Nov. 9, 2007

Box Score

WILDER, Ky. - The Lewis University men's soccer team battled until the end in its quest to advance in the NCAA tournament, but a 2-0 hole proved to be too much to overcome as No. 20 Southern Illinois Edwardsville defeated the Flyers 2-1, Friday evening in an NCAA regional game.

The Flyers, seeded second in the Great Lakes Region and ranked 15th nationally, rebounded from a 7-4 start to the season to win 10 consecutive games heading into tournament play.

Unfortunately for Lewis, the streak ended there.

A pair of goals by SIUE's Kevin Belicki were enough for the third-seeded Cougars to hold off the Flyers.

Belicki staked the Cougars to an early 1-0 lead with a goal in the game's sixth minute. He grabbed a centering pass from 10 yards away and kicked it up and over the reach of Lewis goalkeeper Anthony Szymel. The ball barely nicked the crossbar before settling in the back of the net.

Lewis' best chance to even the score came late in the half, as the Flyers put the pressure on the Cougar defense and earned two corner kicks en route to three great scoring chances in the game's 30th minute. Junior Cory Mastey provided all thee shots for the Flyers during the push. Two of those went on goal, but were covered, and one traveled just wide to the left.

Belicki made it 2-0 Cougars in the opening minutes of the second half when he lined one up from 28 yards away on the right side. The line-drive shot cut through the Flyers' defense and into the top left side of the goal at 48:43.

Fighting until the final buzzer, freshman Mardoche Beya cut the Cougar lead to one with a header goal at 88:10. It came in a bang-bang play started when sophomore Charlie Bucio passed the ball from midfield into the Cougars' zone. Sophomore Nestor Hernandez headed the pass towards the net from about 15 yards out and Beya redirected it into the goal off his head from about half that distance.

Beya's goal, his fifth of the season, capped what was a relentless attack by the Flyers' offense in the second half. Lewis out-shot the Cougars 10-5 and held a 6-2 advantage in corner kicks for the half.

A Mastey shot in the game's 80th minute hit SIUE goalkeeper Greg Cook in the hands and bounced free out in front of the net in heavy traffic, but Lewis couldn't capitalize. Freshman Jose Ibarra managed a decent shot on the loose ball, but Cook recovered in just enough time to get a hand on it and redirect it out of bounds.

The SIUE keeper had four saves in the game. Szymel also made four stops.

The Flyers (17-5) enjoyed great success in 2007, posting their 16th consecutive season of 10 or more wins and finishing tied with the 2000 team for the second most wins in program history. Lewis claimed its eighth Great Lakes Valley Conference title with a thrilling 1-0 win over No. 1 Northern Kentucky and advanced to the NCAA tournament for the fifth time in program history.