Senior Erin DiGiovanni tapped home the game-winning goal in the 82nd minute as SIUE women’s soccer ran its unbeaten streak to six games thanks to a 1-0 win over Missouri State Sunday at Korte Stadium.
“Missouri State is always a well-organized team, and very well coached,” SIUE Head Coach Derek Burton said. “They’re tough to break down defensively. We did a good enough job of keeping them at bay and not giving them too many opportunities and in the end we got one late.”
SIUE senior forward Erin DiGiovanni / Photo courtesy of SIUE Sports Information
The Cougars are now 5-1-1 overall and haven’t lost since dropping the season-opener on the road at Kansas City.
DiGiovanni ran on to a Tory Pitts cross and then beat Missouri State goalkeeper Jessica Perry with the shot. The goal is the second of DiGiovanni’s career.
“We just try to keep things steady and keep working,” Burton said. “They did keep working; it ended up paying off with two people who came off the bench that connected for a goal which was really nice.”
Perry finished with five saves in goal for the Bears (2-7-0). Jennifer Pelley made just a single save for SIUE. She racked up her 13th shutout as a Cougar and is now tied for 3rdon the school’s all-time list.
SIUE outshot Missouri State 10-5 for the game and held an 8-2 advantage in the second half. Sarah Doggendorf finished with three shots, all of which were on goal. DiGiovanni had two shots. Marissa and Kayla Delgado each also had two shots.
“We’re definitely still not where we want to be in a lot of respects,” Burton added. “The one area that we are really solid is our level of competitiveness. That’s there, but we have things we need to tighten up.”
The Cougars travel to Fargo, N.D. for North Dakota State’s Doublewood Inn Classic Tournament beginning Friday afternoon. SIUE will face Eastern Washington Friday before taking on Colorado State Sunday.
“We play some teams that we would normally not see in Eastern Washington and Colorado State,” Burton said. “We get to see some of this beautiful country of ours and do some team bonding. We’re looking forward to it.”
