The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville men’s soccer team was handed its first loss of the 2013 season Sunday afternoon, suffering a 2-0 defeat to No. 22 Tulsa in the Cougars’ second and final game of the Hurricane Classic.
Rodrigo Jaime in action against Tulsa / Photo courtesy of SIUE Sports Information
“Going into the season, you know there are going to be highs and lows,” Head Coach Kevin Kalish said after the match. “Obviously, the team is extremely disappointed with the result. I felt we deserved more from the game based on us controlling long stretches.”
Tulsa (3-1-0) took the lead through tournament MVP Christian Mata in the 54th minute before Kyle Cummings added a second goal with five minutes remaining in regulation as 10-man SIUE pushed forward in search of the equalizer.
SIUE goalkeeper John Berner, who was named to the All-Tournament Team along with teammates Christian Volesky and Justin Bilyeu, made a season-high six saves in goal for the Cougars (3-1-0).
The game was an evenly-matched contest throughout, as the teams were even in shots (13-13) while the Golden Hurricane held a narrow advantage in corner kicks (6-5).
The match was scoreless until early in the second half when Mata scored from eight yards out to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
“They were able to finish similar chances that we missed earlier in the match,” Kalish said. “Tulsa has a lot of attacking weapons and when you let them hang around, you’ll often pay for it.”
SIUE responded by creating several chances of their own, including Volesky’s shot off the post in the 60th minute. But the Cougars were reduced to 10 men when Volesky was shown a straight red card in the 70th minute of play.
Tulsa took advantage and doubled its lead 15 minutes later, as Cumings scored his second goal of the season in the 85th minute.
“I am not at all disappointed in our team’s overall approach and mentality,” Kailsh added. “We came to play, there was no one hiding. We played well enough to win but weren’t clinical enough in the box. We will learn from this game, and it will make us stronger in the long run.”
The Cougars will now prepare for their home opener at 8 p.m. Friday against Cincinnati at Korte Stadium. SIUE played four straight road games to start the season.
