EDWARSDVILLE, Ill. – Alexis Dominguez put home the game-winning goal on a header in the 84th minute to lead Western Illinois to a 1-0 victory over SIU-Edwardsville in the 2010 regular-season opener on Wednesday, Sept. 1.
It was Dominguez's first goal of his career in his first ever match for the Fighting Leathernecks (1-0-0), who defeated the Cougars (0-1-0) by a 1-0 score for the second straight season.
Western scored when Daniel Lewis served a ball into the right side of the box following a free kick and Dominguez knocked in the game-winner from 10 yards out at the 84:25 mark.
The win extended the Leathernecks regular-season unbeaten streak to four matches dating back to 2009. Western Illinois is 3-0-1 during that stretch.
Neither team was able to gain an advantage in a scoreless first half that saw Leatherneck goalkeeper Andy Ryan make three saves to keep the score even heading into halftime.
Ryan would come up big in the second half as well, stopping two Cougar shots before Dominguez scored.
Western was outshot in the match by a 14 to 10 margin, including six to four in shots on goal. SIU-Edwardsville was awarded eight corner kicks while the Leathernecks did not receive any. The Cougars were called for 19 fouls to Western's eight.
Dominguez, Charlie Bales, Oskar Gasecki and Husref Jupic each finished with two shots on the day and Lewis picked up the assist on the game-winning goal for his first career points.
Western Illinois will continue play at DePaul at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 3 before returning to Macomb as it plays host to Marquette in the 2010 home opener on Sept. 5.
