BOONE, N.C. - The Western Illinois men's soccer team got the season off on the right foot with a 2-1 victory over Appalachian State today. It was the opening game for both teams in the Broyhill Inn Appalachian Classic.

Luke Greenwell (Quincy, Ill.) broke a 1-1 tie in the 84th minute when he headed a ball into the left corner of the goal. Preston Bernardi (Naperville, Ill.) headed a pass across the box towards the back post for the assist on the game winner for Western Illinois (1-0-0).

The Mountaineers' Mark Weldon gave Appalachian State (0-1-0) a 1-0 in the 40th minute off a ball that Western failed to clear. Western goalie Stephen Paterson (Thunder Bay, Ontario) made an attempt to knock the ball away from Weldon. The ball trickled by Paterson and into the goal for the games first score.

Western came out firing in the second half. In the 51st minute, Junior Jeff Schield (Middleton, Wis.) fired a shot that missed high. Then freshman Kevin Hinds (Charleston, Ill.) nearly tied the game in the 52nd minute when he ripped a shot that hit off the crossbar.

Bernardi was able to tie the game up in the 60th minute when he took full advantage of a penalty kick for the Leathernecks off of Appalachian State's third yellow card of the game.

In the final five minutes of the game, The Mountaineers took three shots, only one of which was on goal. Paterson was able to make his third and final save of the game to lock up the victory.

“The game was pretty ugly,” according to head coach Eric Johnson. “It wasn't a smooth beginning but we played as hard as we could. We played together and withstood a lot of physical play from Appalachian State but did a good job of dealing with that.”

Seven newcomers registered time tonight for Western. Three freshmen, Chris Russo (Batavia, Ill.), Kenji Yamamoto (Naperville, Ill.) and Hinds, who started, saw their first collegiate action in the victory and Johnson was happy with their performance.

“What we found out is that some of our freshmen are pretty good. Hopefully we will see them continue to step up now.”

The match up was a physical one with five total yellow cards called. Western was called for 18 fouls while Appalachian State was whistled for 15.

“We got a win which is good when you don't have a good rhythm of play. Our guys really fought hard and battled, even when things weren't going their way. For our first time out it was pretty good, but we have a lot to work on. Hopefully we can take something from this game and get a little bit better for the next game and keep doing that until we get into conference play.”

Western will take on Georgia Southern Sunday at 11 a.m. (CDT) in their second game of the Broyhill Inn Appalachian Classic.