EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- The Sycamores broke out in a big way offensively in the first half en route to a 3-1 victory over SIU Edwardsville on Friday night in front of 205 fans inside Korte Stadium.

The Sycamores leveled their overall record at 1-1-1 while the Cougars fell to 0-2-0. SIU Edwardsville was coming off a solid showing in a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Kentucky of the Southeastern Conference last weekend.

"The first half was great as we saw three goals from three different players," third-year head coach Julie Hanley said. "Caitlyn Eddy scored her first career ISU goal in her hometown which was pretty special. It was great to see Katie Wells and Alina Steffen round out the scoring for us. I was proud of the effort, we worked on attacking all week. For that to carry over to the match was good to see. Now it is time to recover and get ready for a really good Iowa team on Sunday."

ISU broke through at the 2:24 mark when Caitlyn Eddy scored the first goal of her ISU career as she returned to her hometown of Edwardsville, Ill. She pushed the ball past the SIU Edwardsville goalkeeper from 18 yards out. It was the quickest goal scored by a Sycamore since Leah Galton found the back of the net just 1:34 into a 9-1 victory over Hofstra on September 7, 2014. The goal was assisted by Katie Sidloski - the second of her career.

In the 19th minute, Alina Steffen received a long cross field pass from freshman Sidney Ewing where she dribbled past multiple defenders and punched the ball in the back of the net for the 2-0 lead. Steffen scored for the fourth time in her two seasons with the program and it was Ewing's first career assist.

ISU made it three goals in the first half when Katie Wells moved ahead in the ISU career record books when she scored in a wide-open break to the goal in the 26th minute for the 3-0 advantage. Wells scored for the first time this season and it was the 13th goal of her career. She now is in sole possession for eighth on ISU career goals scored chart and her 38 career points are tied for seventh-best all-time.

It marked the first time that Indiana State scored three goals in a half since they did it in both the first and second halves on September 24, 2017 at Chicago State.

Amanda DiNardo scored in the 38th minute off a corner kick to draw within 3-1. It ended Hannah Sullivan's superb streak of 199 minutes without giving up a goal. She finished the match with four saves.

SIU Edwardsville held an 12-6 edge in shots, including a 5-4 advantage in shots on goal. The Sycamores posted their first 2 corner kicks of the season.

Wells led the way with a pair of shots as the Sycamores recorded five shots in the match. Indiana State had four shots on goal in the match, including the three goals scored plus another from Pam Silies. 

Indiana State now heads to Iowa City to take on the Iowa Hawkeyes on Sunday, August 26 at 2 pm (ET). The game can be seen live on Big Ten Network Plus. ISU head coach Julie Hanley returns to Iowa where she spent four seasons as an assistant coach with the Hawkeyes.

For the latest information on the Sycamore Women's Soccer team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.