FORT WAYNE, Ind. ? The Western Illinois men's soccer team kept its Summit League Tournament chances alive with a 3-0 win at IPFW.

Dwain Barker (Barbados/Illinois Central College) gave the Leathernecks (6-9-3, 2-2-1 Summit) the lead just over one minute into the game when he connected on a shot from 15-yards out towards the near post. Martin Browne, Jr. (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Osseo) picked up his third assist of the season on the play.

“It was an intense start to the game and Dwain was able to get behind them and finish for the score,” said Western Illinois men's soccer coach Dr. Eric Johnson. “That's what we've been waiting for from him all year. Now he has two goals in three games and is showing that he can play at this level and score.”

The Mastodons (3-12-2, 0-5-0 Summit) were aggressive in the first half with eight total shots, four of which landed on goal. Sophomore goalkeeper Stephen Paterson (Thunder Bay, Onatrio/Sir Winston Churchill) recorded saves all four times that he was tested in the first half. Paterson finished the game with six saves en route to his third shutout of the season.

Senior Phil Duret (Sarasota, Fla./Cardinal Mooney) added a late first half goal for Western in the 42nd minute, to take a 2-0 lead at the break. Duret connected on a one timer from ten yards out for the score. Freshmen Cosimo Patano (Franklyn Park, Ill./East Leyden) and Jonathan Sandoval (Moline, Ill./United Township) each picked up assists on the play.

In the second half, Western continued its strong play on defense, limiting the Mastodons to just two shots on goal. The defense was led by Nikola Katic (Mikarska, Croatia/Illinois Central College) in the middle, with J.J. Stefanic (Greenfield Wisc./Greendale Martin Luther) and Stefan King (Christ Church, Barbados/Deighton Griffin) on the sides.

“We played well again so things are moving for us now,” added Johnson. “We had good performance again out of the back line. They had one good chance late in the game, but other than that we did a good job defending them throughout. Every shot came from far out, so we did a nice job of keeping them out of the box.”

Freshman Kevin Hinds (Charleston, Ill./Charleston) added a goal in the 87th minute to help secure the Leathernecks second Summit win of the season. It was the second goal of the year for Hinds. Chris Russo picked up his second assist of the season on the goal.

“Overall we had a good team effort,” Johnson said. “Everyone played their role and did their job and we ended up getting rewarded for that.”

Western concludes Summit League play November 9th, with a 3 p.m. matchup at Oral Roberts.