MACOMB, Ill. – Western Illinois goalkeeper Laura Atkinson made 12 saves and picked up her first shutout of the season in a scoreless draw against SIU-Edwardsville on Friday, Sept. 10.
The Fighting Leathernecks (1-3-2) snapped the Cougars' (4-0-1) four-match winning streak in the first-ever meeting between the two teams. It was Western's second shutout in its last three matches.
"I was very please with our effort today," said head coach Tony Guinn. "It was a really good, entertaining soccer match. Both teams played really hard and SIU-Edwardsville is a very good team so I'm happy with how we played today."
The Cougars took control of the momentum early in the match, outshooting the Leathernecks nine to seven in the first half, including two shots on goal in the first six minutes.
Atkinson made six saves in the first frame to help keep the match scoreless heading into the second half.
Western would see the momentum swing its way late in the second half on several quality chances, including a shot by Kelly Diershow that hit the crossbar in the 68th minute, but was unable to find the go-ahead goal as the match went to overtime
"I thought we had some really good chances today," said Guinn. "We just had a bit of bad luck on a few shots but overall I thought we gave ourselves a great chance to win."
Neither team could find the net in the first overtime period, though the Cougars nearly scored the game-winner when Hope Jones' shot hit the crossbar in the 103rd minute.
Atkinson (0-2-2) picked up the decision in the second shutout of her career. Her 12 saves tied for the second-highest total of her career.
Diershow led all Leatherneck players with three shots in the match while Jordan Spaciel finished with a team-high two shots on goal. Western Illinois saw ten different players take a shot as 23 Leathernecks saw playing time.
"We put a lot of people out there today," Guinn said. "Every player who got on the field today player really well and gave us good, quality minutes."
Western was outshot by a 17-to-16 margin and was awarded four corner kicks to the Cougars' eight. The Leathernecks were caught offside three times in the match and were called for ten fouls to SIU-Edwardsville's seven.
The Leathernecks will hit the road again when they travel to Davenport, Iowa on Sunday for a match against St. Ambrose at 1 p.m.
