Southern Illinois University
0-2-2, 0-1-2
University of Evansville
1-1-1, 1-1-1
Salukis Take Draw to Evansville
03/09/2021 | 11:15:00 | Women's Soccer
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Southern Illinois soccer team notched their second scoreless double-overtime draw of the season to Evansville in a Tuesday night match-up in Carbondale. The Salukis out-battled the Purple Aces in shots and shots-on-goal in the offensive attack, while sophomore keeper Maddy Alaluf recorded her fourth start and five saves in the night.
"It was a tale of two halves. We didn't make the adjustment to their direct style of play in the first half, we made that adjustment at halftime." said head coach Grant Williams. "I spoke more on how we had to play higher and put more pressure on the ball, and it was a much more productive second half for us and in overtime. We've given up one goal in three games, we've been competitive in all three -- from a coaches' standpoint that's all you can ask when the whistle blows that your kids give you a chance to get a result and we have done that."
The Salukis played a heavy field game and flexibility of players, junior Hailey Blanchard played back, while sophomore Emma Spotak, who played all three previous games for the Salukis in center-back, moved up in attack. The Palatine, Illinois-native led the Salukis in shots-on-goal (3), with near back-to-back shots crossing the box while one-on-one with Evansville's defense in the 77th minute. Sophomore Kaitlin DuCharme followed suit with five shots and two on goal, while junior Maya Warrior recorded three shots with one on goal -- the most in a game of her career.
Evansville battled by the Saluki net, the Purple Aces notched eight corner kicks and midfielder Jayme-Lee Hunter kicked for four shots towards Alaluf. Goaltender Georgia Katsonouri defended the net of the Purple Aces in her first colliegate match, recording seven saves in 110 minutes to the Salukis.
In playing against his former team for the first time, Williams noted it was bittersweet. "I know more than half of those kids, I recruited quite a few of them and there's still quite a few that are still playing from when I was there. I want to see them be successful in everyday, except the day we play them. I'm glad to see that they played well tonight."
The Salukis as a team see the most collective shots (16) and shots-on-goal (7) in a match this season, learning and finding room for improvement.
"The technical execution in the final third is the difference between scoring and not scoring goals. I was glad to see we are getting more shots and shots-on-goal, if you are not as sharp or precise with either movement on or off the ball it's difficult to score."
The Salukis next match is on the road in Des Moines, where SIU will challenge Drake on Sunday, March 14.
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