EDWARDSVILLE – With a 4-0 win over Southern Indiana Sunday, SIUE men's soccer claimed the 2023 Ohio Valley Conference regular season title and remained unbeaten on the year.
The Cougars improved to 12-0-3 overall and 7-0-1 in the OVC.
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"Amazing day," SIUE Head Coach Cale Wassermann said. "We have amazing support from the administration, from fans and family. The players earned every bit of this. I am extremely proud of the effort and execution and the celebration is pending."
The championship comes in the inaugural year of men's soccer in the Ohio Valley Conference and marks the first OVC Championship of any kind for a men's team at SIUE.
The title is the first regular season conference title for men's soccer since the 2015 team won the Missouri Valley Conference regular season.
"Our guys have shown up every day and taken care of details," Wassermann said. "We still have a lot to play for with two games left in the regular season."
Following a scoreless first half, four different players found the back of the net in the second half for SIUE. Jacob Bilyeu opened the scoring in the 63rd minute. Stephan Moreira made it 2-0, with his second goal of the week, just 1:04 later.
Jacobo Sanfeliu scored his first as a Cougar in the 81st minute and Pavel Dashin netted the Cougars' fourth in the 83rd minute.
Nic Muench assisted on three of SIUE's goals. Bilyeu added an assist on Moreira's goal.
The Cougars outshot USI 21-6, including putting 13 shots on goal.
Southern Indiana (1-11-3, 0-5-3) put three shots on goal. Sam Gomez made three saves for his seventh shutout of the season.
Braden Matthews allowed two goals and made eight saves in 70 minutes for USI. Alec Meissner allowed two goals and made a save.
SIUE finishes its regular season with a Thursday game at Lindenwood and a Sunday home contest with Eastern Illinois.
"We are so grateful to be a part of a program with so much tradition," Wassermann said. "We have so many great alums, who are still around and support this program. We have always wanted to etch our name along next to theirs. We're happy to do that today, but we want to keep going."
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