Cougars Fall to No. 19 Xavier in Exhibition

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – A first-half strike from Xavier's Ian Vicars was the only scoring Friday night as the 19^th-ranked Musketeers picked up a 1-0 exhibition win over SIUE men's soccer in front of nearly 700 fans at Korte Stadium.

Vicars netted the game's only goal in the 36^th minute volleying a cross from teammate Eric McWoods past Cougar goalkeeper Kyle Dal Santo. Dal Santo started the game and played the first half making three saves.

"In the second half we were a lot more disciplined," SIUE Head Coach Mario Sanchez said. "In the first half I was a little disappointed. I think we lost some discipline. I knew we were going to get tired but we kind of lost our focus."

Both teams substituted freely throughout the game. The Cougars used 19 total players.

"In the second half obviously we made a lot of subs; we got some fresh guys on and I thought they did a good job of staying focused and disciplined," Sanchez added. "Two guys who stood out were Ivan Gutierrez and Mohamed Awad. Both are older and they did a good job. Mark Skirivan and Carl Hinkson did a great job-two freshmen came in and really didn't look out of place at all."

For the game, Xavier outshot SIUE 5-3.

The Cougars continue the exhibition season with a Monday night matchup at Tulsa. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

"We've about four practices so we will just continue to refine what we do," Sanchez said.