Benben Set to Lead 'Roos in Return to His Alma Mater
9/8/2012 10:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
SIU-Edwardsville Cougars (4-1)
vs. Kansas City Kangaroos (1-3)
Sunday, Sept. 9 - 1:00 pm
Edwardsville, Ill. * Korte Stadium
Live Stats/Webcast: SIUECougars.com
The Game:
The 'Roos head to Edwardsville, Ill. for a matchup with SIUE, a team that is receiving 30 votes in the national poll this week. UMKC comes off its first win of 2012 on Thursday against Baker at home. UMKC head coach Rick Benben played at SIUE, graduating from there in 1973, while winning a national title in 1972. This will be the first time he has gone to Edwardsville as an opposing coach.
The Coaches
In his 15th season at UMKC, Rick Benben is the winningest coach in school history, posting a 106-130-27 record. Under his guidance, UMKC has captured four Summit League regular season titles and has made three appearances in the NCAA College Cup with the most recent appearance coming in 2008. Benben, the fourth head coach in the Division I era, was inducted into the UMKC Athletics Hall of Fame this past year.
Kevin Kalish is in his fifth season with the Cougars, and has a 32-31-12 overall record. Last season SIUE went 8-8-4 and finished sixth in the Missouri Valley. Prior to becoming the head coach, he spent eight seasons as an assistant at SIUE.
The Series
Kansas City is meeting SIUE for the sixth time, but only the second since the Cougars became Division I in 2009 The last meeting came a season ago in Kansas City, with SIUE taking a 2-1 decision.
The last win for the 'Roos in the series came in 1995 by a 4-1 score. Benben is 0-1 vs. his alma mater, while Kalish is 1-0 vs. UMKC.
Scouting the Competition
SIUE comes into the weekend with a 4-1 record and are receiving votes in this week's national poll (#30). It defeated DePaul on Friday. The Cougars have defeated Virginia Tech, James Madison, and Rutgers, while falling 2-1 to No. 6 Akron so far this year. They are led by Jared Tejada and Christian Volesky with two goals apiece, while goalkeeper John Berner boasts a 0.75 goals against average and 11 saves coming into Friday.
A Win vs SIUE Means...
- Kansas City will have defeated a Division I opponent for the first time this season.
- UMKC will have defeated a Missouri Valley opponent for the fifth straight season.
Up Next
The 'Roos head to Florida for contests on Sept. 14 and 16 against Florida Atlantic and Florida International. It will be a homecoming of sorts for David Sarabia, Jeffrey Stezovsky, and Diego Figueroa.
UMKC has had success in Miami against those two squads in the past, going 2-0 in 2007 and 1-0-1 in 2008.
