Red Devils Hold Off Principia, Clinch Postseason Berth

EUREKA – The Eureka men's soccer team clinched a berth to the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament for the first time in program history on Saturday.

The Red Devils played Principia to a 0-0 tie that bumped EC ahead of Spalding and into the top six of the standings.

Sixth-seeded Eureka (5-10-3, 3-8-3 SLIAC) will face the third-seeded Panthers (8-4-5, 6-4-4 SLIAC) again on Tuesday in the SLIAC Tournament quarterfinals. The kickoff time is to be announced.

The Red Devils didn't have a lot of great goal-scoring opportunity on Saturday, but the team successfully absorbed the Panthers attacks and held their ground until the end.

The result was the team's third clean sheet of the season. Freshman goalkeeper Brayton Strawkas (Buffalo, Ill./Tri-City) made five saves on the match.

Eureka also had five shots on goal, with Tyler Russow (Streator, Ill./Illinois Valley CC), Khalil Alleyne (Diego Martin, Trinidad/Fatima College/Lincoln), Troy Arries (Cape Town, South Africa/Wynberg), Jake Edmonson (Monticello, Ill./Monticello) and Milan Bajgai (Manchester, England/Swinton/Lincoln) each put one on frame.

After the post-match celebration wound down, Eureka recognized a pair of seniors who partook in their their last match at McKinzie Field: Bajgai and Sean Blair (Paris, Ill./Paris). Bajgai is a senior transfer for Lincoln who came on late and made his return from a midseason injury. Blair is a four-year member of the Red Devils.

With Saturday's result, those two will have at least one more opportunity to represent the maroon and gold.