Four teams entered Friday at the top of the Great Lakes Valley Conference, including the University of Southern Indiana and the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS). Southern Indiana overwhelmed the UIS men's soccer team in a 3-0 victory during Friday's GLVC matchup in Evansville, Ind.
 
Despite a three-goal advantage, Southern Indiana held just a 20-18 shot advantage and an 8-7 shot-on-goal edge against UIS. The Prairie Stars also primarily controlled the possession.
 
"We played really well as times," UIS coach Adam Hall said. "We created more than enough chances to score, but couldn't quite get the ball over the line. We must have passed the ball 200 more times than them and we ended up with 65 percent of the possession, but the results are more important than how you play in this sport."
 
The Screaming Eagles (6-1-1, 4-0-1) entered Friday's match ranked No. 6 in the latest United Soccer Coaches (USC) NCAA Division II Midwest Region poll while UIS (4-3-2, 3-1-1) was ranked No. 9 in the region.
 
Southern Indiana ended two of UIS's longest streaks since become a Division II program. UIS remained unbeaten for six matches and went 497 minutes, 43 seconds without conceding a goal. Pijus Petkevicius served as UIS's goalkeeper for the entire duration, which is a UIS Division II record for longest amount of time a single goalkeeper did not allow a goal.
 
Sean Rickey led the Screaming Eagles, scoring four points off a goal and two assists. Ramirez also tallied three points with a goal and an assist.
 
Justin Raines gave Southern Indiana the lead 22 minutes into the match after deflecting a free kick from Rickey. Rickey was credited with the assist.
 
During the 36th minute, Johnathan Faas headed a pass to Rickey. Rickey dumped a pass to Eric Ramirez, Ramirez sent the pass back to Rickey as the defense converged on Ramirez. Rickey  drove into the box, eluded a defender and netted Southern Indiana's second goal. Ramirez earned the assist.
 
One minute later, Ramirez capitalized off passes from Rickey and Johnathan Faas for the score. Southern Indiana received the benefits of playing an aggressive first half.
 
"Well done to Southern Indiana as they took their chances and countered us well."
 
Josh Moore posted a team-high five shots, including one shot on goal for UIS. Mario Gonzalez produced three shots on goal while Mario Falsone tallied three shots. Rhys Wallace contributed three shots, including one shot on goal. Rory Carlson and Thiago Fernandes each registered shots on goal while Edward Rose and Terence Bynoe added shots.
 
Justin Faas posted a seven-save shutout for Southern Indiana.
 
Petkevicius saved five of the eight shots he faced.
 
Southern Indiana and McKendree University (6-1-1, 4-0-1) both share the conference lead. UIS, the University of Indianapolis (7-1-1, 3-1-1), Maryville University (4-2-2, 3-1-1) and Quincy University (4-4-1, 3-1-1) are each tied for third place in the conference and sit one game out of first. Indianapolis is ranked No. 12 in the USC NCAA Division II national poll and is ranked No. 2 in the Midwest Region while McKendree is receiving votes, nationally, and is ranked No. 4 in the region.
 
The Prairie Stars battle Bellarmine University (3-4-1, 2-2-1) in a GLVC matchup on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. CT in Louisville, Ky.