Bennion, Spotak Help Lead Salukis to First Victory in Program History

Friday, August 23

Carbondale, Ill.

6:30 PM

Southern Illinois University

0-0-0, 0-0-0

Illinois - Springfield

0-0-0, 0-0-0

Ill. Springfield

Southern Ill.

Bennion, Spotak Help Lead Salukis to First Victory in Program History

08/23/2019 | 9:14:00 | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: Brandon Lindholm, SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. – Freshmen forward Madison Bennion netted the first goal in program history in the 10th minute to help lead the Southern Illinois Salukis (1-0 overall) to the program's first-ever victory in a 2-0 shutout against the University of Illinois-Springfield on Friday.

Coming off of an assist from junior Kathryn Creedon, Bennion's goal signified the start of the Saluki soccer program, bringing the Saluki faithful to their feet.

The Salukis' first half defense was lights-out, as the defensive pressure allowed for only six shots from UIS. The lockdown performance allowed the Salukis to take a 1-0 lead into halftime.

Fellow freshman forward Emma Spotak scored her first career goal off of a pass from Paityn Schneider to give the Salukis a 2-0 lead in the 53rd minute. The Prairie Stars failed to generate any offense the rest of the way, as the Salukis went on to record the first victory in program history.

Freshman Dariana Mihalache started the game and earned her first career victory as a goalkeeper after recording four saves in the first half of tonight's contest. Fellow goalie and freshman Maddy Alaluf started the second half and recorded four saves of her own in 45 minutes of action.

The Salukis out-shot the Prairie Stars 18-14, with seven of SIU's shots coming on goal. SIU also led the Prairie Stars in time of possession, having held possession for 52% of the game.

Freshman Forward Madison Bennion's postgame comments

On what she saw on the first goal of her career
I saw Kat (Kathryn Creedon) take that touch and I was like "Oh, she's going to get it there," so I just went for it and it was just me putting my confidence in her to make that play.

On different teammates' thoughts on the first goal
Coming in, a lot of people were saying that someone's putting one away tonight. I wanted a goal and was trying to get one in preseason play. My parents flew all of the way in from California, my dad's birthday is today – I did it for him. It was a great moment for me, for the team, for all of us together. Overall, just getting that first goal in team history is incredible, especially knowing it took the whole team's effort to get there.

On the significance of scoring the first goal in program history
I don't know if it's really hit me yet. I guess right now, yeah. But in the moment, I was like, "It's in."

On what the win does for the team going forward
I think starting off the program with a win is super important for us. As a new team and kind of pushing us where we want to be and going forward helps us build off what we have now. We have a lot to work on but getting that first one is kind of that starting point for us. We're going to go for it.

Head coach Grant Williams' postgame comments

On the importance of getting the first win
Once I probably step away from the field, I'll be able to take a deep breath. My first thought was about our kids and that's the first thing I said to them when we got together. I told them that they will remember tonight for the rest of their lives. Obviously, I will too. They came here to be successful and I'm glad that with our first home-opener you get to look at the record and see that we got a win. It certainly built some confidence. There were some things we were trying to work on, and I think you saw some of those things tonight. I also think they realize that we still have a lot that we need to work on. We're going to recover and do it all again on Sunday.

On what he saw on the first goal
You just try to put good attacking pieces on the field and let them do it. I wouldn't say we necessarily scripted that, but you know they have the ability to make plays. We have an opportunity to serve and we talk about how you need to attack those balls in the box. Madison is a good player and plays at a high level. I'm not surprised at all that she wound up on the back end of that one.

On his thoughts about having to play on short rest
Certainly, we've been there from when we played Tennessee Tech and then turned around and two days later played UIC. The players have an idea of what the routine looks like. We're still a little bit fatigued from coming out of postseason, where we now added school and that first week. We've really just talked about recover. Getting a good night sleep tonight, what you do tomorrow and tomorrow night. Middle of the day on Sunday and the other team played last night so they've got an extra half day of rest. We're going to get stretched. North Alabama is a good team and played in their tournament final last year. They will bring a lot of experience on the field. We just need to do all of the little things to give us an opportunity to compete.

Up Next: The Salukis will welcome in the University of North Alabama for the second match of their young season on Sunday at 1 p.m. Tickets are available to purchase at SIUSalukis.com or by calling 1-877-SALUKIS.