Saturday, November 2
Carbondale, Ill.
6 PM
Southern Illinois University
5-10-2, 0-0-0
3
vs
1
California Baptist
13-5-1, 6-2-0
1
2
F
California Baptist
0
1
1
Southern Ill.
3
0
3
Brechtel's Hat Trick Leads Salukis To Victory In Season Finale
11/02/2019 | 9:26:00 | Women's Soccer
CARBONDALE, Ill. – Led behind the efforts of freshman Liz Brechtel, the Southern Illinois University women's soccer squad concluded their regular season with a 3-1 victory over the California Baptist University Lancers on Saturday night.
Brechtel got the Salukis (5-10-2 overall) on the board in the 20th minute after taking a corner kick from Madison Meiring off her head into the back of the net for her fourth goal of the year. Six minutes later, Brechtel would score her second goal of the contest in a scrum in front of the net to push the Salukis lead to 2-0.
The Lancers (13-5-1) battled the Salukis for the next 13 minutes before Brechtel struck again for her third goal of the half to extend the lead to 3-0. SIU held strong for the rest of the first half before heading into the break up 3-0 on CBU.
Defensively, SIU held CBU at bay for most of the contest but did give up a Lancer goal by way of Rola Badawiya in the match's 60th minute to trim the lead to 3-1. However, SIU held tight and denied every other attempt by CBU to score to hold on to its first victory since Sept. 15.
The Salukis trailed in nearly every statistical category, including an 18-7 deficit in shots. While the Lancers were able to place 10 shots on goal, the Salukis managed to launch an efficient four on goal out of their seven overall shots. Freshman Dariana Mihalache played in the net for all 90 minutes of tonight's contest, racking up nine saves to finish the year with 101 total.
Head coach Grant Williams' postgame comments
On the Salukis playing at their best
"I think that this is a cumulation of good effort, which started back at the SEMO game. We put together a good four to five games where we had good effort. Tonight is a game where I think you execute for 90 minutes, whereas those other games we didn't execute in front of the goal or we had individual mistakes in or around our area that led us to concede goals. Tonight is what you hope for as a coach. You plan, the kids worked hard, we had good practices and tonight they get to reap the benefits of good execution on gameday."
On Liz Brechtel's career night
"We had been playing a different system that had moved her out of her natural position. But just based on what we needed; she did a good job. She's a dangerous player. People underestimate how quick and how athletic she is. She's got a nose for goals. One of the reasons we went back to this system was due to an effort to get more opportunities and that was evident tonight."
On the message to the team before the final game of the season
"For anybody that came tonight that came to the first game of the season, would they have seen that we got better? Did we give them hope for what we're doing? Did we get them excited about where we're going? Are they excited where we'll be next August?"
Overall thought on the first year of Saluki soccer
"It's flown by. There's a lot of gratitude in the kids believing in what we're trying to do here, their commitment and their resolve to stick with it. Especially when you're not getting results and you're not seeing all of the benefits of all of the hard work that they've put in. I'm glad that they could see that come to fruition tonight. I'm ecstatic about the chance to get them into the weight room in the spring. We've shifted from results to development. The future is bright for us. I'm sad to see this over, but I'm excited to move on to the next phase."
Brechtel got the Salukis (5-10-2 overall) on the board in the 20th minute after taking a corner kick from Madison Meiring off her head into the back of the net for her fourth goal of the year. Six minutes later, Brechtel would score her second goal of the contest in a scrum in front of the net to push the Salukis lead to 2-0.
The Lancers (13-5-1) battled the Salukis for the next 13 minutes before Brechtel struck again for her third goal of the half to extend the lead to 3-0. SIU held strong for the rest of the first half before heading into the break up 3-0 on CBU.
Defensively, SIU held CBU at bay for most of the contest but did give up a Lancer goal by way of Rola Badawiya in the match's 60th minute to trim the lead to 3-1. However, SIU held tight and denied every other attempt by CBU to score to hold on to its first victory since Sept. 15.
The Salukis trailed in nearly every statistical category, including an 18-7 deficit in shots. While the Lancers were able to place 10 shots on goal, the Salukis managed to launch an efficient four on goal out of their seven overall shots. Freshman Dariana Mihalache played in the net for all 90 minutes of tonight's contest, racking up nine saves to finish the year with 101 total.
Head coach Grant Williams' postgame comments
On the Salukis playing at their best
"I think that this is a cumulation of good effort, which started back at the SEMO game. We put together a good four to five games where we had good effort. Tonight is a game where I think you execute for 90 minutes, whereas those other games we didn't execute in front of the goal or we had individual mistakes in or around our area that led us to concede goals. Tonight is what you hope for as a coach. You plan, the kids worked hard, we had good practices and tonight they get to reap the benefits of good execution on gameday."
On Liz Brechtel's career night
"We had been playing a different system that had moved her out of her natural position. But just based on what we needed; she did a good job. She's a dangerous player. People underestimate how quick and how athletic she is. She's got a nose for goals. One of the reasons we went back to this system was due to an effort to get more opportunities and that was evident tonight."
On the message to the team before the final game of the season
"For anybody that came tonight that came to the first game of the season, would they have seen that we got better? Did we give them hope for what we're doing? Did we get them excited about where we're going? Are they excited where we'll be next August?"
Overall thought on the first year of Saluki soccer
"It's flown by. There's a lot of gratitude in the kids believing in what we're trying to do here, their commitment and their resolve to stick with it. Especially when you're not getting results and you're not seeing all of the benefits of all of the hard work that they've put in. I'm glad that they could see that come to fruition tonight. I'm ecstatic about the chance to get them into the weight room in the spring. We've shifted from results to development. The future is bright for us. I'm sad to see this over, but I'm excited to move on to the next phase."
Team Stats
CBU
SIU
Goals
1
3
Shots
18
7
Shots on Goal
10
4
Saves
1
9
Corners
4
2
Fouls
9
8
Scoring Plays
Liz Brechtel (3)
Assisted By: Madison Meiring
GOAL by SIU Brechtel, Liz Assist by Meiring, Madison.
20:23
Liz Brechtel (3)
Assisted By: Madison Bennion
GOAL by SIU Brechtel, Liz Assist by Bennion, Madison.
26:30
Liz Brechtel (3)
GOAL by SIU Brechtel, Liz.
39:56
Rola Badawiya (1)
GOAL by CBU Badawiya, Rola.
60:22
Game Leaders
Players
Shots
4
SOG
4
Goals
3
Assists
0
Shots
0
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
1
Shots
0
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
1
fwd
Shots
1
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's SoccerF
/ Women's Soccer
GK
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