thomas. Auer's first goal came in the 42nd minute and the Cougars led 2-0 at the break.

Kristen Dailey made it 3-0 SIUE just 39 seconds into the second half with the assist from Auer. Auer closed the scoring with an goal less than two minutes before the final whistle.

"We can rely on any number of players out there," Burton said. "We have a lot of well-rounded players."

Senior goalkeeper Claire Lovercheck made a pair of saves and recorded the eighth shutout of her career.

"Claire made a couple of good reflex saves," Burton said. "She did well in controlling her six-yard box."

"The defense in general did a really nice job," he added. "A good percentage of their shots came from 25 or 30 yards out. We'll take that any day."

Burton also commended his team for bouncing back following an exhibition loss last Saturday.

"They deserve a lot of credit for learning from that exhibition," he said. "It led to a lot of spirited play."

The Cougars are off until opening the home season Sept. 2, when Western Illinois visits Korte Stadium for a 7 p.m. game.