Tuesday, August 27
Carbondale, Ill.
6:30 PM
Southern Illinois University
2-1-0, 0-0-0
1
vs
0
Rose-Hulman
0-1-0, 0-0-0
1
2
F
Rose-Hulman
0
0
0
Southern Ill.
0
1
1
Spotak Scores as Salukis Down Rose-Hulman
08/27/2019 | 9:10:00 | Women's Soccer
CARBONDALE, Ill. – Coming off their first loss of the season, the Southern Illinois University women's soccer team (2-1 overall) shut down the Rose-Hulman Fightin' Engineers 1-0 on Tuesday night.
Scoreless through the first half, freshman forward Emma Spotak put the Salukis on the board in the 56thminute after out-running Rose-Hulman's goalie for a clean shot at the net for her second goal of the season.
Rose-Hulman nearly scored late, but the Salukis held on for the bounce-back victory.
SIU outshot Rose-Hulman 19-1, their largest margin of the season. Additionally, SIU held the advantage in corner kicks by a margin of 12-0.
In goal, freshmen Dariana Mihalache split time with Nicole Raventos in the shutout performance. Mihalache picked up her seventh save of the season, while Raventos earned her first career victory.
Head coach Grant Williams' postgame comments
On the improvements he saw out of his team this game:
In the second half, we changed our shape a little bit. I thought we were ineffective in some wide areas, although we had some hard workers. We weren't really differentiating ourselves or were very dangerous in those wide areas. I thought bringing the players closer together and playing with two up front would be a solution. I thought that part was good – when we were able to get those players who I thought played well up together. We scored pretty early in the second half and I think that you could see some of the ideas I had about that shape being effective.
On his team hanging in and finishing strong against a quality NCAA DIII opponent:
Any time you can get a victory, you've done something right. I've known for a long time as a coach that their kids were going to be prepared and motivated to play. I don't think that we had the right mentality or right desire to win in the first half. I really challenged the players at halftime to be better. I thought that they played like they wanted to be here in the second half, and I thought that was the difference in our ability to express ourselves, be a little more effective on the ball and be a little bit more dangerous. We still have lot of things to clean up. We almost gave a goal up late in the match because were so focused on trying to get the second and there just wasn't much balance in our team. I think that that's some inexperience and will give us some things to work on Friday.
On what he saw on Spotak's goal:
She's just so quick and if you're a defender and take a bad angle, you really are not going to have an opportunity to stop her. Until you've seen somebody with that kind of speed, people misjudge her a lot. The goalkeeper thought she was going to be able to get out and stop her and just couldn't. Emma had great composure to get the ball down and around and in the back of the net. A lot of times players will put themselves in a good position to score but can't hit it. So, hats off to her for having the composure to finish it.
Freshman forward Emma Spotak's postgame comments
On her thoughts on the game
We didn't have a good game in the first half. Coach told us during the half that we had to get going. We knew how we could play, but we hadn't come to play at that point. I felt that we really showed up in the second half. We had a lot of opportunities to score, but thankfully I was able to put one in.
Up Next:The Salukis will catch a two-day break before returning to action on Friday at 6 p.m. against the Belmont Bruins (0-2). Tickets are available for purchase at SIUSalukis.com or by calling 1-877-SALUKIS.
Scoreless through the first half, freshman forward Emma Spotak put the Salukis on the board in the 56thminute after out-running Rose-Hulman's goalie for a clean shot at the net for her second goal of the season.
Rose-Hulman nearly scored late, but the Salukis held on for the bounce-back victory.
SIU outshot Rose-Hulman 19-1, their largest margin of the season. Additionally, SIU held the advantage in corner kicks by a margin of 12-0.
In goal, freshmen Dariana Mihalache split time with Nicole Raventos in the shutout performance. Mihalache picked up her seventh save of the season, while Raventos earned her first career victory.
Head coach Grant Williams' postgame comments
On the improvements he saw out of his team this game:
In the second half, we changed our shape a little bit. I thought we were ineffective in some wide areas, although we had some hard workers. We weren't really differentiating ourselves or were very dangerous in those wide areas. I thought bringing the players closer together and playing with two up front would be a solution. I thought that part was good – when we were able to get those players who I thought played well up together. We scored pretty early in the second half and I think that you could see some of the ideas I had about that shape being effective.
On his team hanging in and finishing strong against a quality NCAA DIII opponent:
Any time you can get a victory, you've done something right. I've known for a long time as a coach that their kids were going to be prepared and motivated to play. I don't think that we had the right mentality or right desire to win in the first half. I really challenged the players at halftime to be better. I thought that they played like they wanted to be here in the second half, and I thought that was the difference in our ability to express ourselves, be a little more effective on the ball and be a little bit more dangerous. We still have lot of things to clean up. We almost gave a goal up late in the match because were so focused on trying to get the second and there just wasn't much balance in our team. I think that that's some inexperience and will give us some things to work on Friday.
On what he saw on Spotak's goal:
She's just so quick and if you're a defender and take a bad angle, you really are not going to have an opportunity to stop her. Until you've seen somebody with that kind of speed, people misjudge her a lot. The goalkeeper thought she was going to be able to get out and stop her and just couldn't. Emma had great composure to get the ball down and around and in the back of the net. A lot of times players will put themselves in a good position to score but can't hit it. So, hats off to her for having the composure to finish it.
Freshman forward Emma Spotak's postgame comments
On her thoughts on the game
We didn't have a good game in the first half. Coach told us during the half that we had to get going. We knew how we could play, but we hadn't come to play at that point. I felt that we really showed up in the second half. We had a lot of opportunities to score, but thankfully I was able to put one in.
Up Next:The Salukis will catch a two-day break before returning to action on Friday at 6 p.m. against the Belmont Bruins (0-2). Tickets are available for purchase at SIUSalukis.com or by calling 1-877-SALUKIS.
Team Stats
RHU
SIU
Goals
0
1
Shots
1
19
Shots on Goal
1
11
Saves
9
1
Corners
0
12
Fouls
7
9
Scoring Plays
Emma Spotak (1)
Assisted By: Kaitlin DuCharme
GOAL by SIU Spotak, Emma Assist by DuCharme, Kaitlin.
56:44
Game Leaders
Players
fwd
Shots
2
SOG
2
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
1
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
1
Shots
3
SOG
2
Goals
0
Assists
0
Shots
2
SOG
2
Goals
0
Assists
0
Players Mentioned
GK
/ Women's Soccer
GK
/ Women's SoccerF
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