Eureka Secures SLIAC Tournament Spot With Win Over MUW

COLUMBUS, Miss. – The Eureka men's soccer team closed its regular season with a comeback victory on the road Sunday, defeating MUW 2-1 to clinch a spot in next week's SLIAC Tournament, marking the program's third postseason trip in the last four years and third in school history.

The Owls struck first in the 24th minute after a penalty kick was denied by Eureka goalkeeper Xavier Brisbon (Oswego, Ill./Oswego East). However, the rebound fell to Ethan Barnes, who smashed a shot into the top corner. Brisbon finished the day with six saves, keeping the Red Devils in the game despite the early deficit.

Out of halftime, Eureka pressed for the equalizer, and the effort paid off. In the 57th minute, Pascal Calonges (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) received a pass from Jacob Adamson (McHenry, Ill./McHenry), drove toward goal, and snuck a shot past the goalkeeper for his second goal of the season.

Just three minutes later, the Red Devils struck again. Landon Porch (Metamora, Ill./Metamora) beat his defender down the sideline and delivered a cross into the box that found Joyce Kabesa (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington), who blasted home his 11th goal of the year to make it 2-1. Eureka's defense then locked in, holding MUW scoreless in the second half to hold on for the victory.

The Red Devils finished with 16 total shots, six on target, and six corner kicks. Brisbon earned his fourth win of the season in goal for Eureka.

UP NEXT

With the victory, Eureka improves to 7-9-3 overall and 3-4-1 in SLIAC play. The Red Devils now await Tuesday and Wednesday's conference results to learn their seeding and opponent for the SLIAC Tournament quarterfinals on Saturday, Nov. 1, marking the program's third postseason appearance in the last four years under head coach Ryan Woodside.