KANSAS CITY, Mo. ? Charlie Sales (Springfield, Ill./Sacred Heart Griffin) recorded seven saves as the Western Illinois men's soccer team tied UMKC 0-0, Saturday afternoon.

In a rematch of the 2006 Mid-Continent Conference Championship game, the Leatherneck (4-6-3/0-1-1) defense held strong for 110 minutes in the shutout. Senior defender Phil Duret (Sarasota, Fla./Cardinal Mooney) helped anchor the back line. Jonathan Fridal (Hiawatha, Iowa/John F. Kennedy) and J.J. Stefanic (Greenfield, Wisc./Greendale Martin Luther) helped keep the Kangaroos (5-5-2/1-1-1) off the board all afternoon.

“I thought we defended really well again,” said Western Illinois head coach Dr. Eric Johnson of his defense. “We got a great effort from the back line from Phil Duret, while John Fridal and J.J. Stefanic did well matched up against two pretty good forwards for them. James Raabe did a nice job on their midfielder as well.”

The offense struggled to get scoring chances throughout the day, as they only had seven shots at the end of regulation. The two shots on goal for Western both came courtesy of freshman Cosimo Patano (Franklin Park, Ill./Leyden). In the first overtime, the Leathernecks came out aggressive firing four shots, to the Kangaroo's one. Neither team was able to manage a shot on goal however in the extra frames.

“UMKC is a pretty good team,” said Johnson of the Kangaroos. “They are quick, athletic and will knock it around so we needed guys to step up today and that's what we got.”

The game was physical on a fast, wet turf. 40 total fouls were called, with Western being whistled for 24 of those. There were also six yellow cards pulled between the two teams, four of which came in overtime.

“Since the Eastern Illinois game we have really committed to defending,” added Johnson. “We have been playing some teams that are good at attacking, but we've done a nice job of keeping teams out of our zone. The guys will be ready by the time tomorrow's game rolls around. We want to get a win on our field. The tie today was a good result, so if we can get a win tomorrow, we will feel good about the weekend.”

Western takes on NAIA National Champion Graceland University at John MacKenzie Alumni field Sunday at 1 p.m.