Leathernecks Defeat Cougars in Home Opener

September 23, 2011

Sept. 2, 2011

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Western Illinois took advantage of a pair of corner kicks to defeat SIUE 2-1 Friday night in the home opener for the women's soccer team at Korte Stadium.

"It was a little bit too little, too late tonight. I think if we had another two minutes we would have scored, and maybe scored more than one," SIUE Head Coach Derek Burton said.

Amber Davis put the Leathernecks on the board in the 41st minute. Davis got her head on the corner kick from Trisha Quinn to make it 1-0. Not three minutes later, Quinn made it 2-0, scoring on a corner kick she bent in towards goal with her right foot.

Alexandria Brazill got a loose ball in the box just seconds before the first half ended, but her shot deflected off the crossbar.

The Leathernecks took the 2-0 lead into half.

SIUE, 1-1, had its chances in the second half, but couldn't break through until the 80th minute. Devon Thomas slid a through ball to Kiara Akpore at the top of the box. The senior midfielder unloaded a strong right-foot shot past WIU goalkeeper Victoria Kappel to cut the lead to 2-1.

The Cougars, who were outshot 8-4 in the first half, dominated the shooting in the second half 12-4.

"We turned the page in the second half and it was very positive," Burton said. "The spirit of the team was very good moving forward and they thought they could get back in it, which they did."

Kappel made five saves in the win for Western Illinois, who improved to 3-1. Claire Lovercheck recorded a save for SIUE.

The two teams combined to use 43 players on a night where the game time temperature was in the mid-90s.

"We haven't played in two weeks so it's tough to have the right game fitness," Burton said "With the heat and humidity it zaps the players a lot quicker than normal."

Burton said he believed his team will be prepared to play Sunday when Indiana State comes to Korte Stadium for a 1 p.m. game.

"To be honest I think we are ready to play right now."