Saturday, September 24, 7:00 p.m.
Loyola Soccer Park
6336 N. HoyneSIUE (Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville) is the defending MVC champ, and was picked to win the MVC in the preseason poll this year. They've been a pretty good team the past few years on the strength of their extraordinary defense coupled with an adequate offense. However, this year they've had some big problems finding the back of the net, which has led to a slow 1-3-2 start in non-conference play. The Cougars are last in shots (53) and last in goals (3). They're second to last in corner kicks, and two of their three goals in six games so far have come from going a perfect 2 for 2 on penalty kicks.
The Cougars are 0-2 away from home, but those contests came against some pretty strong competition-- against a ranked Butler squad in Indy, and at Memphis. SIUE earned a 0-0 tie against their only common opponent with Loyola thus far, Valparaiso, which was the last team to score against the Ramblers in the first game of the season.
The Ramblers (6-0-0) have had no trouble scoring, leading the MVC in goals (14, tied with Evansville, who has played two more games than the Ramblers thus far). Midfielder Grant Stoneman has been gaining national attention on top of three straight MVC Defensive Player of the Week awards. He's had three game-winning goals in the past three games, while helping the defense to compile an astounding 464 consecutive minute scoreless streak.
The game will be on ESPN3. Link:
http://www.espn.com/watchespn/index/_/i ... -vs-loyola