SPRINGFIELD, IL – The University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) men's soccer team shutout Drury University with a 1-0 victory during Friday's Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) matchup.

"I'm really happy for the guys," UIS coach Adam Hall said. "We had enough chances to score."

After 60 minutes of back-and-forth battle, Naba Alzhyri netted the go-ahead goal for the Prairie Stars (3-2, 3-0).

Drury University (3-2, 2-1) and UIS made up parts of a first-place tie in the GLVC standings with a 2-0 record. The Panthers are ranked No. 5 in the latest United Soccer Coaches (USC) NCAA Division II Midwest Region poll.

"Drury is a great team that is usually at the top of the conference," Alzhyri commented. "It was a great team effort that took a lot of hard work."

"We were both 2-0, so coming out with a big win is huge for us," UIS goalkeeper Tommy Geile added.

Geile compiled his second shutout of the season. The O'Fallon, MO native rejected each of the six shots he faced.

"Another clean sheet and giving up only one goal in three conference games shows how together of a team we are."

The two teams went back and forth with the momentum in the first half, but the match remained scoreless.

During the 61st minute, Geile set up a pass that gave Alzhyri the opening and Alzhyri capitalized on the opportunity.

"Scoring the goal felt great," Alzhyri recalled. "We were working our butts off. We just did what coach told us to do and got the win."

Drury recorded three shots on frame throughout the remainder of the match, but Geile and the UIS defense shut down Drury.

Alzhyri registed three shots on goal, Rhys Wallace and Dan Mahony tallied two shots on goal apiece and Jack Coombes contributed a shot on target.

Charles Guelly provided two shots on frame for Drury. The Panthers also received shots on goal from Ben Bruce, Francesco Ferri, Dean McConnell and Matt Wagoner,

Nicholas Helin served as Drury's goalkeeper for the opening 71 minutes, 57 seconds and sent away five of the six shots he faced. Brandon Griesinger filled in at goalkeeper for the remaining 18:03 and saved both of the shots he faced.

Drury outshot UIS by a 16-to-14 margin.

"On a different day, it might have been a 2-to-0 win, but we'll take the victory," Hall said. "Now, we're looking forward to Sunday's game against Missouri S&T."
The Prairie Stars entertain Missouri S&T (1-3-1, 0-3) for a conference matchup on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. in Kiwanis Stadium.