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EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - After a sharp first half and a sloppy start to the second, the IUPUI men's soccer team rebounded late to snare a 2-1 victory at SIU-Edwardsville on Sunday evening. Freshman Jeff Keyler and Kyle Hyland netted in the win as IUPUI improved to 3-3 on the season.

"It was two pretty good hustle goals by (Jeff) Keyler and (Kyle) Hyland," IUPUI Head Coach Steve Franklin said. "In the first half, we had the good majority of the possession, which was the exact opposite of last year's game at Kuntz. Last year, they possessed the heck out of us and had us chasing the game for 90 minutes."

On Sunday though, it was IUPUI that had SIUE (2-4) chasing the game in the first half. The Jaguars nearly took the lead in the 18th minute when a Hyland shot had to be played off the back line by an Edwardsville defender. Junior Perez Agaba attempted a blast from inside the 18-yard box in the 20th minute, but was unable to get it through traffic.

IUPUI finally broke through on Keyler's third goal of the year in the 38th minute. Junior Tyler Fritcha set up the play, leading to Keyler's strike from just over 10 yards out.

The start of the second half saw SIUE take over as the aggressor, attempting the first seven shots of the stanza before Randy Roy broke through in the 69th minute. Nash Maduekwe earned the assist with a long cross from the right side, leading to Roy's short flick from six yards out.

"We weren't going to change much at halftime because what we were doing was working, but they forced us to play more direct," Franklin said. "After the goal, we decided we had to get back to how we were playing - going inside out."

Agaba continued to earn his spot as the Jaguars' top target player as his individual effort helped set up Hyland's first career goal. The Uganda-native cut his way through the SIUE defense before laying the ball off to Hyland. Hyland was able to get a touch on the ball and deflect it off a defender and into the left side of the net. It was Agaba's first assist of the year, pulling him back into a tie with Keyler with a team-high seven points. 

"(Perez) kind of took the game over," Franklin said. "The only thing he didn't get was any quality opportunities for himself. He had one where he could've cranked a shot from the top of the 18, but he tried to take that extra touch and didn't get a shot off."

After outshooting SIUE 7-3 in the first half, the Cougars outshot IUPUI 16-1 after halftime. IUPUI junior Tyler Keever made nine stops, including two highlight reel saves in the second half. 

"He stopped two from point blank range," Franklin said. "They had some great attempts from right there on the doorstep, but Tyler made great plays on them."

IUPUI was whistled for a season-low 12 fouls on Sunday, which was partly due to the teams' similar styles.

"They try to goad you into a physical game, which is also kind of our style," Franklin said. "They were waiting on us to react and get frustrated and it never happened.

"I'd like to think our guys grew up a little bit today." 

IUPUI returns to action on Wednesday night when the Jaguars head to Charleston, Ill. to take on Eastern Illinois. Kickoff is slated for 5:30 p.m. EST.