Salukis look to extend unbeaten run on Sunday at Belmont

CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois University (3-2-2) is heading to Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday to take on Missouri Valley Conference newcomer Belmont at 1 p.m.

Details
Who: Belmont Bruins (3-1-4)
Time: 1 p.m.
Date: Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022
Where: E.S. Rose Park - Nashville, Tenn.
Live Stats: Here
Watch: ESPN3

Quick Hits

The Salukis are 3-2-2 heading into their road match against the Bruins on Sunday.
Southern Illinois is coming off of a 2-2 draw in its MVC opener last Sunday against Drake. The Salukis trailed, 2-0, entering the 80th minute before rallying for two goals in the final 10 minutes to come away with the draw.
Sam Dodd scored the Salukis' first goal of the day off of a Liz Brechtel assist to make it a one-goal game. Two minutes later, Quinn Parks scored the equalizing goal after a scramble in the penalty area to make it 2-2.
The draw was SIU's second of the season, with its previous one being against SIUE on Sept. 8.
Southern Illinois is unbeaten in its last five matches, going 3-0-2 during that span. The unbeaten run is the longest in program history.
The Salukis have out-scored their opponents 8-4 during the run.
Brechtel leads the team in both goals (2) and assists (2).
Including Brechtel, eight different players have scored for Southern Illinois this season, with the others being Dodd, Parks, Kaitlin DuCharme, McKensey Bunch, Emma Spotak, Alyssa Fallon, and McKinley Stiff.
Spotak and Christy Murauskis have one assist each.
Senior Maddy Alaluf has started in six games this season, allowing seven goals and making 31 saves in those appearances. Alaluf has a 1.17 GAA and 0.816 SV% on the year.
Brechtel, Alaluf, and Paris Walsh have all received MVC Player of the Week honors this season. They are the first players in program history to receive Player of the Week honors.
Dodd has a team-high 16 shots and seven shots-on-goal so far this season.

Head Coach Craig Roberts

Roberts is in his first season as Southern Illinois' head coach. For the last two seasons, Roberts served as the head coach at Grambling State, where he led the Tigers to a combined record of 17-9-5 and back-to-back trips to the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship match.
Prior to Grambling State, Roberts coached nine seasons at Ball State, totaling 99 wins to become the winningest coach in program history. Under his guidance, the Cardinals won four-consecutive Mid-American Conference West Division titles from 2015-2018 and claimed back-to-back MAC regular-season championships in 2015 and 2016.
Roberts' first head coaching job was with UT Martin, which went from 2006-2009. In 2009, he and the Skyhawks won their first-ever Ohio Valley Conference regular season championship.
Outside of collegiate soccer, Roberts also has experience on an international level. From 2014-16, he was an assistant coach on the Haitian Women's National Team. During this time, he also served as the head coach of the U-17 Haitian National Team. After Haiti, Roberts was an assistant coach with the Puerto Rican Women's National Team from 2016-19.

Looking at Belmont

Belmont is 3-1-4 through its first eight games of the season.
On Thursday, the Bruins earned their first conference win of the year after tallying a 3-1 victory at Murray State.
The Bruins trailed after seven minutes, but quickly responded in the ninth minute through Addy Pitts to make it 1-1. Belmont scored its other two goals in the second half, with Maci Pekmezian scoring the winner and Anna Sweeney adding the insurance.
Belmont is on a six-game unbeaten run that goes back to Aug. 28. During this span, the Bruins are 2-0-4.
The Bruins have out-scored their opponents, 8-4, on the season, and have allowed just one goal in their last five games.
Sweeney is the team's leader in goals with three so far this season, followed by Pekmezian with two.
Sarah Doyle has started eight games in-goal for the Bruins, allowing four goals and making 38 saves in those games.
Belmont's head coach is Heather Henson, who is in her 11th season in the role.

Series History

This will be the second regular season meeting between Southern Illinois and Belmont, with the first one being back on Aug. 30, 2019. The Salukis won, 1-0, after Brechtel scored the winning goal in the 62nd minute.

Upcoming Schedule

The Salukis will return home for their next match on Thursday, Sept. 29, as they host Missouri State at 6 p.m. at the Lew Hartzog Track and Field Complex.

Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Salukis by following the team on Twitter at @SIU_Soccer, on Facebook at Facebook.com/SalukiSoccer and on Instagram at @SIU_Soccer. Fans can also download the "Salukis" Mobile App on the App Store or Google Play Store.

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Players Mentioned

Maddy Alaluf

Liz Brechtel

McKensey Bunch

Sam Dodd

Kaitlin DuCharme

Alyssa Fallon

Christy Murauskis

Quinn Parks

Emma Spotak

McKinley Stiff

Paris Walsh

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