MADISON, WIS.  -  Sophomore Cosimo Patano (Franklin Park, Ill./East Leyden) scored his first career goal in the 49th minute of play to defeat Wisconsin, 1-0, on Wednesday Oct. 1, at the McClimon Soccer Complex.

"I think we started the game very well and it set the tone early for the entire match," said Western Illinois head coach Dr. Eric Johnson. "We controlled the tempo and had some good chances in the match."

In the first half, both teams were pretty even statistically as the Leathernecks (7-2-1) took five shots and the Badgers (4-3-2) took seven. Both teams also attempted three corner kicks going into halftime.

Only four minutes into the second half, Patano was able to score the game-winning goal on a 30 yard volley. The Western offense only took a total of two shots during the rest of the match, but the defense played well to seal the Leatherneck victory.

"We got a great goal from Cosimo Patano, who we moved to the midfield for this game," said Johnson. "He ends up hitting a (volley) over the goalkeeper and just under the bar, it was just an incredible shot."

Defensively, the Leathernecks allowed a total of 18 shots in the match and defended well against a total of nine Badger corner kicks.  

Western goalkeeper junior Stephen Paterson (Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada/Sir Winston Churchill) won the match in the net making a total of two saves, both in the second half.

"The guys are looking forward to playing in Macomb on our home field finally," said Johnson. "We are happy about not getting into a van or bus on Friday for a match, so it will be fun."

No Place Like Home
The Leathernecks will finally play a match at home after playing 10 straight matches on the road to start the season. Western will play three home matches over the next nine days at John MacKenzie Alumni Field. The first match will be against the University of Evansville on Friday, Oct. 3 at 4 p.m. at John MacKenzie Alumni Field.

Scouting the Purple Aces
The Purple Aces (6-3-0) are coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to No. 16 Indiana University on Sep. 30. Evansville has six different players who have scored two or more goals this season. Leading the offensive attack is sophomore Mike Luttrull who has scored eight goals and recorded three assists.

In the net for Evansville is senior Alec Dufty who has made 30 saves on the season for a save percentage of .698 and has a goals against average of 1.62.

Against the Purple Aces
The all-time series between Western and Evansville is 2-2, with the last meeting between the two teams dating back to 2002 when the Purple Aces defeated the Leathernecks, 2-0, at Black Beauty Field at Arad McCutchan Stadium.